While I’ve enjoyed this trip through the Balkans immensely, I keep telling Dan that we’re going to have to do it all over again. With a car. Yes it’s the perfect place to hitchhike, but it would be even more perfect for a road trip! Because oh how many times did I stare longingly out the window wishing we could stop for a photo, or turn off onto that windy road to see where it leads.
Well, longing stares begone, we rented a car!
We rented this car from Albania Car Rentals at Tirana Airport. We could have gotten a car for half the price from a global chain, but they all require credit cards, which neither Dan nor I is apparently grown up to have ever bothered getting. Whoops. But if you do have a credit card you can save 10% on car rental in Albania with this link.
But who knew that driving in our own (for the week) car would feel like such a luxury? Is this what being a grown up feels like?
Atlas in hand and a full week to drive wherever we wanted we did what any proper grown up would do: Google the world’s most dangerous adventurous roads, find one in Albania, and get on it.
Lucky for us, this road happens to start in the Ottoman town of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nicknamed the “town of a thousand windows.” In fact, Berat might just well be Albania’s most beautiful town (Albania is more about the stunning landscapes than superb architecture and city planning).
After stuffing ourselves with some tasty Albanian food we hopped back in our car and headed onto the SH74. Now, this is the main road heading south from Berat and if you look at the map it looks like it must be a highway:
Except that in real life the road actually looks like this:
Okay, not actually.
This was just the start of the road – the part where we could still see people driving on it. Most of the 75 kilometer stretch to Këlcyrë was much worse. Think impossibly deep holes and ditches, and lots and lots of rocks and mud.
I wish I could have photographed the worse bits, but Dan was far too stressed about getting the car through to tolerate my blogger habits. And Dan never gets stressed.
I mean, it was our fault for choosing to take the “adventurous” route. But stress aside, the drive did come with some spectacular views!
After the first 5-10 kilometers, the only living souls we saw were these guys ^^
But as we approached Këlcyrë we started to pass some villages which though at first appearing to be totally abandoned, turned out to still have a few houses with people in them in amongst the vacant (half fallen down) buildings. What a place to live!
No but seriously, what a place to live. So remote, but oh so beautiful.
This was the last photo I took, because as you’ll notice, the sun was setting. Which meant really bad news for us, because those potholes would have been impossible get across in the dark.
Luckily we made it onto a paved road just before darkness really set in, and oh my goodness, how I suddenly appreciated the man-made wonder of paved roads! Seriously, how clever are we humans? (Or you know, those humans who come up with clever things like that).
An absurd number of hours after having set off from Tirana we finally arrived in Sarandë, thoroughly exhausted. But what better way to quickly regain our energy than to wake up the next morning to this gorgeous view?
Our week on the Albanian Riviera was set to be positively magical!
(And yes, that is a bunker Dan is standing on. Because Albania.)
Would you have taken the adventurous route or headed straight for the beach?
Lisi Ledbetter says
this looks brilliant! how was the car doing on that road?!
Silvia says
Ha well there were lots of scary scraping noises, but the car ran fine afterwards so I guess it did pretty well?
Alan Waterworth says
Hi!
Reading your blog here in Tsamil in July 2018, was considering driving this route TOMORROW as it looks the most logical route from here to Berat. However, Google maps was sending us on a much longer (in appearance) route via Fier! Seemed strange so I checked satellite images (NASA has its uses sometimes 😜) and saw what appeared to be a dirt road on the SH74 route. Google search brought up your blog and a couple of other you tube videos. Glad we checked as we’re in a brand new rental car (a small Skoda Fabia, not really suited for off road driving) hired at the airport. Although it would be an adventure driving over there, it would probably cost us the 600 Euros deposit and other insurance costs.
So yeah, thanks for the blog! You might have saved us quite a lot of money 😄
Kind regards and best wishes from Norway
Silvia says
Ah glad to hear the post proved helpful!
