Popular Airport | Afonso Pena Intl. Airport |
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Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 12 hour 50 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 10272 Km |
Tirana, the capital of Albania, makes you feel the magic of Ottoman architecture with its mosques and baths dating back to the 1600s. The surface area of Tirana, which is close to Istanbul’s, is a very calm city in terms of population. You need to use Tirana International Airport to visit this city.
It cannot be said that Tirana offer good service in terms of public transport. Until 2013, there were in-city train services that served the city along the shoreline. This line is not used now. The bus is the only means of public transport available for use in urban transport. Train services are now only an option for intercity transportation. A tourist information office is located in the Rruga Ded Gjo Luli district, north of Skanderbeg Square, which forms part of Tirana city center. We recommend you to visit this office to facilitate your access to the city. English speaking office staff can explain you how you can get to where you want to go through the maps.
Passengers who do not want to use public transport can choose to take a taxi or rent a car from the city for a more comfortable ride. The city center is quite small. So, if you have time, you can also visit the city center on foot. It is useful to remind that the frequent construction work done in the center may prevent your walk. It is also possible to rent bicycles in certain areas of the city. Although it is difficult to say that Tirana is a bicycle city, cycling is a pleasant option for short distances.
There are not many alternatives to get to Tirana International Airport from Tirana by public transport. First of all you have to come to Skanderbeg Square from where you are, then you have to transfer. Therefore, we recommend that passengers who wish to travel more comfortably should consider taxi or car rental options.
The Rinas Express, which takes you from the central square to the airport, is the only option for getting to the airport by public transport. Rinas Express is departing from the north of the Skanderbeg Square, near the other bus stops. The departure time of the buses, which operate between 6 am and 6 pm, may be earlier than the scheduled time. For this reason, we advise you to be there at least a few minutes before the departure time.
If the place you are in is located in a more remote part of the city, you have to get on one of the buses to Skanderbeg Square to get to the city center. After you arrive at the airport, you reach the terminal after passing taxi stops and car parking areas.
The train services are not providing access to the city anymore. However, it is possible to use trains, although with limited opportunities, for long distance travel. With these lines it is possible to travel to Durres, Shkodra, Elbasan Vlore and Librazhd.
MerrTaxi and SpeedTaxi are taxi stops used for intra city transportation. We recommend that you use one of these two stops. While it is possible to use a pirate taxis, many of these taxis do not use taximeters, so it is possible that you pay more for them.
You can rent a car from Rent A Car offices located in the city. However, if you are planning to stay in the city before going to the airport, it can be very difficult to find a parking place. Besides, the pavements of the roads in the city are not well. For this reason, driving can be a stress factor.
With the free Wi-Fi connection you can take advantage of at Tirana International Airport, you can use the internet from your devices, and you can spend your time untiringly until your flight. There is also a special area for the passengers who smoke in the Segafredo Bar section of the airport. In the check-in hall there are sweet shops, newspaper dealers, bookstores and jewelers. You can spend time in the Airport Bar and Piazza Restaurant in the arriving passenger area and in Segafredo Bar and Coli's Bar in the departing passenger area. Apart from that, there is also a Business Lounge at the airport.
The passengers of Afonso Pena Airport can use either the shuttle bus or municipality bus to get to the city centre easily. Also, taxis offer their services in front of the terminal building all day long. Moreover, rent a car firms are open for 24 hours for the passenger’s special requests.
Located at the exit of the terminal building of the airport, taxi information desks work nonstop to make the passengers and taxi drivers communicate with each other easily and overcome any issue. When you say the direction to the officer, who is supposed to know at least 2 languages, the officer accompanies you to the taxi and also informs you about the fare.
There are two options for the ones who wish to take a journey to the city centre by bus. Private shuttle busses of the airport runs at each 15 minutes from 5.10 to 23.55 during the day. Since these shuttle buses go to the city centre and come back without waiting, you should get off at the stop of Teatra Guaria. You can buy the bus cards (with weekly and monthly options) to be used in the public transport vehicles at the counters in the airport either in cash or by credit cart.
The municipality bus line 208 runs at each half an hour from 6 in the morning to 23.20 at night. These buses have numerous stops, therefore, you can get to the city centre half an hour later than the other buses. You can pay in cash in the bus.
You can contact any rent a car firm such as Alamo, National, Europcar, and Avis to reserve a car in advance and if you give up on this idea, you can even cancel your reservation until the very last minute without paying any fee. The passengers looking for a luxurious and comfortable trip can quickly carry out the renting procedure in one of the rent a car offices in the airport .