Cheap flights to Albania: Ryanair, Wizz Air and when to book

Albania is cheap to fly to and there are direct connections from much of Europe. A return ticket for around 60 euros is not a fluke but a normal price if you know when to look. We are flying in early October ourselves for about 60 euros return, which for a two hour flight to the Mediterranean is decent.

Who flies to Tirana

The direct connections to Tirana (TIA airport) are held mostly by two low cost carriers. From Prague, for example:

Ryanair	around 6 flights a week
Wizz Air	around 3 flights a week
Flight time	about 2 hours

Together that is close to a daily connection, so even a long weekend works.

What it costs

A return ticket usually lands between 55 and 100 euros if you avoid booking last minute and the peak of summer. One way fares start well below 40 euros. July and August are the most expensive, November tends to be the cheapest month.

When to book

The best prices are usually around ten weeks before departure. Book last minute and you often pay double. A practical approach:

1. Find the fare through a comparison site such as kiwi.com or Google Flights to see which day is cheapest.
2. Then buy the ticket directly from the airline. It tends to be cheaper and changes or cancellations are far easier to handle.
3. Set a price alert for your dates, both low cost carriers run sales in bursts.
4. Try shifting the flight by a day or two. The gap between a Friday and a Tuesday can be significant.

Baggage is half the price

With low cost airlines the fare is only the start. Checked baggage and seat selection can easily double what you pay. For a week in Albania cabin baggage is plenty, and you can wash clothes on the spot. Our apartment has a washing machine, so travelling light works even for longer stays.

From the airport to Shkodër

Tirana is not the destination but the transfer point. Shkodër is about an hour and a half away and you have several options, from a shared shuttle through the bus to a taxi straight to the door. We wrote it up in From Tirana to Shkodër.

The most comfortable option is the direct airport shuttle Hermes: 10 EUR per person, and you can reserve a seat on the 14:00 bus in advance on WhatsApp at +355 67 609 0109 or by email at [email protected]. It drops you in Shkodër on Rruga Marin Bicikemi, about 500 metres from our apartment, an easy five minute walk even with luggage. A taxi across Shkodër costs around 500 lekë, roughly 5 EUR.

Why go sooner rather than later

Flights are only part of the cost, and the part that is not rising. What is rising are prices on the ground, from two directions at once.

The Albanian lek keeps strengthening. A euro that bought roughly 140 lekë a decade ago is worth about 94 today. That means the same euro gets you a third less than it did. If you pay in euros, your holiday gets more expensive every year even if prices in lekë never move.

And Albania is in a tourism boom. Arrivals have jumped by tens of percent and passed eleven million in 2025. Accommodation and tour prices are rising with it, especially on the coast.

The north of the country is still noticeably quieter and cheaper than the south and the Riviera. But it holds that anyone who wants to see Albania while it is still affordable should go now rather than in three years.

Cash or card

The exchange rate is one thing, but how you pay saves you more. The real rate is roughly 95 lekë to the euro. Shops and restaurants sometimes count it as 90 lekë to the euro, which is no longer in your favour.

• Cards work without trouble in the better restaurants. A good lunch or dinner with wine or beer comes to 20 EUR per person at most.
• Eating well at local prices, meaning under 10 EUR per person, needs cash.
• Markets are cash only. Vegetables, chestnut honey and the like will not take a card.
• Paying by card also tends to mean shopping in the pricier places. Good local olive oil costs 1,100 lekë in cash, while the very same oil in a card accepting supermarket costs 1,500.

Our recommendation: withdraw one larger amount in lekë from an ATM as soon as you arrive. Use the card in restaurants and for ordinary shopping, and keep the cash for markets and small shops.

When is the best time to fly

• May, June and September are the best mix of weather, prices and calm.
• July and August are the most expensive and the busiest, but you can swim everywhere.
• October is underrated: the mountains are beautiful, the Komani Lake ferry runs until 5 November and fares are low.
• November to March has the cheapest flights, but the mountains are mostly closed.

What you can fit into each period is laid out in our one week northern Albania itinerary.

Once you have the ticket

All that is left is where to sleep. Our apartment in Shkodër is the starting point for the mountains, the lake and the sea, with free bikes and a washing machine. Have a look at availability.