A tourist's guide to Albania

A tourist’s guide to Albania.

Read this information carefully and be sure to double-check it before setting off on your trip (things may have changed; this guide is from 2021):

• Transfer

After collecting your luggage, a representative of the receiving agency with a sign will be waiting for you at the exit of the airport building and will show you where to go for your transfer to the hotel. On the way to the hotel you’ll be given general information about the country, its particularities, national traditions, the local exchange rate and so on (though this depends on the bus guide).

• Crossing the border, customs

Taking photos and videos at the border is prohibited; your camera or phone may be confiscated. While crossing the border, you may only get off the bus or go to the toilet after informing the group’s escort.

When going through border and customs control, please stay calm, don’t ask questions and don’t joke with the border guards and customs officers.

You don’t need to fill in a declaration unless you’re carrying special valuables (paintings, icons, antique musical instruments, very expensive jewellery, etc.).

If one parent is travelling with a minor, they must carry the original power of attorney for the child to present. If the child is travelling with both parents, no power of attorney is needed, but you must have the child’s birth certificate.

You may only bring in 400 cigarettes (i.e. 2 cartons), 1 litre of spirits and up to 10,000 (ten thousand) euros on an oral declaration. Exporting products of animal origin is prohibited. Breaching these rules may result in a large fine and problems with future visits to the European Union.

According to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 30 November 1996 “On the procedure for citizens to carry alcoholic beverages, beer and tobacco products across the customs border of Ukraine”, you may bring into Ukraine no more than 1 litre of spirits, 2 litres of wine, 10 litres of beer, and 200 cigarettes or 200 grams of tobacco products.

• Staying at the hotel

Hotel accommodation follows International Hotel Rules. Bringing food and alcoholic drinks into the rooms is prohibited.

If you have any questions, you can contact the hotel representative at the reception desk. If your issue isn’t resolved, you can contact the receiving agency’s representatives to sort things out.

• Medical insurance

Remember that you are insured during your trip. If an insured event occurs, you must contact the insurance company’s 24-hour dispatch centre. All expenses for an insured event are covered provided the insurance rules set out in the policy are followed. If you have any difficulties, contact your escort. But it’s better to take medicines with you that will help in case of minor ailments — and may you have no serious health problems!

• General recommendations

If you lose your passport or any documents, immediately inform the receiving agency’s representative. Please don’t drink unboiled tap water.

• Essential phone numbers

Albania’s country code: +355
Area codes of major cities:
Tirana – 42, Durrës – 52, Elbasan – 545, Shkodër – 224
Emergency numbers (free):
Police 129
Fire service 128
Ambulance 127

You can call other countries from Albania from hotels, payphones, landlines and post offices, but bear in mind that calling from hotels is much more expensive than from post offices or payphones. Internet access points, like Wi-Fi hotspots, are very limited due to historical circumstances that held back the development of communications. The same situation applies to the landline telephone system. Payphones for international calls, like internet cafés, can only be found on the streets of large cities. Unlike the internet, mobile communications are developing quite quickly. Mobile services are provided by the major operators Vodafone Albania and Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC).

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE:
2-4, Stephanou Delta str., Filothei, 15237 Athens, Greece, tel.: +30210 6800230

• Money in Albania. Currency exchange.

Albania’s currency is called the lek. 1 dollar = 100–104 lek, 1 euro = 115–124 lek. Albanian banknotes come in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 lek. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lek.
Euro coins will be accepted at a rate of 1 euro = 100 lek, as that’s the official rate for coins here.
ATMs are installed at many banks in Albania. They accept Ukrainian bank cards, which can be cashed out in the national currency — lek. At the airport, the red ATM charges a 300-lek fee; in Vlorë, ATMs charge 700 lek. They say there are ATMs that don’t charge an extra fee, but I didn’t find any.
You can exchange cash (euros, dollars) at banks, exchange offices or at the hotel. Banks are open from 8:00 to 15:00, Monday to Friday; some are also open on Saturday. Rates for the US dollar, the euro and other convertible currencies are displayed at the entrance to every exchange office (EXCHANGE) and bank.

