If you plan on doing a road trip in Europe, Albania might not be the first country that pop into your mind. But the Albanian coastline along the Adriatic Sea is stunning and well worth the drive. And getting there might not be as hard or expensive as you think.

If you’re like me, and Google Maps is your main form of navigation when doing a road trip to Albania, it will probably suggest a few different routes to get down to there. At least if you’re anywhere north of the country. And although you might save a couple of hours choosing one route over another, it might be worth looking into how many country borders you’ll have to cross as this can increase or decrease the cost of tolls and ferries.

Crossing 6 countries

If you, again like me, decide on the 2129 km long route from Germany to Albania, you will drive all the way through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro before finally arriving in Albania. And for most parts it will be – in the words of Klarna – a pretty smooth drive. 

At regular intervals there are also rest stops (or rastplatz as they are called in German) all the way until the northern part of Croatia. These places are great for a lunch break at one of the picnic tables (or in your van) and for using the bathroom. Some places also has a gas station connected to the stops where you can fuel and get food, snacks or a coffee.

If you feel comfortable, you can also park up and make it your stop for the night. Just make sure to check for any tow signs.  

Cost of driving through Northern Europe

Many European countries issue a road toll and for the above route this includes Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. For Austria and Slovenia you have the option of either buying the toll vignette before entering the country – there will be big signs from the road to let you know where to pull off and buy it – or you can buy it online. If you do buy it online, make sure to buy it from an authorized website. 

Toll prices as of September 2022:

• Austria 10-day e-vignette 9.60 euro
• Slovenia 1 week e-vignette 30.00 euro (which is a lot considering you might only be driving in the country for less than a few hours) 

In Austria you might also drive through a few tunnels (in my case there were two of them) for which you will have to pay additional toll:

• The tunnel Mautstelle Bosruck costs 6.00 euros.
• The tunnel Maustelle Gleinalm costs 10.00 euros.

In contrary to the vignettes, you don’t have to worry about pre-paying the toll for the tunnels as there are toll booths right before you enter the tunnel. And no, cash is not needed as you can pay with card.

Toll tickets in Croatia

The toll booths also applies to Croatia, where a ticket system is used. The way it works is that you collect a ticket at a toll booth before driving onto the road. When you later exit the road you’ll hand over the ticket to a toll officer and pay the amount.

The price is determined by the length you drove on that same road, so the final amount can be a bit of a nerve wrecker before you know the damage done to your budget.

Traveling across pretty much all of Croatia along the coast costs about 432 kn (Croatian Kuna), which is roughly 57 euros. 

Arriving in the Balkans

From Germany until the border of Croatia, your passport can be stored away safely as there are no passports controls or border checks. But from there on out, they are at every border. And you’re not just showing your passport once – you have to show it at least three times in one single border control.

And even though you might find it unnecessary to stop and show your passport three times at the same border, do not try to skip one of them. The border control officers will be mad. I speak from experience.

Another word of advice is to make sure to not move your vehicle until specifically asked to do so when entering Albania. Otherwise you could be getting looks that attempt to kill. Again, speaking from experience.

Apart from the border controls, another change you’ll experience when arriving in the Balkans is the condition of the roads. You will encounter quite a few road works and bumps on the roads in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. But for most part they are all well-kept (at least decent) and several lanes wide. But in Bosnia-Herzegovina it’s a different ball game.

If you’re unlucky there might be a major road closure forcing you onto another road, which is everything but wide, even and well-kept. So even though you might feel like you’re almost in Albania, if you’re in Bosnia-Herzegovina – you’re really not.

But once you’ll get into Montenegro it all turns around again. And you’ll be driving on heavenly roads for the first section of the country.

Ending the road trip in Albania

So how long does driving to Albania take? If you’re on a time crunch it can be done in roughly 38 hours. Start driving at 6.30 am and drive until midnight. You’ll then sleep for 6 hours at a rest stop alongside the road and get back at it again at around 7 am. You’ll then be at your destination no later than 8 pm.

So there you go. A road trip to Albania really doesn’t have to be hard or very expensive.

PS. Driving at night in Albania lacks a serious number of streetlights and the drivers can be somewhat aggressive. If this happens, remember to take a few deep breaths and do a few “Whoosa’s” from the movie Bad Boys and you’ll be good to keep going.

Want to do a road trip in Europe but not sure where to start?