Camper rent in Albania?

[thomasB]

Has anyone any experience renting and driving a camper van or motorhome in Albania? My girlfriend and I are planning to travel there in June and are wondering what's your experience in Albania? Are the roads safe to drive? Any tips on camping sites? We are talking with a young local company that rents campers in Albania, they are very friendly and extremely helpful btw (https://wildgoatride.com) and are suggesting me that wild camping is practically allowed in Albania everywhere.

 

[UFO]

Our daughter and family were there last Autumn - part of their 130 nights, 6,000 mile, 10 country road trip. They are now back in Australia. I asked her for some notes and here they are.

Roads are variable in condition and a lot of roadworks so improving all the time. We made sure to read the latest P4N and google reviews for places we wanted to visit to get the latest. Don't be surprised if Google maps is a bit out of date, especially in Tirana and watch out for changes in road conditions quite suddenly. Local drivers often drive fast in the middle of the road towards you but they do pull over in time! We travelled in a 7m motorhome, went carefully and had no issues. Overall we encountered far less narrow roads with drop-offs in Montenegro!

For camping, P4N was a great resource and we were able to mix it up between free camping and private sites. The latter felt worth it where they were small businesses - often a restaurant where you could also get a good meal, meet locals and contribute to the local economy (and also sort out services). And all for very cheap prices.

Recommendations:
- Theth: new road to get there (windy and narrow in parts but beautiful and all tarmac) and an amazing destination. Stayed in the garden of a guesthouse with the most amazing food - P4N ID: 474332
- Bar Ledh: free camping at a beach bar owned by a wonderful family who have really created a little oasis.
- Langarica canyon: easy to access, extremely convenient free camping right at the warm springs and beautiful for exploring.
- Orikum: we were just passing through but the free camp on the beach here was super easy and nice - P4N: 28105.

Other recs for stops where the camping was not standout but you can easily use P4N to find a suitable place:
- Berat: getting lost on the old town streets. Kruje and Gjirokaster had culture and history to appreciate and learn from as well. Tirana bunkart and cable car was interesting but Tirana driving was probably the hairiest driving we had!
- Butrint: also felt very worthwhile to stop - scattered archaeological ruins since the Hellenistic period in a concentrated beautiful setting.

I'm sure there are many more gems as well!!!

 

[Clunegapyears]

We spent 6 weeks touring in Albania, but in the car and accommodation. Fascinating history and sites as UFO describes.

But the driving in Tirana was the worst we have ever experienced. I would never drive there again, let alone in a mh. It was the only place a waiter tried to rip us off. Beware pedestrians, cars, bikes, donkeys etc, walking out into your path. Most of the population haven't or only recently got cars, so never learned the Green Cross Code!

The coast line is disappointing (we live on Crete, so anywhere pales by comparison); too much fast uncontrolled tourist construction.

People are incredibly pleasant. And there's little theft against tourists; why attack the hand that feeds you.

If you're interested in where we went, we blog on Clunegapyears.com or look at our PolarSteps: Katherine Clune