Tirana to Himara: Bus Times, Fares & the Llogara Crossing

Every bus from Tirana to Himara has to cross the Llogara area, either over the old pass road or through the tunnel underneath it - there’s no inland shortcut that reaches this stretch of coast, so the climb isn’t a scenic detour, it’s just the route. Six direct services a day cover the 216 km in about three hours ten minutes at best, more typically three and a half, for a flat EUR 16 booked online (roughly USD 19 or GBP 14 at current rates; GjirafaTravel, checked August 2026). There’s no flight and no train, and flying into Tirana’s airport doesn’t get you there in one hop either - most guides skip the shuttle that actually fixes it.

Money splits two ways here: book the direct bus online and you pay in euros, turn up at the terminal and you’re quoted in lek. The whole corridor also runs on a beach-season rhythm - furgons and some direct departures thin out from November to April, so treat any specific time below as a starting point and reconfirm before you travel.

Tirana to Himara at a glance

All four run the same SH8 corridor south through Fier and Vlora, and three of them land within about half an hour of each other. Only the Vlora change adds real hours, and most of those go on waiting for the connection.

The direct bus: six departures, two operators, real terminals

Two companies split this route between them: Olgeno Travel & Tours and Riviera Tours. GjirafaTravel’s own listing shows six bookable departures a day from Tirana to Himara - 07:00, 09:00, 10:30, 13:00, 15:30 and 18:00, alternating between the two operators - and seven coming back the other way, from Himara to Tirana: 05:15, 07:00, 11:00, 12:30, 15:00, 18:00 and 19:30. That’s what the platform shows; local furgons and seasonal extras may add to it, so treat six and seven as a floor, not a ceiling.

Southbound the range is tight: the fastest run is 3 hours 10 minutes, the slowest 3 hours 45. Northbound is less even. The 15:00 and 19:30 Olgeno departures and all three Riviera Tours runs cover the ground in 3 to 3 hours 40, matching the southbound pattern - but Olgeno’s 07:00 and 12:30 services are slower, multi-stop runs that take 5 hours 30 and 4 hours 30 respectively, which is also why GjirafaTravel’s own quoted average for this direction, 3 hours 51, sits well above what most of the individual departures actually take. If time matters for an early or midday bus back, ask whether it’s one of those two first.

Fares are a flat EUR 16 whichever departure you book through GjirafaTravel, online, in both directions. Local guides quote a walk-up cash fare of 1,200 to 1,500 lek instead - at the Bank of Albania’s rate of roughly 92.3 lek to the euro, that’s EUR 13.00 to 16.25, so cash isn’t reliably cheaper here: at the top of that range it costs more than booking online. Budget EUR 16 (roughly USD 19 or GBP 14) either way.

Where you actually get on and off matters more than usual on this route, because the two operators don’t share a stop. In Tirana both leave from the Regional Bus Terminal (North & South Albania) - the same combined stop that handles Durres, Vlora, Berat and the south. It’s well northwest of the centre, so build the ride out there into your schedule. In Himara it splits by operator: Olgeno’s buses arrive at Himare Station, while Riviera Tours drops you at the MALPOS Petrol stop instead. If someone’s meeting you, check which stop your ticket actually names - the two aren’t the same place.

Crossing Llogara: pass or tunnel, and why every bus does it

This is the one thing that separates the Himara run from the longer one to Saranda: some Tirana-Saranda buses duck inland via Tepelene and skip the coast entirely, but nothing on this route does that. Himara sits on the coast road itself, so every departure runs south through Fier and Vlora and then climbs to Llogara before dropping back to sea level at Himara. You don’t get to pick the scenic option here. For this particular trip, it’s the only one there is.

The climb happens one of two ways. The old Llogara Pass road switchbacks up to about 1,027 m before the long drop to the Riviera; the Llogara Tunnel, open since 2024, bores straight through and turns roughly the same crossing into about seven minutes. Drivers get to choose between them. Bus passengers don’t - it comes down to whichever way that particular coach happens to go. A rate card has been published for the tunnel: 250 lek one way for a car, 1,000 lek for vans and buses, with the 5,000 lek top rate kept for heavy vehicles. When Albanian reporters checked the plaza on 18 July 2026, vehicles were still passing free and no start date had been announced. Either way, it isn’t something you’ll be billed for directly - any toll that does apply is the operator’s cost to fold into your ticket, not a separate charge at your seat. Our Llogara Pass guide covers the crossing itself in full, including the paragliding and the national park either side of the road.

