Getting to Albania has never been this easy, with affordable links via land, sea and air. Once you've arrived, keep in mind that as long as you’re on the ground it’s going to be a bumpy ride, whether you take a taxi, bus, car or train.

Arriving by plane
Tirana's modern Nënë Tereza (Mother Teresa, TIA) airport, 17km northwest of Tirana, is a 30-minute drive away from the city centre in good traffic. Beside the baggage carousel in arrivals there are ATMs, an exchange office with so-so rates, and a tourist information desk. Buy a local SIM card at the mobile phone shops in the arrivals hall. Ignore taxi drivers harassing new arrivals and take an official yellow airport taxi to the centre for 2500 lek during the daytime and 3000 lek between 21:00 and 07:00. Other companies like Green Taxi charge only half that fee, but you need to order by phone/WhatsApp for a pick-up across the street at the Jurgen Hotel. Alternatively, hop on the Rinas Express airport bus to Sheshi Skënderbej; these depart daily on the hour between 08:00 and 23:00 (from the centre to the airport between 07:00 and 22:00), and tickets cost 400 lek. Hermes runs several buses per day from the airport to Vlora (1200 lek; www.hermesaeroport.com, tel. +355 67 609 75 42) and arranges transfers to destinations further south along the coast.
At time of writing, the airport access road was made one-way in a northerly direction from the highway, forcing those heading into town to take an 8-km detour via Vorë; protests may have put an end to this by the time you read this.

Arriving by bus
Most international and domestic buses will drop you off at the current bus terminal, west of the centre. The adjacent Ring Center mall has food, ATMs and toilets. From late summer 2022, buses from the east and south will soon drop off at the fabulous new Tirana East Bus Terminal by the TEG mall. Both locations have bus stops to get to the city centre.

Arriving by ferry
Car ferry services from several Italian cities to the ports of Durrës, Shengjin and Vlora operate all year round. Flying to Corfu and taking advantage of the twice-daily passenger ferry to Saranda is a cheap way to reach southern Albania, though it's still a long (yet very scenic) drive to Tirana from there.

Arriving by car
Since the main roads to and within Albania have been upgraded, driving to Tirana is finally a serious option. In summer months you may face long queues at the border, and keep in mind not all border crossings are open around the clock. Finding street parking in Tirana may be tricky, but parking under one of the malls is an inexpensive option.

Arriving by train
Tirana’s train station was regrettably demolished, so bold travellers arriving by train from Shkodra and Durrës now find themselves deposited at Kashar, west of town, where shuttle buses take you the final 15km of the journey to the northern end of Blv. Zogu I. Albania has no international passenger trains.