Can you take a train to Albania?

If you are planning to travel to Albania, you might be interested in taking a train to Albania. In this blog post, I will discuss travel by train in Albania.

Can you take a train to Albania? You cannot take a train from abroad to Albania. Because there is no rail network across the Albanian borders. There are no passenger trains to or from any of Albania’s neighbouring countries, like Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece. There are limited national trains within Albania.

In this blog post, I will discuss train travel in Albania. I will outline what trains do exist within Albania and what you can expect of the trains in Albania. I will also discuss alternative ways to travel, e.g. by taxi, by bus or by rental car, since train travel within Albania is limited.

Can you take a train to Albania from abroad?

You cannot take a train to Albania from abroad. Because there are no passenger trains between Albania and the neighbouring countries.

Albania’s neighbouring countries are Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece. However, Albania is NOT connected to the railway network of Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia or Greece.

There is a very limited number of national trains operating within Albania’s borders. However, Albania does not offer any international passenger trains.

Train travel within Albania’s borders is very limited.

Albanian Train Timetable for 2022

The trains operating within Albania are:

• Elbasan to Durres and Durres to Elbasan (operates only on Saturday and Sunday)
• Shkoder to Lac and Lac to Shkoder (operates only on Tuesday)

Train timetable from Elbasan to Durres and Durres to Elbasan

The image below is the train timetable from Elbasan to Durres and back from Durres to Elbasan. The train between Elbasan and Durres operates once per day. The train leaves Elbasan at 6:00 AM and arrives in Durres at 9:12 AM. Then the train departs Durres at 13:55 PM and arrives in Elbasan at 16:38 PM.

This train operates only on Saturday and Sunday. And this timetable is applicable from 15 March 2022 until 13 June 2022. You can always check the latest train timetable for Albania on the website of HSH Hekurudha Shqiptare (in English: Albanian Railways) here: https://hsh.com.al/

Train timetable from Shkoder to Lac and from Lac to Shkoder

The image below is the train timetable from Shkoder to Lac and from Lac to Shkoder. The train between Shkoder and Lac operates once per day. The train leaves Shkoder at 6:00 AM and arrives in Lac at 8:03 AM. Then the train from Lac departs at 13:00 PM and arrives in Shkoder at 15:13 PM.

This train operates only on Tuesday. And this timetable is applicable from 15 March 2022 until 13 June 2022. You can always check the latest train timetable for Albania on the website of HSH Hekurudha Shqiptare (in English: Albanian Railways) here: https://hsh.com.al/

The Albanian railway network was constructed for the first time in Albania after the Second World War. From the end of the Second World War until 1992, Albania was ruled by a communist dictator called Enver Hoxha. Enver Hoxha constructed rails within Albania’s borders, but no international rail connections.

Since the fall of communism in 1992, there has not been any expansion, investment or refurbishment of the Albanian rails and trains. Therefore, there is only a very limited number of trains in operation within Albania. And the trains that are currently operating are old and slow.

The Albanian trains drive at a very slow speed, so trains are not an effective method of getting from A to B within Albania. As a result, the Albanian people travel by minibuses from one city to another. And if Albanian people want to travel to Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia or Greece, they will take a car or international bus.

Below you can see a map of the Albanian railway network. As you can see there are railways between Shkoder, Tirana, Durres, Vlore and Pogradec.

IMPORTANT: Although these railways are still present in the Albanian landscape, most of these rails are not being used! Currently, there are only trains operational between Shkoder and Lac and between Elbasan and Durres. You can see the train timetables above.

Because train travel within Albania is very limited, the Albanian people prefer to travel by minibus through the country. The Albanian people call their minibuses “Furgon”. You can find the timetables of the minibuses in Albania on the website of Gjirafa Autobus here -> https://travel.gjirafa.com/

Below, I will answer some of the frequently asked questions, I received via email with regards to train travel in Albania.

Is there a train from Greece to Albania?

There is no passenger train from Greece to Albania. You cannot travel by train from Greece to Albania, because there is no railway that crosses the border between Greece and Albania. Since there is no train from Greece to Albania, your options are taking a bus from Greece to Albania or booking a flight from Greece to Albania.

Taxis from Greece and rental cars from Greece, generally won’t cross the border between Greece and Albania. Therefore, you will need to leave the rental car/taxi in Greece, cross the border and get in a new rental car/taxi in Albania.

Is there a train from Macedonia to Albania?

There is no train from Macedonia to Albania. You cannot travel by train from Macedonia to Albania, because these two countries are not connected to each other via a railway.

Since you cannot travel from Macedonia to Albania by train, the alternatives are taking an international bus, driving a rental car across the border with the permission of the car rental company and hiring a taxi to drive you across the border.

Is there a train from Kosovo to Albania?

There is no train from Kosovo to Albania. Because there are no rails between Kosovo and Albania, it is not possible to travel by train from Kosovo to Albania.

If you want to travel from Kosovo to Albania, you can take an international bus, a taxi or a rental car across the border.

Is there a train from Montenegro to Albania?

There is no train from Montenegro to Albania. You cannot travel across the border from Montenegro to Albania by train, because there are no passenger trains between Montenegro and Albania.

If you want to travel from Montenegro to Albania, you can take an international bus, a taxi or a rental car across the border.

Why are there no trains in Albania?

There are trains in Albania, but the number of trains in operation is very limited. As of 2022, there are two trains in operation:

• A train between Elbasan to Durres and back, which operates only on Saturday and Sunday. The train between Elbasan and Durres departs only 1 x time per day.
• A train between Shkoder to Lac and back, which operates only on Tuesday. The train between Shkoder and Lac departs only 1 x time per day.