• Weather. How to holiday in Albania.

Albania has a Mediterranean climate with a short, mild winter and a dry, hot summer. In summer the average air temperature is +27 °C. However, in the hot season (mid-July to late August) the air temperature in Albania rises to +40 °C (except in the mountainous northern regions). In summer the water temperature usually doesn’t drop below +25 °C. In winter the air temperature ranges from +15 °C to −15 °C depending on the region — in the mountains, for example, the climate is much colder than in southern and central Albania. Early spring and late autumn are the rainy season.
The tourist season in Albania lasts all year round!
The beach season runs from May to mid-October.

• Transport in Albania.

Taxis:
Official taxis in Albania, as in many countries, are yellow. If you need to order a taxi, ask the receiving agency’s representative or the hotel receptionist.
Public transport:
Albania has a well-developed bus network. Buses are cheap, but there’s no clear timetable, as they leave when they fill up. Buses and minibuses display their route. In our case, the bus in Vlorë ran every 15 minutes and cost 30 lek.

• Safety on holiday in Albania.

A holiday in Albania is safe! The number of crimes committed in Albania is much lower than in most Western countries.
The locals are very friendly and respectful towards all tourists. They treat all foreigners especially well.
And now some tips for tourists:

• take the usual precautions and stay away from noisy political demonstrations.
• ignore beggars.
• be careful with street money changers — it’s better to exchange money at banks.
  as in most countries, drinking tap water in Albania is not recommended.
• you can freely take photos and videos in most places, except military sites, the airport and the President’s residence. Locals usually react well to being photographed. In museums and churches, look out for information boards; if there are none, ask the attendant’s permission before taking photos or videos.
• Albanian cuisine. 

Albanian cuisine is not an independent cuisine but a curious mixture of the ancient traditions of the Albanian tribes who inhabited the country and the recipes of the Turks, Greeks and Slavs who conquered it.

The foundation of all Albanian dishes is meat and vegetables. Popular Albanian dishes include meat stewed with onions, stewed beef, roast beef in a sour-milk sauce, lamb, and also “sarma” (a kind of cabbage roll), “fërgesë e Tiranës” (made with fried meat, eggs, tomatoes and liver), pies with minced meat and so on. Meat is usually served with rice or salads as a side. Albanians also love fish dishes, especially trout and carp. On restaurant and café menus you’ll often find dishes such as “ngjalë” (fried eel) and “zhabë” (frogs’ legs). The rare koran fish lives only in Lake Ohrid; you can try it in one of the cafés in the town of Pogradec.
Albania has very good Turkish coffee and espresso. The traditional alcoholic drink is raki, made from grapes or plums; the most expensive is made from blackberries. The secrets of raki-making are passed down from generation to generation. As for wine, Albania has ancient traditions here too: winemaking existed on the territory of modern Albania back in ancient Illyrian times. Today several wineries in Albania produce red and white wine. Among spirits, Skënderbeu brandy stands out, having won high awards at many international exhibitions.
Common dishes:
Byrek – a pie with meat, cheese or spinach
Patate te skuqura – French fries
Tave kosi – baked lamb with yoghurt and eggs
Fergese – fried minced lamb or liver with feta cheese and garlic
Speca te mbushur – peppers stuffed with feta cheese and herbs

A guide to help you understand menus in Albanian:

Meat and fish	Fruit and vegetables	Drinks
Beef – biftek Chicken – pule Lamb – mishqengji Pork – derr Sausage – sallam Veal – mishvici Fish – peshk Sea bass – levrek Cod – merluc Prawns – karkalecadeti Salmon – salmon Seafood – frutadeti Sole – gjuhes Trout – trofte	Apple – molle Banana – banane Pear – dardhe Grapes – rrush Pomegranate – shege Lemon – limon Mandarin – mandarine Fig – fiq Quince – ftua Orange – portokalle Cabbage – laker Carrot – karrota Aubergine – patellxhane Mushrooms – kerpudha Peppers – speca Tomatoes – domate Onion – qep Potatoes – patate	Beer – birre Juice – leng Wine – vere Water – uje Tea – çaj (pronounced “chai”) White wine – verë e bardhë Red wine – verë e kuqe Apple juice – lëng molle Turkish coffee – kafe turke Iced tea – çaj i ftohtë Mountain (herbal) tea – çaj mali Espresso – kafe ekspres Cocktail – koktej

Restaurants and cafés serve customers from 08:00 to 23:00, bars from 09:00 to midnight.

