What We Actually Spent in Two Weeks in Albania: Full Budget Breakdown

What We Actually Spent in Two Weeks in Albania: Full Budget Breakdown

Budget posts are most useful when they are specific. So we are going to be specific. These are our actual numbers from a two-week trip to Albania, covering Tirana, Berat, the Albanian Riviera, and a few days in the north near Shkodra. We tracked every expense. Here is what we found.

A note on context: we traveled as a couple, which means some costs are shared (accommodation, taxis, car rental). Where relevant we will note per-person versus per-party costs. We did not stay in dormitory hostels, but we were not at the luxury end either. We ate well, we drank wine, and we made no particular effort to find the cheapest option for everything. This is a realistic mid-range budget for travelers who want comfort and good experiences without overspending.

For a more comprehensive look at Albanian costs with updated prices, our dedicated Albania travel budget guide covers current spending across all categories.

Flights

We flew from London Gatwick to Tirana (Rinas Airport) and back. Return flights cost us approximately 180 euros per person, booked about six weeks in advance. This is a reasonable baseline for Western European flights to Albania, though prices vary significantly by season and booking lead time. In summer the prices climb; in spring and autumn you can sometimes do better.

Flying into Tirana is now possible directly from many European cities. The airport has grown significantly and connections are considerably better than they were even five years ago. Budget airlines including Wizz Air, Ryanair, and easyJet all serve Tirana from various European hubs. Our how to get to Albania guide covers the full picture of routes, booking strategy, and alternative entry points.

Flights total: 360 euros for two (180 each)

Accommodation

We spent fourteen nights in Albania across six different places. Our accommodation choices broke down roughly as follows:

• Two nights in Tirana: a guesthouse in the central area, good location, clean rooms, 35 euros per night
• Two nights in Berat: a family-run guesthouse in the Mangalem quarter, castle views, breakfast included, 40 euros per night
• Four nights on the Albanian Riviera (two in Saranda, two in Ksamil): guesthouses ranging from 30 to 50 euros per night, averaging 40 euros
• Two nights in Himara: small hotel, sea-view balcony, 45 euros per night
• Two nights in Shkodra: budget guesthouse near the old bazaar, 25 euros per night
• Two nights in Valbona valley: mountain guesthouse with half board included, 45 euros per night including dinner and breakfast

Average nightly cost across the trip: approximately 37 euros per room (for two people). Some of those included breakfast, which effectively reduced the food budget.

Accommodation total: 14 nights x 37 euros = 518 euros for two (259 each)

Food and Drink

This is where Albania genuinely transforms the travel budget. We ate well — restaurant meals for lunch and dinner most days, morning byrek from bakeries, good wine, coffee everywhere — and spent far less than we expected. The Albanian food guide covers what to look for and where to find the best local eating across the country.

Breakdown by category:

Breakfast: When not included in accommodation, we ate byrek at local bakeries. Cost: 0.30 to 0.80 euros per portion. Add a coffee (0.80 to 1.20 euros) and a glass of kos yogurt drink (0.50 euros) and breakfast is done for under two euros per person. Some days we ate more — a sit-down cafe breakfast with eggs, bread, tomatoes, and coffee — for around 3 to 4 euros each.

Lunch: Typically a light meal. A portion of qofte (grilled meatballs) with bread and salad: around 3 to 5 euros per person. A bowl of soup and bread at a village restaurant: 2 to 3 euros. We often skipped formal lunch and ate snacks — bread, cheese, tomatoes from a market — for negligible cost.

Dinner: The main event. A proper dinner at a local restaurant — mezze to share, main courses, wine or beer, dessert — typically cost us between 10 and 20 euros for two people. Our most expensive dinner across the entire trip was a seafood restaurant in Saranda: grilled sea bream, octopus, salads, local white wine, dessert, coffees. This cost 28 euros for two, and it was genuinely outstanding.

Coffee: Roughly 0.80 to 1.50 euros for an espresso or macchiato. We had two or three coffees each per day. No significant budget impact.

Alcohol: Albanian wine ranges from 5 to 12 euros per bottle at restaurants (sometimes less at supermarkets). Local beer is around 1.50 to 2.50 euros at a restaurant. Raki arrives free at guesthouses more often than not.

In Tirana, we invested one afternoon in a food tour that gave us a proper grounding in Albanian cuisine before heading south. A Tirana food tour with meals included is an efficient way to taste several dishes across multiple establishments in a few hours, and it helped us understand what to order everywhere else on the trip. Consider this an investment rather than an expense.

Total food and drink estimate over 14 days: approximately 400 euros for two (200 each)

Transport

Getting around Albania requires a plan. We used a combination of car rental, buses, furgons (shared minivans), and taxis. Our car rental Albania guide covers everything you need to know about driving yourself, including which roads to be careful on.

