Best Place to Exchange Money in Tirana

Where to change money in Tirana

Small exchange offices, signed kambim valutor, are easy to find in central Tirana. The Bank of Albania licenses foreign exchange bureaus and publishes a register of them, so a shop that can show its licence is the safer choice. A 2020 Exit News guide found these shops usually gave a better rate than the airport or a card withdrawal.

• Licensed exchange offices, city centre - The streets near Skanderbeg Square are the obvious place to compare a few. No single business is recommended here: compare the pound buying rate at a few counters, and get the lek total confirmed before handing over any notes.
• Exchange desk, Tirana airport check-in area - The airport lists a money-exchange desk in the check-in area. No hours or rates are published, so change only enough for the trip into town.

Changing money at the airport

Tirana International Airport Nene Tereza (TIA), also called Rinas, is 17 km from the centre, the municipality says. Its directory lists a BKT cash machine in the check-in area, and a Raiffeisen Bank cash machine and a Euronet point in arrivals. No hours are given for any of them, so do not rely on the desk for a very early or late flight.

The LU-NA airport bus leaves every hour, around the clock, from behind the Palace of Opera and Ballet and takes 30 to 40 minutes. The airport gives the fare as 400 lek or EUR 4.50, and the municipality also quotes 400 lek. A second hourly LU-NA line serves the North and South Bus Terminal from 07:00 to 18:00 (08:00 to 18:00 from the airport) for 300 lek or EUR 3.50. Neither page says how to pay, so have lek notes ready. Official taxis, branded TAXI Tirana Airport and run by Auto Holiday Albania, cost about 2,200 lek to the centre, the airport says.

ATMs and cards in Tirana

Cash machines are common, but a local bank may charge a foreign card. Raiffeisen Bank Albania, with more than 186 machines nationwide, says an acceptance fee may apply to cards issued abroad, without giving an amount. Its machines may also offer dynamic currency conversion: decline it, and the withdrawal goes through in local currency at your card issuer's rate. No foreign-card fee could be confirmed for BKT or other banks, so read each screen before you confirm.

Lek cannot be bought outside Albania, Exit News said in 2020. The same guide said cards were not widely taken in shops and restaurants, though catching on, and that most places in Tirana took euros at a rate worth agreeing first. No newer source confirmed either point, so carry a lek float. The euro has also weakened: Tirana Times reported in July 2026 that the euro had dropped to 93.62 lek at one point that week, compared with roughly 140 in 2013, so paying in lek is usually the better deal.

Paying for transport in Tirana

A city bus ride costs 40 lek, the figure in a municipal press release that appears to date from 2022; in August 2024 Albanian media reported the mayor saying the fare had not been raised, and no later change was found. Keep coins and small notes for it. Much of the centre around Skanderbeg Square is easy to walk.

No official tariff was found for taxis in town. Exit News called them cheap in 2020 and advised asking for a receipt before paying; agree the fare before you set off.

Good to know

• Some people still quote 'old lek', a habit left from the 1965 reform that swapped notes at 10 to 1, and the Bank of Albania ran a campaign in 2021 because it muddles prices. If a price sounds ten times too high, ask whether it is in new lek.
• Notes run from 200 to 10,000 lek, with older notes still circulating beside the new series, and coins from 1 to 100 lek. The old 100 lek note lost its legal-tender status when 2011 ended, so refuse one.
• Arriving or leaving with 10,000 euros or more in cash, in any currency, means a declaration to Albanian customs; a first failure to declare is fined from 20,000 lek.
• A UK tourist can stay visa-free for 90 days in any 180; the FCDO wants your passport to have 3 months left after the day you leave.