• A little about Albania.

Albania’s total area is 28,748 km². Its 450 km coastline is washed by the Adriatic and Ionian seas. The west is lowland, and the rest (about 70%) is mountainous. The highest point is Mount Korab (2,753 m) in the Dibër prefecture. The climate on the coast is Mediterranean, turning continental towards the east. Average temperatures are 8–9 °C in January and 24–25 °C in July. Precipitation is 800–2,000 mm a year.

Albania’s largest river, the Drin, flows through the country’s northern regions. Other rivers include the Mat, the Vjosë, the Shkumbin and the Seman. The three largest and deepest lakes of the Balkan Peninsula lie partly in Albania. Lake Shkodër, a third of which and 57 km of whose shoreline belong to Albania, is in the north of the country, on the border with Montenegro. Lake Ohrid, shared between Albania and North Macedonia, is 289 m deep and has unique flora and fauna, which is why it is protected by UNESCO. Lake Prespa lies a little to the south and is shared by Albania, North Macedonia and Greece.

There are more than 3,000 plant species. Maquis is widespread on the coast, and about a third of Albania (mainly the mountains) is covered with forest, home to brown bears, wolves, jackals, lynxes and wildcats, as well as wild boar, roe deer and deer. The coastal areas have many waterbirds.

Albania has deposits of oil, gas, coal, chromium, copper and nickel.

More than 90% of Albania’s population are ethnic Albanians, and Albanian is the official language. Religions practised in Albania: Islam (Sunni and Bektashi), Albanian Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Albania is a country where all religions live together in harmony: people of different faiths live side by side with no disagreements about it. There are many families that include different faiths and respect the religious holidays of all of them.

Albanian is the official language of Albania. It forms a separate, original branch of the Indo-European language family, and its Illyrian origin has been established linguistically. The Albanian vocabulary was influenced by Italian, Ancient and Modern Greek, Latin and the Slavic languages. Despite these influences, Albanian has kept its original, distinctive character and structure.

The Albanian alphabet has 36 letters, each of which is always pronounced the same way, regardless of use. This allows tourists to learn a few basic phrases quickly and easily to make communicating with locals easier.

We hope this little phrasebook will help you on holiday in Albania.

Who?	Kush?	Koosh?
What?	Cfare?	Chfare?
Which?	Cili?	Tsili?
When?	Kur?	Koor?
Where?	Ku?	Koo?
Where from?	Nga?	Nga?
Why?	Pse?	Pse?
How?	Si?	See?
How much?	Sa?	Sa?
What time is it?	Sa eshte ora?	Sa eshte ora?

Everyday phrases

Thank you!	Faleminderit!	Faleminderit!
Thank you very much!	Shume faleminderit!	Shoome faleminderit!
Please	Ju lutem.	Yoo lootem!
Yes.	Po.	Po.
No.	Jo.	Yo.
I understand.	Kuptoj.	Kooptoy.
Good.	Mire.	Mire.
Nothing.	Asgje.	Asdje.
Everything is fine.	Cdo gje ne rregull.	Chdo dje ne rregool.
How far is it from the town?	Sa larg eshte nga qyteti?	Sa larg eshte nga chyuteti?

How to start a conversation

Good morning!	Miremengjes!	Mirmenjes!
Good afternoon!	Miredita!	Miredita!
Good evening!	Mirembrema!	Mirembrema!
Excuse me…	Me falni…	Me falni…
Sorry to interrupt…	Me falni, qe ju nderpres…	Me falni, che yoo nderpres…
May I talk to you?	A mund te flas me ju?	A moond te flas me yoo?

Have a nice holiday!!!  

Also read my other articles about Albania.