You can see an image of the Albanian train timetable above. Of course, you can always check the latest train timetable for Albania on the website of HSH Hekurudha Shqiptare (in English: Albanian Railways) here: https://hsh.com.al/

The Albanian railway network and trains were constructed during the period when Albania was a communist country. From the end of the Second World War until 1992, Albania was ruled by communist dictator Enver Hoxha.

During communism, trains and rails were built for the first time in Albania. However, none of these trains crossed any international borders to the neighbouring countries. Because Albania was isolated from the rest of the world. Albania was completely isolated until 1992, similar to how North Korea is isolated right now.

Albania’s dictator was paranoid and convinced a foreign nation would attack Albania and he did not build international relations or international trade. Also, the Albanian people were not allowed to leave Albania. So in essence, the dictator had no reason to construct international rails and trains, because his aim was to isolate Albania from the rest of the world.

Does Albania have trains?

Albania does have trains. However, there are only a limited number of trains in operation within Albania.

Albania does have trains between Elbasan and Durres and between Shkoder and Lac.
These are the train lines in operation as of 2022:

• Train between Elbasan to Durres and Durres to Elbasan (operates only on Saturday and Sunday)
• Train between Shkoder to Lac and Lac to Shkoder (operates only on Tuesday)

Train timetable from Elbasan to Durres and Durres to Elbasan

The image below is the train timetable from Elbasan to Durres and back from Durres to Elbasan. The train between Elbasan and Durres operates once per day. The train leaves Elbasan at 6:00 AM and arrives in Durres at 9:12 AM. Then the train departs Durres at 13:55 PM and arrives in Elbasan at 16:38 PM.

This train operates only on Saturday and Sunday. And this timetable is applicable from 15 March 2022 until 13 June 2022. You can always check the latest train timetable for Albania on the website of HSH Hekurudha Shqiptare (in English: Albanian Railways) here: https://hsh.com.al/

Train timetable from Shkoder to Lac and from Lac to Shkoder

The image below is the train timetable from Shkoder to Lac and from Lac to Shkoder. The train between Shkoder and Lac operates once per day. The train leaves Shkoder at 6:00 AM and arrives in Lac at 8:03 AM. Then the train from Lac departs at 13:00 PM and arrives in Shkoder at 15:13 PM.

This train operates only on Tuesday. And this timetable is applicable from 15 March 2022 until 13 June 2022. You can always check the latest train timetable for Albania on the website of HSH Hekurudha Shqiptare (in English: Albanian Railways) here: https://hsh.com.al/

Albania train map

Below is an image of the Albanian train map.

IMPORTANT: The Albanian train map shows the railways that exist in Albania. However, only the railway between Shkoder and Lac and the railway between Elbasan and Durres are currently in operation.

The reason why the other railways are not in operation is due to the fact that they need investment and maintenance. These railways were constructed during the communist period from the end of the Second World War until 1992. However, since 1992, there has been little investment, refurbishment, expansion or maintenance on the railways and trains.

Tirana train station

Tirana does not have a train station currently. The train station in the city centre of Tirana was demolished in 2013. A new boulevard was created in the location where the train station of Tirana used to be.

Initially, there were still trains from the outskirts of Tirana in Kashar. So you could get on the train from Kashar to Durres. However, the railway from Kashar to Durres is not currently in operation. There is a replacement bus service between Kashar to Durres. However, it is more effective to travel to the Regional Bus Terminal of Tirana and simply take a regular minibus from Tirana to Durres.

How do I get to Albania?

You can get from abroad to Albania by flight, by bus, by taxi, by ferry or by rental car.

Getting to Albania by Flight

Albania has 1 x international airport, which is Tirana International Airport (TIA). The airport is located between the capital city Tirana and the coastal city of Durres. So it makes sense to reserve a hotel in either Tirana or Durres for your first night in Albania.

Getting to Albania by bus

You can take an international bus from Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia or Greece to Albania. Some of the international bus timetables can be hard to find online. So I suggest you start by checking the website Gjirafa Autobus here -> https://travel.gjirafa.com/

Gjirafa Autobus will show you which bus companies operate the international bus. Then you can search for that bus company on Google.

Insider tip: try accessing the bus company’s Facebook page and reaching out to the bus operator via Whatsapp, that is usually a very effective way to book a ticket or get the bus timetable.

Getting to Albania by taxi

You can take a taxi from Montenegro, Kosovo or North Macedonia to Albania. The Greek taxi drivers are not allowed to cross the Albanian border. So you can take a taxi to the Greek border and then find another taxi on the Albanian side of the border.

Getting to Albania by ferry

You can fly to the Greek Corfu island and take a 30-minute ferry ride to Albania. Corfu is a Greek island in front of the Albanian coastline. The ferry from Corfu stops in Saranda. You can book tickets with Ionian Seaways or Finikas Lines.

Getting to Albania by rental car

If you want to hire a car abroad and drive it to Albania, you must get permission from the car rental company. If the car rental company agrees, you will be charged for a Green Card Insurance document or Cross Border Fee, which will allow you to cross the border by rental car.

It is important to note, that I have not been able to find a Greek car rental company that allows for its cars to be taken to Albania. Most Greek car rental companies do not allow driving the car to Albania due to their insurance.

Related Questions

How to get from Tirana to Vlore by train? You cannot get from Tirana to Vlore by train. Because there are no passenger trains between Tirana and Vlore. The train station in Tirana was demolished and the railway to Vlore is present in the landscape but not currently in use.

How to get from Paris to Albania by train? You cannot get from Paris to Albania by train. Because Albania does not have any international railway connection. There are no rails across the Albanian borders. So to get to Albania, you must take a bus, a taxi, a rental car or a ferry.

Is there a train from Croatia to Albania? There is no train from Croatia to Albania. Because Albania does not have railways that cross the border. If you want to travel by public transport from Croatia to Albania, you can take an international bus.

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