How do I get from Prishtina to Tirana? Bus, taxi, car, train, prices

If you are planning to travel from Prishtina to Tirana, this blog post will explain to you how you can get from Prishtina to Tirana by bus, by taxi, by car, by train or by flight. 

How do I get from Prishtina to Tirana? You can get from Prishtina to Tirana by bus, taxi or rental car. A bus ticket costs 15 EUR p.p. Buses depart between 4 AM and 23 PM. A taxi from Prishtina to Tirana costs 110-170 EUR. A rental car from Prishtina to Tirana costs at least 30 euros per day. There are no direct flights and no trains. 

In this blog post, I will explain how you can get from Pristina to Tirana by bus, by taxi or by rental car. I will also discuss flight options, travel time required and train travel between Prishtina and Tirana. I have a price comparison of what taxi drivers charge from Pristina to Tirana and what you can expect to pay for a rental car. 

Getting from Prishtina to Tirana by bus, taxi or car

In this paragraph, I will give you a quick summary of how you can travel from Prishtina to Tirana. I will discuss bus travel, taxi travel, rental car, flights and trains. More details can be found below on each of the modes of transportation. 

Pristina to Tirana by bus (quick summary)

• A bus ticket from Pristina to Tirana costs 15 euros per person.
• Buses from Pristina to Tirana depart between 4:00 AM and 23:00 PM. 
• I have a detailed bus timetable from Pristina to Tirana below.
• Buses depart from the bus terminal called “Stacioni i Autobusave, Lagjja Kalabri(Emshir), Prishtinë”
• Buses arrive at the International bus terminal in Tirana called “Stacioni Qendror i Linjave Nderkombetare, Rruga Ali Kolonja, Tirana, Albania”

Pristina to Tirana by taxi (quick summary)

• A taxi from Pristina to Tirana will cost you between 110 – 170 euros. 
• Most taxi drivers quoted a price between 150-170 euros for a ride from Pristina to Tirana. 
• You can find a price comparison of the taxi rates from different independent taxi companies below (scroll down).

Pristina to Tirana by rental car (quick summary)

• A rental car in Pristina costs at least 30 euros per day. 
• For 30 euros per day, you will be offered a Citroen C3, Fort Fiesta or Skoda Fabia or something similar. 
• Car rental companies do allow you to drive the car across the border to Tirana in Albania. However, some car rental companies charge extra fees varying between 20 euros in total or 5 euros extra per day. 
• I do have a detailed price comparison of different car rental companies in Pristina below (scroll down). 

Pristina to Tirana by train (quick summary)

• There are no international passenger trains between Pristina and Tirana. Because there is no railway between Pristina to Tirana. So you cannot take a train to travel from Pristina to Tirana.

Pristina to Tirana flights

There are no direct flights from Pristina to Tirana. If you look at popular flight search websites, like Google Flights or Skyscanner, you won’t find direct flights from Pristina to Tirana. The only flights offered are indirect flights with at least 1 stopover. 

With prices of 200-300 euros and more, buying a flight ticket with a stopover does not make sense. As it will cost you more money and time than any bus ticket or private taxi. Remember that a journey from Pristina to Tirana by road will only take you approximately 4 hours. 

How to get from Prishtina to Tirana by bus?

You can get from Prishtina to Tirana by bus. Buses from Prishtina to Tirana depart between 04:00 AM and 23:00 PM. A bus ticket from Prishtina to Tirana costs 15 euros per person. 

Pristina to Tirana bus timetable

There are buses from Prishtina to Tirana between 4:00 AM and 23:00 PM every day. This is the bus timetable from Pristina to Tirana.

• 4:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Memi Reisen. 
• 5:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Arditi Tours.
• 6:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Kabashi Tours.
• 6:30 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Sharr Travel.
• 8:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Arditi Tours.
• 10:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Vellezrit Thaqi.
• 11:00 AM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Arditi Tours.
• 12:30 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Albani Tours.
• 13:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Shpresa AL.
• 14:30 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Arbeni Tours.
• 15:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Tirana Metropol.
• 16:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Arditi Tours.
• 17:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Sharr Travel.
• 19:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Kei Reisen.
• 22:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Albani Tours
• 23:00 PM – There is a bus from Pristina to Tirana operated by Tirana Metropol.

The bus journey from Pristina to Tirana will take roughly 4 hours. Of course, the journey time does depend on traffic and time spent waiting at the border. 

Pristina to Tirana bus ticket

A bus ticket from Pristina to Tirana costs 15 euros per person. You can buy your bus ticket with cash at the bus station. In fact, payment by cash is preferred and expected by many bus companies in Kosovo and Albania. 

I often receive questions about booking bus tickets online. Booking bus tickets online and paying online is not common practice in Kosovo and Albania. Therefore, I do recommend you pay in cash. 

If you want to double-check the bus timetable. You will always get the most up-to-date bus information by going to the bus terminal in-person early. 

That being said, each of the above buses is operated by a different company. So you could see if you can find the bus company on Google or Facebook and get in touch with them via WhatsApp or Messenger. This way you can verify the timetable. But bus drivers will still expect you to pay cash at the bus terminal.

