Albania has the deepest fleet of any starting point here, with Tirana alone carrying hundreds of cars. It is also the only pickup country that sells a Greece option, which makes it the one place you can start a Balkan trip and finish it inside the EU without the widest tier of cover.
Zero-deposit cars
Over half the fleet needs none. The best of the five.
Free cancellation
On many cars, free up to 24 hours before pickup.
Covered before you go
Fee and Green Card written into your agreement.
What do you need?
Albania sells cross-border cover as destination bundles rather than tiers, and you pick the bundle that matches your trip when you book. Every bundle except the Greece one includes Montenegro, so a Montenegrin leg comes along with most routes.
- Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia
- Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Montenegro and Serbia
- Montenegro and Croatia
- Greece, sold on its own
The Greece route
Greece is the only EU destination sold directly from an Albanian pickup, and it is priced on its own rather than bundled with the Balkan neighbours. The usual crossing south is Kakavia, inland from Gjirokaster, with Saranda the closest pickup town to the border.
Cross-border cover sold from Albania
Albania sells cover as destination bundles rather than tiers. Every bundle except Greece includes Montenegro, so a Montenegrin leg comes along with most routes.
Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia
Three-country bundle
The widest of the Balkan bundles, and the only one reaching North Macedonia.
Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Two-country bundle
Montenegro and Serbia
Two-country bundle
Montenegro and Croatia
Two-country bundle
The route for pairing an Albanian pickup with the Dalmatian coast.
Greece
Sold on its own
The only EU destination sold directly from an Albanian pickup, and unique to Albania among the five.
What you need to rent
- Driving licence
- A full national licence with the details repeated in Latin script, valid through to the end of the rental. Photocopies and phone images are not accepted. If your licence is only valid in the country that issued it, carry an International Driving Permit alongside it.
- Age and experience
- The minimum age and years held vary car by car rather than by category, and the agent can decline if you do not meet the requirement for that specific vehicle. Filter on driver age when you search rather than assuming.
- A card in the main driver’s name
- Usually a physical embossed credit card belonging to the lead driver, for the deposit. Some cars accept a debit card, stated on the listing and your voucher, but it still has to be physical and personalised.
- Your cross-border choice
- Selected while you book, as a bundle rather than a single open permission. Pick the bundle covering every country on your route, because it cannot be widened at the crossing.
Roads you cannot drive
This is the one that catches renters out. Albanian rental cars are limited to paved public roads, and several well-known mountain and park routes are excluded outright, with no insurance valid on them. Plan around them:
- Berat to Përmet through the Osumi Canyon, and the SH74
- Tirana to Qafë-Shtamë Nature Park via Lake Bovilla
- Theth to Valbona over the mountains
- Memaliaj to Berat through Martallozi
- Krujë to Burreli through Qafë-Shtamë Nature Park
- Unpaved turn-offs down to the beaches
- Tomorri Mountain, Lura, Lake Koman, Korab Mountain, Qafë-Shtamë
Driving back
The car returns to Albania at the end of the rental. Cross-border one-way drop-off is not available, so plan a loop rather than a one-way run.
Drive times from Albania
Approximate driving times from a Tirana pickup. Saranda and Gjirokaster are considerably closer to the Greek border.
| From | To | Distance | Approx. drive |
|---|
| Tirana | Shkodra | 100 km | 1h 30m |
| Tirana | Podgorica | 190 km | 2h 55m |
| Tirana | Pristina | 280 km | 4h |
| Tirana | Ohrid | 190 km | 3h |
| Saranda | Ioannina | 110 km | 2h |
| Tirana | Podgorica | 190 km | 2h 55m |
Renting from Albania: common questions
What people ask most about picking up in Albania and driving out.
Which countries can I drive to from Albania?
Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Greece. They are sold as bundles rather than one open permission, so pick the bundle covering your route when you book.
Can I drive from Albania to Greece?
Yes, and Albania is the only pickup country here that offers it directly. It is sold as its own option rather than bundled with the Balkan routes. Saranda and Gjirokaster are the closest pickup towns to the Kakavia crossing.
Why does every option include Montenegro?
That is simply how the cover is packaged: each Balkan bundle pairs Montenegro with one or two other countries. The only option that leaves Montenegro out is Greece. If your trip includes Montenegro anyway, most bundles suit you.
Are there roads I am not allowed to drive?
Yes, and this is specific to Albania. Rental cars are restricted to paved public roads, and named routes including Theth to Valbona, the Osumi Canyon road and Lake Koman are excluded, with no insurance valid there. The list is on this page; check it against your route before booking a mountain trip.
Where should I pick up?
Tirana has by far the largest choice and is the natural base for the northern and eastern routes, with Shkoder an hour and a half north toward the Montenegrin border at Hani i Hotit. Saranda suits a Greece crossing, roughly half an hour from Kakavia via Gjirokaster, and Durres works well if you are arriving by ferry from Bari or Ancona.
Can I drop the car off in another country?
No. Cross-border one-way rental is not available, so the car must return to its Albanian pickup country at the end of the rental.
