Car hire Tirana airport: Albania from TIA to Saranda

Car hire Tirana airport is the natural start of a road trip through Albania. From Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza (TIA), the capital, the beaches of Durrës and the long road south to Saranda are all within driving range. On 1 October 2026, Vrooem offered four rental companies here: Green Motion, U-Save, Capital Car Rental and EMR. Three of them hand over the keys at rental offices beside the Hotel Airport Tirana, opposite the main car park, so there is no shuttle to wait for. Below: where to find each office, what to bring, where you may cross a border and the road rules on the way to the Ionian coast.

Every rule below comes from the official sources listed at the end, checked on 1 October 2026. Rules differ per company and per package, so the conditions on your own booking confirmation are the ones that count.

Tirana airport: where you land and how you leave

According to the airport’s own directions, TIA lies 17 kilometres outside Tirana; Capital Car Rental and EMR give their airport address as Rinas. The airport road, SH60 (Rruga e Aeroportit), links the terminal to the SH2 motorway between Tirana and Durrës, so you start on the same road whether you head for the capital or for the coast.

The airport has 2,600 parking spaces, its website says, and the three walk-in rental offices sit opposite the main car park rather than inside the terminal.

Car hire Tirana airport: where each company meets you

Each route below is quoted from the pickup instructions the companies sent with their offers on Vrooem on 1 October 2026.

Company	Where to go	Opening hours
Green Motion	Leave the terminal and walk to the left to the Hotel Airport Tirana; the office is on the right-hand side of the hotel	08:30 to 22:00, every day
U-Save	Walk along the left-hand side of the terminal to the same hotel; the station is on its right-hand side	09:00 to 22:00, every day
Capital Car Rental	Leave the arrivals hall, walk about 200 metres through the main car park and turn right to the hotel; the office is in the car rental centre beside it	Monday to Sunday, 08:30 to 21:00
EMR	Its office list gives Ruga Nene Tereza, Rinas; confirm the exact handover point with EMR’s reservations team before you fly	Ask EMR when you confirm

Green Motion and U-Save supplied their opening hours with their offers on Vrooem; Capital Car Rental’s come from its website, and its pickup instructions give a direct line and a WhatsApp number for the airport office.

Green Motion and U-Save belong to the same group: on 26 September 2022, U-Save’s news page reported that Green Motion had acquired it, and at Tirana both brands describe the same spot beside the hotel; our Green Motion vs U-Save comparison explains the link.

Green Motion and U-Save: four packages and what they include

Every Green Motion and U-Save car at TIA comes with a choice of four packages: Basic, Plus, Premium and Premium Plus. Their Albania terms (Green Motion version 2.8.1, issued in June 2026, and U-Save version 2.9.1, issued in April 2026) set the excess, the amount you are liable for if the car is damaged, and the deposit blocked on your card. For the smallest car groups:

Package	Green Motion excess	Green Motion deposit	U-Save excess	U-Save deposit
Basic	800 euros	500 euros	800 euros	500 euros
Plus	400 euros	250 euros	400 euros	250 euros
Premium	zero	125 euros	200 euros	125 euros
Premium Plus	zero	50 euros	zero	50 euros

Larger cars carry higher amounts. At Green Motion, Basic rises to an excess of 2,000 euros and a deposit of 1,000 euros for the biggest groups, while the Premium Plus deposit stays at 50 euros for every group.

The other rules in the two sets of terms:

• Cover: third-party liability is included in the rate. Glass and tyres are covered with Green Motion Premium and Premium Plus; at U-Save, only Premium Plus covers them.
• Mileage: unlimited in all four packages, at both brands.
• Fuel: with Green Motion Basic and Plus, the car goes back with the same level it had at pickup (“like for like”); Premium and Premium Plus are full to full. U-Save’s terms describe like for like. Missing fuel is charged for, plus a refuelling fee.
• Roads: U-Save’s terms do not allow its cars on unpaved roads.
• Cancellation: Basic is non-refundable at both brands. Plus and Premium give a partial refund that shrinks as pickup gets closer. Premium Plus has free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup.
• Age and licence: the minimum age is 21 at both, with a young driver surcharge up to 25. The maximum is 75 at Green Motion and 70 at U-Save, with a senior surcharge in the last years before it. The licence must be held for at least 2 years at Green Motion and 1 year at U-Save.

On Vrooem you pick one of the four packages before you pay, so the excess is settled at home, not at the counter at TIA. More on the packages: our Green Motion guide.