Flying into Tirana: two shuttles, only one skips the city

If you’re landing at Tirana International Airport rather than starting in the city, don’t automatically ride into the centre first - a second airport bus line goes straight to the terminal you need. The airport’s own page lists a Luna-operated shuttle running South and North Bus Terminal to Airport to South and North Bus Terminal, hourly, 07:00 to 18:00, for 300 lek (about EUR 3), taking 20 to 30 minutes. Land inside that window and the fix is simple: take this shuttle straight to the Regional Bus Terminal and catch any of the six Himara departures above, no detour into the city at all.

Outside 07:00-18:00, that line isn’t running, and the fallback is the other airport bus - a 24-hour, hourly service to Skanderbeg Square in the city centre for 400 lek (about EUR 4) - followed by a taxi or local transport out to the Regional Bus Terminal, which adds real time and cost. Full detail on the citywide airport bus, taxi fares and renting at the terminal is in our Tirana airport transfers guide - it covers the Skanderbeg Square line, not this Regional Bus Terminal shuttle.

Whichever line you take, the last bus to Himara leaves Tirana at 18:00, and that cutoff is specific to the bus. Land later than that and a scheduled departure is off the table until morning - but a private transfer isn’t on anyone’s timetable, and a driver will still take you down that night. Confirm the fare when you book, since a night pickup won’t necessarily be quoted at the daytime rate.

GjirafaTravel also sells a combined “airport to Himara” ticket for around EUR 18-20, bundling the two legs into one booking. What you’re buying is convenience: the same shuttle-plus-bus connection above, sold as one purchase instead of two. Book the legs yourself (300 lek plus EUR 16) and you land at roughly the same EUR 19.

Driving yourself, or changing in Vlora

Renting gives you control the timetable doesn’t: stop at the pass for photos, detour to a beach short of Himara, or leave exactly when you want. Plan on roughly the same 3h10 to 3h45 the bus takes for the driving itself, on the same SH8 route through Fier and Vlora - longer if you stop, which is the point. Read how to rent a car in Albania before you book - insurance and deposit terms vary a lot between agencies, and some policies rule out rough tracks off the main road.

There’s also a connection worth knowing about if you’re already stopping in Vlora rather than treating it as a shortcut. Tirana to Vlora runs about 150 km in two and a half to three hours for 500 lek (about EUR 5.40 at today’s rate) - full detail in our Tirana to Vlora guide. From Vlora, a Bregasi bus covers the last 73 km to Himara in about 2 hours 30 for EUR 8, arriving at the same MALPOS Petrol stop the direct service uses - via the old pass road, which is why it doesn’t simply subtract from the 216 km total above (a car through the tunnel covers the same stretch in closer to 62 km). Treat the Bregasi schedule as a floor here too: it runs just twice a day, at 10:00 and 12:30, and furgons work this coast in season. Add the legs together and you’re realistically looking at 5 hours or more, door to door, and only if your Tirana-Vlora bus lands in time for one of those two departures - it only makes sense if Vlora was already part of your plan. Our Vlora to Saranda guide covers that corridor, furgons included, if Himara turns out to be a stop rather than your endpoint.

Private transfer: door to door for a price

A pre-booked private transfer takes you from your actual address, airport arrivals, or a Tirana hotel, straight to your accommodation in Himara - no terminal, no waiting for a scheduled departure. Expect roughly EUR 130-160 for a sedan or EUR 170-185 for a minivan seating up to eight, whether you start in the city or at the airport. Split four ways that’s about EUR 33 a head - still roughly double the EUR 16 bus fare, so the case for it is comfort and a fixed departure time, not price. Book a day or two ahead in July and August, when the route is busiest.

When the direct bus isn’t the right call

For most trips from Tirana to Himara, the direct bus is the easy default: six departures, a flat EUR 16, no changes, and it crosses the same pass or tunnel a car would use anyway. It stops being the obvious choice in a few specific situations.

Landing after 18:00 is one - the last bus has already gone, so it’s a night in Tirana and the first morning departure, or a private transfer, which runs to no timetable and will still get you to Himara that night. A group of four, or a lot of luggage, is another: split four ways a transfer runs about EUR 33 a head against EUR 16 on the bus - worth it for some groups for the fixed departure and the door-to-door driver. And if the trip itself is the point - stopping at the Llogara viewpoint, detouring to a beach, timing your own day - a rental car is the right call, not because it beats the bus on speed on this road, but because it’s the only option where stopping doesn’t cost you anything.

Once you’re in town, our Himara travel guide covers the beaches, the old castle village and where to base yourself. If you’re continuing down the coast rather than stopping here, Tirana to Saranda covers the longer run further south past the same pass, and is Albania expensive puts this trip’s cost into the wider budget picture for whatever comes after it.