Airport transfer (Tirana): Taxi from Rinas Airport to central Tirana, pre-arranged via guesthouse: 20 euros flat rate. Do not take an unmarked taxi at the airport — always agree the price beforehand or arrange through your accommodation.

Car rental: We rented a car for four days to drive from Berat to the Riviera and along the coastal road to Himara and back. Cost: approximately 35 euros per day including basic insurance, total 140 euros for the rental. Fuel added another 40 euros. The coastal road between Vlora and Saranda is winding but beautiful — a slow drive with frequent stopping for views.

Buses and furgons: The Albanian inter-city bus system is cheap and functional. Tirana to Berat by bus: around 3 euros per person. Tirana to Saranda by express bus: around 8 euros. Shkodra to Koman dam for the ferry: about 7 euros by furgon. These prices are approximate as they vary by operator.

Koman Ferry: The ferry from Koman to Fierza and onward transport to Valbona, arranged as a guided day trip including the Shala River stop: around 35 euros per person. This is one of the best value experiences in the country — a full day of extraordinary scenery for very little money.

Local taxis: We used taxis within cities occasionally. Tirana rides within the city: 2 to 4 euros. Always agree the price before you get in if there is no meter.

Transport total: approximately 310 euros for two (155 each)

Activities and Entrance Fees

Albania is refreshingly inexpensive for activities and sights.

• Berat Castle: free entry
• Onufri Museum inside Berat Castle: 2 euros per person
• Butrint National Park (near Saranda): 10 euros per person
• Rozafa Castle, Shkodra: 3 euros per person
• Apollonia archaeological site: 5 euros per person
• BunkArt 1 and BunkArt 2 museums in Tirana: 5 euros each per person
• Guided walking tour of Tirana: approximately 20 euros per person. A Tirana walking tour is highly recommended as your first activity in the country — it orients you and gives context for everything you see afterward
• Guided hike in the Valbona area with a local guide: 15 euros per person for a half-day

We spent around 120 euros in total on activities and entry fees across two weeks, for both of us. That is considerably less than a single entrance fee at many European museums.

Activities total: 120 euros for two (60 each)

The Grand Total

Approximately 61 euros per person per day, all in, including flights.

Without flights, daily spend was around 47 euros per person per day — covering comfortable accommodation, all meals and drinks, transport between destinations, and all entrance fees and activities.

How to Spend Less

If you are on a tighter budget, Albania accommodates that easily. Hostels in Tirana charge around 12 to 15 euros per person for a dorm bed. Eating byrek and market food cuts the food budget significantly. Sticking to buses and furgons rather than car rental is cheaper. You could realistically do Albania for 30 to 35 euros per person per day without flights.

Staying in guesthouses rather than hotels generally gives you better value and often includes breakfast or dinner. Mountain guesthouses in the north frequently operate on a half-board basis where the meals are excellent and included in a rate that is lower than a basic coastal hotel.

How to Spend More

If you want to stay in boutique hotels and eat at the better restaurants, add roughly 30 to 50 percent. The luxury end of the Albanian market is still significantly cheaper than comparable options in Croatia, Greece, or Italy — you get good value at every price point.

Coastal accommodation in peak summer at the better properties now approaches or exceeds European resort prices. If you are visiting Ksamil or Himara in July or August and want a good guesthouse, budget 80-120 euros per night rather than 40-50. The mainland accommodation in Tirana, Berat, and Gjirokastra remains considerably better value.

What This Means for Planning Your Trip

The two-week structure we used — Tirana, then Berat, then south to the Riviera, then north to the mountains — is one we still recommend for a balanced first visit to Albania. Our 14-day Albania itinerary covers a similar route with current logistics and accommodation recommendations.

A few budget lessons we learned:

• Coastal summer accommodation is the biggest single variable in an Albanian budget. If you want the Riviera in July, book early and budget for it properly.
• Food is reliably excellent value everywhere in the country. Do not economise here — eating well in Albania costs very little and is one of the great pleasures of the trip.
• Transport between cities is genuinely cheap. The bus from Tirana to Gjirokastra costs roughly what a coffee costs in Zurich.
• Activities are almost never a significant budget item. Entry fees are low, guided tours are affordable, and much of what makes Albania extraordinary — the landscapes, the architecture, the social life of the cafes — is free.

The prices we quote here are from 2021. Albania’s costs are rising gradually as tourism increases, so future travelers may find things slightly more expensive — but the fundamental affordability of the country is not going to change dramatically in the near term.

Pack light, bring a mix of cash and card, and do not overthink it. The money goes a long way here, and the experiences it buys are worth far more than their price suggests.