Capital Car Rental and EMR

Capital Car Rental: a Tirana company

According to its website, Capital Car Rental was founded in Tirana in July 2019 and also has a city office on Rruga Ndrek Luca. It lists four requirements: personal ID, a valid driving licence, a credit card and being older than 20. Its fleet runs from a Kia Picanto to a seven-seat Peugeot 5008 and a Renault Trafic minivan, and in our search of 1 October 2026, nine of its eleven cars at TIA were automatics. Its about page names Kosovo, Montenegro, Greece and North Macedonia among the nearby countries it serves; for taking a hire car across a border, ask before you book.

EMR: the widest choice at TIA on Vrooem

EMR Car Rental’s official office list includes Tirana International Airport, in Rinas, alongside offices in Turkey and in Albania’s neighbours Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo, among other countries. In our search of 1 October 2026, EMR supplied 48 of the 82 cars at TIA, from city cars such as the Hyundai i10 to seven and nine-seat people carriers, 19 of them automatics. EMR offers on Vrooem show each car’s minimum age, years of licence and any mileage limit. Its office list gives a reservations number and email for Tirana: use them to confirm the handover point.

Documents: licence, permit and ID

Albania’s Road Code (article 133) lets visitors drive on a licence or an international driving permit issued abroad, for the vehicles that licence covers, as long as they have not been resident in Albania for more than a year. A licence that does not follow the models set by the international agreements Albania has signed must come with an official Albanian translation or an equivalent document.

The rental companies add their own rules. Green Motion and U-Save ask for:

• An original, physical licence with a photo. Digital driving licences are not accepted.
• A licence in English or the Latin alphabet. If yours is not, an international driving permit is required.
• A passport or national ID card for the main driver.

For UK drivers, GOV.UK says a 1968 international driving permit may be useful alongside your UK licence, that the 1949 permit is no longer accepted and that a permit cannot be bought outside the UK, so get one before you travel. Travellers who hire a car should check the company’s requirements before they go, it adds. The permit itself is explained in our guide to documents for car hire abroad.

Deposit and credit card: what to bring

Can you rent at Tirana airport without a deposit, or with a debit card? The official answers differ per company.

• Green Motion and U-Save: the deposit is a pre-authorisation on a Visa or Mastercard in the main driver’s name. American Express is not accepted for the deposit. The card must pass chip and PIN at the station, hold enough funds to cover the excess and expire at least 2 months after the return date.
• Debit cards: Green Motion accepts a debit card for the deposit only with Premium and Premium Plus. U-Save does not accept debit cards for the deposit at all.
• Release: both brands say a pre-authorisation is usually released within 5 to 15 days, though the card type and the issuing country can make it take longer.
• Capital Car Rental: a credit card is one of the four requirements on its website.
• EMR: the deposit is shown with each offer on Vrooem; check it before you pay.

No package at Green Motion or U-Save is deposit-free; the lowest block comes with Premium Plus, as the table above shows. For the difference between the two amounts, see excess and deposit explained.

Crossing borders from Albania with a hire car

Albania borders Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Greece. Green Motion and U-Save allow trips to these and a few other countries, strictly on request and for a fee per country:

Country	Green Motion	U-Save
Montenegro	on request	on request
Kosovo	on request	on request
North Macedonia	on request	on request
Greece	on request	on request
Croatia	on request	on request
Bosnia and Herzegovina	not listed	on request

Both brands state that countries not on their list are not allowed. Capital Car Rental and EMR do not publish a cross-border list for Tirana, so get written agreement before you book.

Make sure every country you will enter is on the rental agreement, and keep the cross-border papers the company gives you in the car. U-Save’s terms state that its cars are permitted on ferries; Green Motion’s Albania terms do not mention ferries, so ask the branch first. Continuing north along the Adriatic? Our guide to renting a car in Croatia picks up from there.

Late flights, one-way trips and returns

For late or delayed flights, these rules apply:

• Holding the car: Green Motion keeps your car for 2.5 hours past the booked pickup time, U-Save for 3 hours; arrive later and the booking becomes a non-refundable no-show. Book the time your flight lands, not an earlier one, and tell the branch about any delay: both say a flight number is for information only.
• Out of hours: both brands treat service outside opening hours as on request, without a guarantee and for an extra fee, so arrange it with the branch before you fly.
• Late return: Green Motion allows a grace period of 1 hour and U-Save of 59 minutes before an extra charge applies.
• One-way: Green Motion has five Albanian branches (Tirana Airport, Tirana Downtown, Durres Port, Saranda Port and Shkodra Downtown) and lists the other four as possible drop-off points for an airport rental; its terms add a one-way fee and allow only the drop-off points offered at booking. U-Save’s only Albanian station is the airport.

