# Albanian Amble



## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

ALBANIAN AMBLE
Our amble around Albania lasted eight days and we covered 320 miles. Albania is a grim country a huge construction site in many places but the people are fantastic. 
We ambled up the west coast and saw some of the few unspoilt beaches left in Europe, soon to be spoilt?

The roads have to be seen to be believed. I think Mercedes are using Albania as a testing ground for their cars, there are literally hundreds most being driven by kamikaze drivers. If you lost a Merc in the last couple of years it' most likely finished up in Albania.

ENTERING ALBANIA.
We entered Albania at the Quafe Bote border post (N39.65305 E20.15945) which is situated between the villages of Sagiada, Greece and Konispol, Albania, just north of Igoumenitsa.
It took us nearly as long to clear the Greek customs as it did to enter Albania. For some reason the Greek customs wanted all the paperwork for the van.
The old Albanian border post is being replaced by a purpose built building not yet in operation. The old post can only be described chaotic. Fortunately it's only a small crossing with no heavy traffic and we were through the border in about 30 minutes.

We paid €27.00 for third party insurance for 14 days. We were expecting to pay €10 each for entry tax but the charge was not made.

You will need the V5C (Vehicle Registration Document) to enter Albania. They will ask for the "Vehicle Papers".

Approximate exchange rates at 1st May 2010.

Euro € 135 Leke

US $ 103 Leke

UK £	157 Leke
Most traders preferred the Euro or Leke.

ATM's available in most towns. The bank of Tirana only accepted local cards

SHOPPING.
Shopping is difficult, you can buy bread, fruit and veg easily. It's difficult because of the language to identify what you want. You will see super/mini markets varying in size from a tiny country cottage through to an average small town supermarket. The largest you find are the easiest to use. Sometimes you may recognise some thing you have known in other foreign supermarkets. Meat is probably most difficult and the butchers' shops you might see are not up to European standards!!!

WEATHER.
It was warm and sunny all the time.

ROADS
Road signing is very poor in the north and almost non existent in the south. The signing for the ancient sites is a lot better but leaves a lot to be desired.

Speed limits.
Motorways 90 KPH
Dual carriageways	80 KPH
Single carriageways	70 KPH
Urban areas 40 KPH
We came across speed limits of 20 & 30 KPH in some places.

On the main roads there were many hand held/mobile speed cameras with speed limits as low as 40KPH in some places. So be warned.

Drive with dipped headlights at all times.

Road conditions. As at the first week in May 2010.
Border to Butrint	New road for some distance and then unmade /rough tarmac.
Butrint to Sarande	Under construction, very rough.
Sarande to Vlore	Good road surface, smooth tarmac.
Vlore town Unmade road in places very slow going.
Vlore to Fier Road tarmaced with many bumps and potholes.
Fier to Berat Road tarmaced but in extremely poor condition and very bumpy.
Berat to Liushnje	Road tarmaced but in extremely poor condition and very bumpy.
Liushnje to Durres Dual and single carriageway with smooth tarmac in good condition.
Durres to Shkoder	On the whole road is good. Road works in places with diversions. 
Shkoder to Muriqan border post. Tarmac road with good surface.
In some towns and villages there are speed humps, they are not marked and can be very dangerous if you hit them at speed. Besides damaging the van you might get done for low flying as well.

Fuel.
Euro diesel 135 Leke per litre.
Auto Gas (LPG) Widely available about 70/80 Leke per litre we filled up using the clawgun adapter.

MAPS.
You will need a good map at least 1:400 000. We used the Freytag & Berndt that covered Albania, Montenegro and parts of surrounding countries. We met and compared notes with a few motorhomers (no brits) and our map was the only one that showed the small crossing points we used. We try and use the smaller crossings as usually there is less hassle there.

ANCIENT SITES VISITED.
BUTRINT.
N39.61428 E20.22750 Entrance fee €6 if you are interested in ancient sites it's worth a visit.

BARAT.
N40.70442 E19.95081 Park along side river then cross over and visit old ottoman houses. Well worth a visit.

NIGHT STOPS.
Butrint site car park.

HIMARA.
N40.09848 E19.75190 Parked on sea front in designated parking area.

NOVOSELE.
N40.61586 E19.47531 Derelict filling station on busy main road. Not an ideal night stop but needs must.

CAMPING PAEMER.
10 miles south of Durres in the village of Karpei. Site set along coast but under construction, site owner very helpful but site is not suitable for motorhomes at all. There's one other van on the site tonight, we are parked on a drive way and the other van is on the site road. Also last 5K's of unmade road which is not really suitable for a motorhomes.

CAMPING ALBANIA.
N41.92372 E19.54194 www.camping-albania.eu E-mail: [email protected] the campsite is about 20 Kms south of Shkoder and is well signed of the main road at Bushat. There is a good tarmac road leading to the site as long as you follow the signs. The site is run by a Dutch family and is in a very peaceful location. We paid €15.50 per night that included electricity and wifi and all the usual facilities and there is also a very good restaurant on site. The site also has a silent room (chapel). There is a small supermarket a few minutes walk from the site and a larger one in Bushat.

EXITING ALBANIA
We exited Albania at Suobin which is a joint Albanian/Montenegro border post. This is a small post and we were through the Albanian and Montenegro formalities in about thirty minutes 
You don't get an exit stamp for Albania just an entry stamp for Montenegro.
You might need to produce the V5C (Vehicle Registration Document).

We paid €16.00 that was €2.00 per day for the camper. The €10.00 exit and entry fee has now finished.

CONFESSION TIME.
When we entered Montenegro we realised we had been one hour ahead of everybody else since entering Albania. After checking we realised that Albania was on CET (Central European Time) and not EET (Eastern European Time) as we thought. It did not seem to matter at all except the last night at Camping Albania when our "seven o'clock" meal seem to arrive very late.

If you need any advice on Albania please get in touch.

Safe travelling

Don


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## DocHoliday (Jul 18, 2008)

Thanks for the write-up, Don, and glad you got through safely! You were lucky to get insurance when you crossed into the country. I used the same border and when I asked about insurance I was waved away: "Go. Finished." I consequently spent a very nervous 24 hours in the country and was relieved to get out. My impressions of it were very much the same as yours.


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