Bus from Sarandë To Tirana (How To)
Are you thinking about getting from Sarandë To Tirana? The cheapest way to get across the country of Albania is the bus. Everything you need to know is in this article.
Here I will tell you about the journey, and the best way to make your journey tolerable
When most think about a bus for 4/5 hours in Albania they don’t think of leather reclining chairs with extra legroom and free bar service. Your imagining exactly what I’m experiencing right now (I’m writing this article on my phone on the Sanrandë to Tirana bus) let me explain it case you are not.
The Overall Experience
- Health and safety -none
- Fearing for your life – at times
- Being crushed – all the time
- Worry that your bag is on the side of the road -in the back of your mind.
- The views- incredible
- Price – reasonable
Let’s start with getting the tickets.
Worried that they were going to run out of tickets, you would think that you would book ahead. Think Again.
Don’t book ahead you get them on the day and just before you plan to travel. It’s an old paper system that involved them crossing off seats as they are purchased. If you buy them too early, it might mess up the system. We purchased our tickets 30 mins before the bus was about to leave and got tickets for seats 13&14 out of 21+ seats. By the time we left 22 tickets had been sold
“What about them running out of seats you might ask”… don’t worry about that. I’ll explain how they solve this problem later.
When we tried to book the day before we got told “You people worry too much, get them before you go” I’m English and Holly is Scottish… Read into this what you want. It didn’t offend us.
How much are the Tickets for Sarandë To Tirana?
They cost 15 euros each person each way or 3000lek (which we paid) or 3400lek which we were quoted the day before. Guess it changes on the day.
Can you buy the tickets online?
Don’t bother it’s very old school, stick to the paper system.
Where can you buy the tickets?
Type this into google maps: Trans Butrinti Bus Agency This is both the location of the Bus station and the booking office.
Getting on the bus
Where is the bus station in Saranda?
The “bus station” in Sarandë is just a row of buses on a road. (type this into Google: Trans Butrinti Bus Agency)
The ticket office will point out your “bus”, and you can double-check with the driver and the window of the bus to make sure it’s the correct one.
About the bus
Probably wondering why I keep saying “bus”. This is because the bus is a minivan
Which would normally hold 15 people in decent-sized legroom. But this bus holds 21+ people with no legroom. it has enough room for 4 small suitcases in the boot, but worry they will fit your bag on the bus!
My backpack is currently in the boot (well I hope it is, he keeps rearranging it putting bags in and out). Where Holly’s bag is sitting in the aisle beside us… yes, it takes up the whole aisle but it’s not the only one in the aisle. There are many cases and bags found here. It’s chaos!
The journey
Let’s start with a positive before I again scare you off this journey. The views are really nice. Mountains everywhere. Beautiful scenery.
Our Experience.
I’m currently on seat 13, unlucky for some. The unlucky ones were me and Holly. I’m currently sitting on a chair with my knees dug into the chair in front, I have no choice as I’m 6ft and the space in-between seats is ridiculous. This is made worse by the fact I have a box under my feet, which is the wheel arch.
I decided today I was going to wear shorts. Not a good idea. My knees were getting carpet burns on the chair in front. Holly gave me her bandana to put over my knees to protect them.
This wasn’t the worst seat. There is a middle seat (at the back of the bus)that couldn’t fit a small child In without getting crushed. There is a grown man in that seat.
But don’t worry there is more. You know how I said they don’t worry about how many tickets they sell… there was a man sitting on a stall in the aisle at one point before he said something in Albanian to the driver and got off the bus. Personally, I think he didn’t want to take the 4-hour journey sitting in the aisle of the bus with the bags on a stall.
After the false start of the bus nearly breaking down, right at the start of the journey we finally got going.
Only 30 mins into the journey to Tirana a kid was sick … Holly has a phobia of sickness…. Luckily my noise-cancelling headphones saved the day.
The journey is pain.
But it got us there!
Are there toilets on board?
There are no toilets, WiFi or decent air quality on board.
There is a stop halfway at a petrol station with toilets and a coffee shop and store. We got about 15 minutes but after using the toilet we stood next to the bus waiting for the driver to return as I’m 90% sure he would leave without us if we were late back. Saying this, no one got left behind.
Going From Saranda to Durrës
You are likely to be on the same bus as Tirana as this is the same route. Just a heads up it doesn’t stop at Durrës bus station, you will have to walk from the side of the road into the city.
Two people didn’t like this when they got dropped off there. They kicked off and tried to pressure the driver to take them to the bus station. The driver got annoyed and drove dangerously while having an argument with the people. Saying you get off here or Tirana.
To be fair to the driver, it wasn’t a far walk into the city, the people were being very entitled. The walk from the side of the road was closer than the bus station in Tirana to the centre of the city.
The Bus Station in Tirana
This place is mad, It’s a bit out of the city, Like an hour’s walk. There are plenty of taxis around, but to save money take the bus.
Bus from the Tirana Bus station to the city
There is a bus that takes you into the city (Well kinda circles the outside of the city)
The way to find the bus stop, head out of the car park which is the bus station, and try not to get run over. If you cross the road you will see a crowd of people. that’s the bus stop.
Do what we did, ask someone if this is the bus to the city centre and you will get a yeah from someone.
You can buy a ticket onboard, it cost 70Lek.
Tips for staying sain on the bus to Tirana
- Wear trousers, but nothing too warm
- Dont look out the driver’s window, don’t watch him overtake lorries on narrow roads
- Noise-cancelling headphones help with the noise of sick and bad bus music (These are mine)
- Do something constructive or something you can concentrate on, I’m writing this and Holly is shopping for clothes online
- Lose weight, well the weight is not the problem if you can lose a couple of inches from your height that would be perfect
- Bring water, just don’t drink it as there are no bathrooms
- Something to help you sleep. Pills, vodka and or a slap.
- Don’t get sunburned the day before, my neck isn’t great right now.
Other options than getting a bus from Sanrandë to Tirana
- Taxi (which will be expensive)
- Walk (48 hours… Good luck)
- Ferry and bus (very unlikely to be the time you want)
- Hire a car (The route doesn’t look too hard to drive)
- There are no trains (Maybe build a train line?)
- Just take the bus! Suck it up
Want to see a video of the journey?
Head over to the Funnybackpacker on Youtube, You see us backpacking Europe and The video of our Journey on this bus!
See you Soon!