thetrainfamilyWe have spent a lot of time figuring out how to get from Greece to Albania without your own car. There is not much information about this on the web, so here is a modest contribution:
Ferry or bus?
After all, no trains run across the border, so it was completely out of the question that we could travel by train. We therefore had to find a bus. It turned out not to be easy and our google did not immediately bear fruit. Specifically, we were going from Patras in the Peloponnese to Saranda in southern Albania, but we were willing to take other routes to cross the border between the two countries. We investigated whether we could sail to the Greek island of Corfu and sail from there to Saranda. However, it turned out that the ferries from Patras to Corfu only sail in the summer. We were going to travel in October. There is a ferry from Igoumenitsa to Corfu, which for a while seemed to be the best solution.
Our terrifying journey with Ahmeti Travel
But on some blog we found this link to Ahmeti Travel https://ahmetitravel.com to which we wrote an email. They immediately replied that the bus was traveling from Athens and, among other things, had a stop in Patras (Rio Pier – approx. 7 km. from the center of Patras). Perfect! We later found out that the bus company Maksa Travel: https://www.maksatravel.com/dromologia/ also runs the Athens-Saranda route, but we don’t know if they stop in Patras.
The trip from Patras takes 5 hours by bus. It’s a trip up and down and around many, many bends both on motorways, medium-sized roads and very small roads. We will not recommend Ahmeti Travel! The trip could have been good, but the driver drove very irresponsibly. We have taken buses and taxis many times on this trip and on our last trip in the former Soviet republics and this driver was the worst of them all. First, he was driving WAY too fast. In places where signs, e.g. stated that the speed limit was 60 km/h he was going 106, he only slows down a little under duress, he was talking on his hand phone and texting most of the trip and at the border crossing to Albania he was about to run us over while we were standing and showed passports because he absolutely wanted to drive the bus through the narrow passport control while we were standing there. A really bad experience. Fortunately, our children had been given a pill against motion sickness and were not affected by his irresponsible driving style, while we parents sat and talked until the trip was over.
Border Crossing
Apart from the risk of collision at the border, the border crossing itself went well. We got off the bus on the Greek side. There was no queue so we went straight to a gate and showed our passports. In our bus there were only six people besides the 5 of us, so also for that reason the passport control was quickly over. From the Greek border crossing we could see up to the Albanian border crossing, which we subsequently drove up to. Here, too, we had to get off the bus and go to a gate to show our passports.
Approaching the Pearl of Saranda
We arrived alive in Saranda. The bus stopped at Ahmeti Travel’s office. So you can get from Greece to Albania by bus. Not exactly comfortable, but it worked. Saranda, on the other hand, we would highly recommend. It is a beautiful pearl of the coast of Albania. Read our impressions of the city in a later blog.