Pristina to Tirana bus terminal

The bus from Pristina to Tirana departs from the bus terminal in Pristina. 

Pristina bus terminal 

Stacioni i Autobusave, Lagjja Kalabri(Emshir), Prishtinë

You can see the location of the Pristina bus terminal on a Google Map here: https://goo.gl/maps/N7mjXp5ryNNNLGkM7 

The bus from Pristina to Tirana will drop you off at the International Bus Terminal in Tirana. 

The international bus terminal in Tirana

Stacioni Qendror i Linjave Nderkombetare
Rruga Ali Kolonja, Tirana, Albania

You can see the location of the International bus terminal in Tirana on a Google Map here: https://goo.gl/maps/3fNkymMrALQiv5n86 

The International Bus Terminal in Tirana is a 15-minute walk from the central Skanderbeg Square in Tirana.

How to get from Prishtina to Tirana by taxi?

You can get from Pristina to Tirana by taxi. A taxi from Pristina to Tirana will cost you between 110 – 170 euros. Most taxi drivers quoted a price between 150-170 euros for a ride from Pristina to Tirana. 

To give you a good insight into what a taxi from Pristina to Tirana costs, I reached out to several independent taxi companies in Pristina and requested their rates. Below you can see a price comparison for Pristina to Tirana taxis:

• Blue Taxi Pristina charges 110 euros for a taxi from Pristina to Tirana.
• Online Taxi Pristina charges 170 euros for a taxi from Pristina to the centre of Tirana.
• Hej Taxi Pristina charges 150 euros for a taxi from Pristina to Tirana.
• Gutu Taxi Prstina charges 170 euros for a taxi from Pristina to Tirana.
• Taxi Dallas Prishtina charges 170 euros for a taxi from Pristina to Tirana. 

You can reach out to independent taxi drivers via WhatsApp. Not all taxi drivers have their own website, so you can find contact phone numbers on Google Maps or Facebook for instance. 

How to get from Prishtina to Tirana by rental car?

You can rent a car in Pristina and drive to Tirana independently. A rental car in Pristina will cost you at least 30 euros per day. 

To give you an insight into what car rental companies charge in Pristina, I reached out to several car rental companies and compared their rates. Below you will see a price comparison of rental cars in Pristina and what it costs to drive the car to Tirana. 

• Hertz Kosovo in Pristina charges 210 euros for 7 days for a Skoda Fabia. So their price per day is 30 euros. There is no extra fee for driving the rental car to Tirana, it is included in the price. 
• Prishtina Rent a Car charges 250 euros for 7 days for a Manual Skoda Fabia or Fort Fiesta from 2018. The price per day is 35 euros per day. There is an extra fee of 20 euros to drive the rental car to Tirana. 
• Vali Rent a car in Pristina charges 30 euros per day for a Citroen C3. You can drive the car from Prishtina to Tirana. Actually, Vali Rent a Car in Pristina initially offered 25 euros per day, but increased their rate to 30 euros per day, when I asked about driving to Tirana in Albania.
• Rent a Car Exclusive Pristina offered an economy car for 30 euros per day. That is their cheapest car rental available. 

Can I get from Prishtina to Tirana by train?

You cannot get from Pristina to Tirana by train. A Pristina to Tirana train does not exist. Simply said, there is no railway track from Pristina to Tirana, so you cannot travel between the two cities by train. 

Albania does not have any international passenger trains. So whereas many European countries are connected through international railways. Albania is not connected to any other European or Balkan country. 

The main reason for this is that the railways in Albania were constructed during the communist period. From the end of the Second World War until 1992, Albania was ruled by a communist regime. During this communist period, Albania was isolated from the rest of the world, similar to North Korea’s isolation today. 

As a result, the railway tracks constructed were never international railways, but always national train routes. Many of the old railway tracks are visible in the landscape when you travel through Albania. But as little as 2-3 trains operated within Albania’s borders per week, due to a lack of investment and a lack of interest in the trains since the fall of communism in 1922.

How long does it take to get from Prishtina to Tirana?

It does take 4 hours to get from Pristina to Tirana by bus, by taxi or by car. If you drive from Prishtina to Tirana, you will drive via Prizren, Vermica, Kukes, Milot and Fushe Kruja to Tirana. 

How many kilometres from Prishtina to Tirana?

There are 260 kilometres between Pristina and Tirana. This journey will take you approximately 4 hours by car, by bus or by taxi. There are no direct flights from Pristina to Tirana. 

Pristina to Tirana km = 260 kilometres

Related Questions

How much does it cost to get from Tirana to Pristina? It does cost 15 euros per person by bus, 130-180 euros by taxi or at least 20-25 euros for a basic rental car + border crossing fee to get from Tirana to Pristina. Buses depart between 5:45 AM and 20:00 PM. The journey takes approximately 4 hours. 

How to get from Pristina to Tirana airport? You can get from Pristina to Tirana airport directly by private taxi. A private taxi will cost you between 110-170 euros. There are no direct flights from Pristina to Tirana airport, only expensive flights with stopovers. International buses from Pristina to Tirana drop you off at the International Bus Terminal, and from there take a taxi for 20-25 euros to Tirana airport.

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