Moving Day – Our New Airbnb in Sarande (Albania)
It feels good to be writing a proper slow-travel moving day post again. We haven’t done this since we stayed in Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina) in September 2024!
On January 8th we finally wrapped up our time in Spain, and headed off to our next slow-travel destination, Sarande, Albania, to escape the winter weather.
So how did we get to our Airbnb in Sarande? And how do we like our new place?
Read on to find out!
Why Visit Sarande?
Short answer: we were looking for a good place to overwinter outside the Schengen Zone!
And since we already had a positive opinion of Albania from our stay back in November/December 2024, coming back and settling down on the Ionian coast for a couple of months was an easy sell.
Sarande has turned into quite a popular coastal destination during post-COVID times, to the point where the summers are said to be dreadful with overpopulation and price gouging.
Not our kind of place at first glance.
But winter is a different story.
After September, Sarande depopulates by ~80% and temperatures never get that cold by northern USA standards, with winter highs reaching the low 60s F.
So this completely changes the equation for us!
The surrounding area also has many cute towns within easy bus/driving distance, as well as mountains, beaches, hiking trails, and historic landmarks that are all worth seeing.
And the cherry on top is that Sarande is rumored to have a vibrant expat community, many of whom are active hikers.
Sweet.
Needless to say, Sarande is setting itself up to be a great destination for us.
Getting to Sarande from Barcelona
Although it wasn’t particularly hard to get there, it takes planing and motivation to get to Sarande from western Europe.
And the fact that we were already familiar with Albania and how things worked helped too.
On January 8th we flew from Barcelona (Spain) to Tirana (Albania) on a one-way, direct, red-eye flight with Wizz Air. Including checked bag fees, our airfare totaled $241.56 USD, quite a bit more than the flights we took from Tirana (Albania) to Madrid (Spain) back in December!
But still, ~$121 USD per ticket is pretty reasonable.
We arrived at Tirana International Airport at 1:30 am (January 9) without issue. We then picked up our bags, scanned our passports at an automated customs stand, withdrew local cash at the airport ATM, and exited without ever needing to interact with anyone!
We then walked to the airport hotel we booked in advance, Hotel Vila Zeus. Thankfully, once we got oriented it was only a 7-minute walk.
We got checked in without issue (the attendant spoke English), paid for our night’s stay (4,950 ALL/$51.80 USD), and then collapsed on our nice fluffy king-sized bed.
We slept in as late as possible, but we woke up and got ready by 10 am so we could take advantage of breakfast, included with the price of the room. It was actually a pretty nice spread and was tasty!
Our plan was to milk our breakfast as long as we could, and then check out of our room at 11 am.
We would then hang out in the comfortable hotel lobby until 11:30 am. At 11:30 am the hotel attendant offered to call us a taxi to take us to the North & South Bus Terminal in the outskirts of Tirana.
Once there we would buy tickets for the 12:30 pm bus to Sarande and hopefully arrive around 4 hours after departure.
It all went off without a hitch.
The 25-minute taxi ride to the bus station cost 1,200 ALL ($12.56 USD) with tip. The driver was very nice and treated us well, despite our inability to communicate without using Google Translate.
When we arrived at the bus station, we immediately went to the Sarande bus ticket stand and paid 3,400 ALL ($35.58 USD) cash for 2 tickets for the 12:30 pm bus.
With tickets in hand, we approached our bus, had our luggage loaded, and claimed our seats. And at 12:30 pm sharp, the bus was off!
The trip took around 4.5 hours, with a 30-minute pit stop just past the halfway point.
The bus traveled through some pretty spectacular mountain passes and the ride was definitely not boring.
We pulled into Sarande at around 5 pm, a little road weary from 24 hours of travel, but otherwise fine.
We then made the 10-minute walk to our Airbnb at the eastern end of the coastal promenade in Sarande.
Welcome To Our New Airbnb In Sarande!
As usual, we found our long-stay Airbnb in Sarande using the detailed methods described in our post: A TTT Guide to Long-Term Airbnb Stays – How to Get a Cheap Apartment that Doesn’t Drive You Crazy.
And we are very, very pleased!
On the first floor of a building on a hill overlooking the Ionian Sea, you first enter our combined kitchen/dining room/living room when going through our front door.
The kitchen has tons of storage, plenty of pots, pans, and utensils, a big refrigerator, 4 burner stove w/oven, several coffee makers, and a dishwasher! No microwave though, which is pretty common in Albania.
Our living room is fantastic, with a massive sectional couch, flat screen television, and a spectacular view of the Sarande waterfront!
We even have our own balcony, with lounge chairs, and tables for sipping beverages and enjoying the scenery.
Our bedroom is pretty great too, with a wall-sized wardrobe, nightstands, and super comfy queen-sized bed. We even have an exit to the balcony from here!
And the bathroom is fine, with compact shower, toilet, washing machine (!), sink, storage, and bidet…should one be inclined to use it.
So for all of this, including utilities and 35 mbps download speed internet, we are paying $22.04 USD/night (including a 67% long-stay discount). This is about 25% of what we were paying in Barcelona, with FAR more amenities!
And a final great perk about our apartment is that it is only a 3-minute walk to the Sarande waterfront promenade!
I sense nightly coastal walks in our future.
To be sure, this is one of the sweeter deals we have ever had for a place this well equipped, with this location, and with this kind of view.
I think we are going to like it here. 🙂
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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