Andrea says
Haha, that’s definitely the adventurous way to go. So glad I never took that route!
Silvia says
Yeah you probably were better off!
Rona says
But for those of us who travelled that road it’s an adventure we’ll remember till our dying day!!
Lea says
Very amusing post, as always!
Have you noticed the letters written on the mountains, on the 3rd pic (starting for the top)? what was written there?
Silvia says
I did notice the letters, but they didn’t make any sense! They must stand for something?
Léa says
In France, come farmers always “write” big letters in fields to advertise for what they sell. So sometimes those huge “potato” or “Aspargus” or “Milk” popping out of nowhere ahah. Maybe it’s the same here?
Bledi says
It is a slogan from communism era.
Silvia says
Thanks for solving the mystery, Bledi!
Silvia says
Oh, so interesting!
Kelly says
Ahh this would TOTALLY stress me out! I just had my first ever car rental experience abroad and it was in Germany, aka one of the countries with the most advanced highway systems in the world, and I was STILL nervous. Although, that partially had to do with the fact that I was constantly surrounded by speeding sports cars that cost twice as much as my college tuition, which I’m guessing wasn’t as much of a problem for you hahah.
Silvia says
Haha no, Albania was at least a safer place to drive in that regard. I’ve never driven on the Autobahn, but I’m pretty sure I would be terrified too.
Rachel says
Getting your own wheels after so long on public transport is so awesomely freeing isn’t it! Suddenly the world opens up to so many more opportunities.
I remember how it felt when a bought a car in Australia after 7 months of planes, trains, taxis, tuktuks and buses, it totally changed the way we travelled, we slowed down massively and took the slow road, stopping everywhere!
Even hiring a motorbike or scooter for the day can have a similar effect.
I love travelling by train, but for the ultimate freedom you need your own vehicle.
That road sounds crazy!
Silvia says
So freeing! I’m usually happy to not rely on a car, but after this I secretly really want to buy one now.
Melanie Fontaine says
I absolutely love road trips! They’re definitely my favorite way to travel, but unfortunately I’m a) terrified of driving and b) too young to rent without having to pay exorbitant fees, so I only ever get to do it all that often. I’m usually in favor of the adventurous route (well, if I’m not the one who’s driving! 😉 ), but seeing the insane blue of the sea kind of makes me want to say that getting to that beach is a priority! 😉
Silvia says
Seriously. Once we got to the beach I couldn’t believe we had spent anytime anywhere else in Albania!
becky hutner says
Why does your harrowing, pothole-filled journey make me want to go to Albania? It seems like a rougher budget, Italy, no? Am I getting remotely the right vibe?
Silvia says
I hadn’t thought of that, but YES!
Petra says
Can’t believe you took that road! 🙂 Ha ha… we nearly took it, too, because – let’s admit it – it looks better on maps… in the end, it was our return route from our rafting session on Vjosa, so we were in a 4×4 with a raft on top. I’ll always remember the views!
Silvia says
4×4 with a raft definitely sounds like the way to do that route!
Justine says
Holy crap, that is the best bunker view I have ever seen!
Silvia says
Right? Albania is bizarre, but certainly beautiful!
Shaun says
Cool cool!
´Kathi says
Amazing road…
If you ever make it back to Kyrgyzstan go and check out Altyn Arashan, the hot springs near Karakol. It took our driver almost 2 1/2 hours to get up there, and it’s only 18km! Hiking or horseback riding would also be an option but our way was the more adventurous. Just don’t drive yourself. 😉
Silvia says
Whoa, that sounds like an insane road! Definitely want to check it out, haha.
Julie says
Those are some really beautiful views!
Camille says
Haha, I completely understand the craving for a road trip, I’ve been feeling the same! I think my brain just associates it with ultimate freedom… I watched a documentary once about some of the world’s most dangerous roads in Albania and Georgia, and they did show that there are still some people living in near-total isolation along those roads. Crazy! Needless to say, it made me want to go, and so does this post!
