Can you drive in Albania on a foreign licence, and how do you exchange it for an Albanian one?

The Road Code lets holders of a foreign or international licence drive the vehicles it covers as long as they have not been resident in Albania for more than one year. A licence that does not follow the international format needs an official Albanian translation; an international driving permit from home avoids that. Once you hold a residence permit and pass the year, the foreign licence stops being valid for you in Albania, even with an international permit, and an Albanian licence is required. Visitors without residence keep driving on their home licence.

The conversion is done at the regional transport office (DRSHTRR) and costs 4,000 lek for the file and verification plus 4,500 lek for the conversion itself, about EUR 92 in total. Licences from EU states, the USA and Canada, and from countries with bilateral recognition agreements, are exchanged without a theory or driving test; the DPSHTRR list names Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Serbia, Germany, Moldova, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The United Kingdom is not on the list although GOV.UK says no test is needed; check with DRSHTRR before you rely on it. You hand in the original licence, which is sent back to the issuing country.

Bring: a notarised translation of your passport and residence permit (valid for more than a year), a notarised translated copy of the licence, a medical certificate no older than six months, and for US and Canadian licences an apostilled verification letter from the issuing authority. In Tirana the Albanian licence is issued the same day; elsewhere within three working days.

Pump prices are capped by the Transparency Board and change with the oil price, often several times a week; in mid-October 2026 diesel was capped at 213 lek a litre (about EUR 2.31) and petrol at 190 lek (EUR 2.06), more than in most of the EU. Distances are short: 45 km from Tirana airport to Durrës, 155 km to Vlorë, 285 km to Sarandë. In Durrës, Vlorë and Sarandë you can live without a car; a flat with a parking space matters most in summer, when the seaside streets fill up.