Driving in Albania: the rules of the road

Car hire in Albania means driving on the right, under the Road Code (law no. 8378 of 1998, in the consolidated version amended up to law no. 21/2023). The main rules for visitors:

• Speed limits for cars: 40 km/h in built-up areas, 80 km/h on secondary and local roads outside towns, 90 km/h on main roads outside towns and 130 km/h on motorways. Road authorities can set other limits with signs.
• Alcohol: article 184 bans driving after drinking alcohol. Fines start in the lowest measured band, up to 0.3 g/l, and above that band the licence is suspended as well. For drivers who have held their licence for less than three years, a suspension applies from the lowest band. The only safe amount is none.
• Seat belts: the driver and all passengers in a car fitted with belts must wear them on every journey.
• Phones: using a phone while driving is banned; hands-free use is allowed.

GOV.UK warns that road surfaces are poor, especially in rural areas, that at night you should watch for unmarked roadworks, potholes and vehicles without lights, and that local driving is often aggressive and erratic: leave space and drive defensively. After an accident, even a minor one, stay at the scene until the police arrive, as leaving can lead to charges and a fine. Report it to the rental company too: Green Motion’s and U-Save’s terms say an accident not reported truthfully voids the cover in your package. Emergency numbers: police 112, ambulance 127, fire service 128.

From Tirana to Saranda: the coast road or the inland valley

Saranda, on the Ionian Sea opposite the island of Corfu, lies at the far end of the Albanian Riviera. Two routes lead there from the airport; take one each way.

The coast road. Albania’s National Tourism Agency describes the Riviera as stretching from Vlorë to Sarandë and Ksamil, with the journey starting at the Llogara Pass (Qafa e Llogarasë). From the pass the road drops to a string of coastal villages: Palasa, Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Qeparo, Borsh and Lukovë, with bays such as Gjipe and Grama along the way. Drive this mountain stretch in daylight, given GOV.UK’s warnings about night driving, and use a low gear on the long descents.

The inland route. Gjirokastër, which the agency calls the “City of Stone”, sits on the slopes of Mali i Gjerë above the Drino valley. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its castle is among the largest and best preserved in Albania. Further north, Berat, on both banks of the Osum river, is known for windows that rise one above another up the hillside, below a 13th-century castle. Both make good stops on the way back to the airport.

Around Saranda. The sights on the agency’s page for the town include Butrint National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site; the Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër), a natural spring near the city; and the three islands off Ksamil.

A checklist for pickup and return at TIA

1. Bring your passport or ID card, your physical licence (and a permit if you need one) and a chip-and-PIN credit card in the main driver’s name.
2. Have every scratch noted before you sign, and film the windscreen and tyres: Green Motion covers glass and tyres only in Premium and Premium Plus, U-Save only in Premium Plus.
3. Photograph the fuel gauge and the odometer, so a like-for-like or full-to-full return is easy to prove. Our fuel policy guide explains both.
4. Leaving Albania? Ask for the cross-border papers at pickup, not on the road.
5. Return the car during opening hours: under Green Motion’s and U-Save’s terms, a car left out of hours stays your responsibility until staff check it in.

Booking car hire at Tirana airport on Vrooem

In our search of 1 October 2026, for a pickup on 4 November and a seven-day rental, Vrooem showed 82 cars at TIA: 48 from EMR, 18 from Green Motion, 11 from Capital Car Rental and 5 from U-Save. Of those, 36 were automatics, and EMR, Green Motion and Capital Car Rental all had people carriers with 7 to 9 seats. Weighing up a gearbox for the climb to Llogara? See automatic or manual; drivers under 25 can read up on the young driver surcharge.

Each Vrooem booking also comes with a free travel eSIM, handy for calling the rental office or loading the route south before you leave the car park. Continuing into Greece? Our Greece car hire guide covers the mainland and the islands.

Sources

Checked on 1 October 2026: Green Motion Tirana Airport location data, Green Motion locations in Albania, Green Motion terms for Albania, U-Save Tirana Airport location data, U-Save locations in Albania, U-Save terms for Albania, acquisition of U-Save by Green Motion, Capital Car Rental, about Capital Car Rental, EMR office list, Tirana International Airport, driving to Tirana airport, Road Code of Albania, consolidated text, GOV.UK travel advice for Albania on safety and security and getting help, and the National Tourism Agency of Albania on the Riviera, Sarandë, Gjirokastër and Berat. Pickup routes, opening hours and fleet: supplied by the rental companies, as shown on Vrooem on 1 October 2026.