Silvia says
Oh wow, that sounds like an interesting documentary!
Rona says
Do go! It’s unforgettable – both this road and the whole country. I first went there back in 2002 and have been almost every year since including two months with an NGO in the northen mountains coping with the aftermath of the war in Kosova.
JAR says
Silvia, I am going on holiday to Albania in 2 weeks time, and your blog is so inspiring!! You liked the beaches so much, I added a night to Vlore to the 2 nights already planned in Sarande.
My children prefer to travel by public transport when on holiday (I’ve brought them up well…), but since we’re a family of 5 and I get terrible motion sickness, we’re renting a car. I hope all goes well.
Silvia says
Renting a car is definitely a good idea if you’re prone to motion sickness – some of the roads are so windy! I really hope you love Albania as much as I did!
Jean-Michel says
Hi there.
I have just arrived in Berat and googled SH74 to find out if anybody else had already experienced this so called ‘highway’.
It seems you did!!
I fan testimony for your friends and other readers from all other the world that the pics do not evening show how BAD the road is. It took me 4 hrs to drive the 40km from Buve to Berat and i coule décently not drive faster without distroying both the rental car and my girldfriend!!!
Silvia says
Haha I’m glad the car and girlfriend survived! I almost felt as though we wouldn’t.
Rona says
We travelled this road back in July 2002 on an adventurous road trip we undertook from England with just a map and sense of adventure! From the map it looked like the road was pretty normal from Kelcyre to Berat and would take a couple of hours in our small rented Opel! We were used to unsurfaced roads throughout Albania but this was something different again!! We set off after lunch and after two hours over a very rough surface we did wonder whether to turn back south, but figured it couldn’t get much worse – and the views were amazing! We had to stop every now and then to remove love-making tortoises from the centre of the road!! We seemed to loop round and round getting ever new views of exactly the same mountain. It was very lovely but disconcerting that we didn’t seem to be leaving it behind as we progressed on our way! It got more and more remote and the rocks and pot holes more challenging, the drops at the side of the road scary in places. The road became increasingly like a mountain track. At a high point in the landscape were a couple of inhabited houses where the folks looked incredulous that two middle-aged tourists were heading up this way. Dusk fell then it got pitch dark and there was not a light to be seen. From the map it looked like we’d soon see some signs of life as we must be approaching Berat but only a pitch dark landscape and a rough mountian track lit by our little headlights. Our poor tyres! BUT we made it. At midnight we reached Berat. Back then just one hotel – the Tomori in the centre, There was a dim light in the entrance and someone just leaving – I jumped out and ran up the steps, asking in my limited Albanian if we could stay. Back then we had no mobile phones and no internet to do any pre-booking! We were the only hotel guests that night and it was the poshest hotel we’d come across in the whole of Albania! Albania was not on the tourist or backpacker trail in 2002. The bed that night was very welcome indeed and our car had survived. I was so interested to read in the recent reviews from other travellers that the road remains the same challenge and same adventure even now! Unforgettable and fantastic!
Rowley says
Yes, I did the same in 2008 with my partner pillion on motorbike with full luggage. Laughingly she said on leaving Berat, oh yes! just keep following them… she was referring to a cortège of vehicles in fact a funeral party that had convinced her the road surely must be ok if others are using it. We were already partly convinced by the Guidebook that said it had been a paved road since the 1930s originally built by the Italian invasion forces. How wrong could we be, our luck ran out when we crashed and got tangled up under our heavy 1000cc motorbike at the midway point on a mountain pass that had re-sculptured the road with a landslide. After recovering from this shock we were pursued for another hour by an ever expanding pack of sheep dogs, at one time 6-8 aggressively jumping and snarling to block our way as if the ruts and potholes were not enough to stop us reaching a safe max speed of 20 kph. We were saved by the intervention of concerned shepherds who magically disarmed the dogs from our path. It was a full day’s journey just to get onto a paved section that would lead us to Kelcyrë and then onto Përmet before dusk and arriving in Sarandë at late evening when dark. On the plus side the beauty of the scenery is memorable and should the road / track along this route ever be upgraded then without hesitation I’d feel on my bike doing it again. I thought to write this now, because at this moment I am in Berat again, this time contemplating how best to ride up Mt. Tomorri tomorrow before the cold of the Autumn sets in.
Allie says
Hi Silvia! Despite the rough road, would you recommend this drive? The views look beautiful! If so, is a 4-wheel drive vehicle necessary for an Albania road trip?
Silvia says
I would recommend it, if you’re comfortable driving! We didn’t have 4-wheel drive and did fine, so I guess it’s possible without it.
Iver says
Hi Allie. My girlfriend and I drove this route in a Opel Corsa this afternoon, as we thought it would be a nice detour. Some places my girlfriend had to leave the car and walk in front of as she was afraid of the steep slopes where the road had partially been eaten by rainwater, in addition to the fact that we at some places needed to remove weight from the car in order to pass the big rocks and pot holes. If you rent a 4×4 with some additional ground clearance you should be good to go on this road! I memory for life.
AM says
We actually drove it in May 2018! Definitely recommend a 4×4 and nerves of steel for anyone considering the drive. Beautiful sights though! Thanks for the follow-up!
AM says
After seeing these pictures, I was inspired and convinced my husband it was a must during our May 2018 trip to Albania. While the sights were just as beautiful as the pictures, I would NOT recommend it for most people. We had a little Skoda sedan (no 4×4) and good portions of the road were either washed out or barely any better than a rough hiking trail. It took us 7-8 hours to make the drive. The first three hours or so the dirt roads are pretty good and the views are lovely. I would recommend driving that portion (and turning around when it gets forested) if you just want to see part of the countryside. If you want to drive the full thing, I highly recommend a Jeep Wrangler or similar, pack a lunch, and be prepared to pee in the woods! It probably would have been fun in the right vehicle, but instead we were way too stressed about getting stuck and/or falling off a mountain to enjoy the second half of it.
claudia says
Hi There,
So saddened to read this – I’ve just fixed our itinerary ohrid, berat, then a gorge I forget the name of, then Permet (sh75) bit it looks too hairy for me to stomach – is it really really that bad???
Great posts btw, just booked 6 nights in Ksamil 🙂
Lee says
Hi, you think it’s possible to drive the SH-74 on mopeds?
Me and a pal are heading to Albania in a couple weeks time and planning on getting scooters to drive all over the country. Google maps has the route from Gjirokaster to Berat heading over to the West and then north of Berat before heading back down on the SH-72.
I can see the SH-74 and the road connecting to it from SH-4 looks a lot quicker, however I don’t really fancy getting stranded! Would the roads be too rough for mopeds?
Silvia says
Hm I think it would be doable, but slow.
Francesco says
Did it today (september 2023) with a “panda 4×4 climbing” (~16 cm clearance) from permet to berat.
The first part to ballaban is asphalt
The second part till the junction to komarak is being rebuilt, and because of works we had to bypass on a secondary road (baddish) through komarak.
From joining back the road to a few km before buze, all good (seems a road works construction site). Last few km to buze I would say need some clearance (with the panda no issue at all though). From buze to berat easy peasy.
It took us in total 4 hours from ballaran to the start of the asphalt just before berat. Never did we scratch the bottom and have to stop or check the road ahead, thanks to the narrow and short car (we could often choose different parts of the road to use).
Definitely doable with enough clearance (the longer and wider the car, the more clearance needed – but if there is mud a 4×4 can save your butt if you get stuck).
Also, definitely used by locals nowadays as we crossed many (also crossed some tourists trying with low cars, but maybe they only went to buze and back).