Albania insurance

I was charged €50 at border for insurance because no green card as Carole Nash would only give me 1 for Croatia and only for 2 weeks and I had to pick date and have been travelling aimlessly for 2 months
No office at border crossing from Greece and had to call agent
I had no choice really as had paid for hotel in FYROM
I want to go to Albania but can't afford more like this
Any idea of costs or which orders have sales for insurance
BTW Its a great country

EyeCake said:

I was charged €50 at border for insurance because no green card as Carole Nash would only give me 1 for Croatia and only for 2 weeks and I had to pick date and have been travelling aimlessly for 2 months
No office at border crossing from Greece and had to call agent
I had no choice really as had paid for hotel in FYROM
I want to go to Albania but can't afford more like this
Any idea of costs or which orders have sales for insurance
BTW Its a great country

Click to expand...

Was there in 2009. As a rough guide it goes like this:

Montenegro €10
Bosnia (on the coast we didn't need to pay as it is a tiny transit strip between the two sections of Croatia)
Albania €10 (although in our case we got across for free for some unknown reason)
Kosovo €21
FYROM €50 (As you Know)
Serbia €80 (but they didn't let us in)

I see you are not registered so maybe contact me through my website www.everywherevirtually.com for more info

Cheers

Jon

Thanks for quick reply
Think i'll skip Serbia
What a shame

EyeCake said:

Thanks for quick reply
Think i'll skip Serbia
What a shame

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That's what we had to do. The border guards were being arseholes. In fact it is the same border where it all kicked off recently and the Serbs set fire to the Kosovan facilities. It is quite a contrast. The Kosovans have new offices and border facilities with clean, crisp uniforms, they employed women and it felt very EU.

The Serbs on the other hand were wearing old uniforms, there were only men in residence. Their white gun holsters were scratched and worn and their offices dilapidated. They said Kosovo was not a legitimate country and as it is part of Serbia we would have needed a Serbian border stamp at the Macedonian border which of course doesn't exist and they knew it . I'm sure they have let people through before but like I say they were just being arseholes. It's a shame really because I know quite a few Serbian bikers and I wanted to see the place. Oh well, their loss and Bulgaria's gain.

it would be a shame to miss serbia!! email me at gavin_bell2003 ATTTT yahooDOTcoDOTuk ... i may have your solution...

gavinbell said:

it would be a shame to miss serbia!! email me at gavin_bell2003 ATTTT yahooDOTcoDOTuk ... i may have your solution...

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Care to share or is it a secret? I'd be interested to know also. Is entering from the North a better or cheaper bet?

Jon:

Can you tell me what the process is for purchasing insurance coverage for Albania? I am thinking about taking the ferry from Italy to Albania, then riding south into Greece. I have 'green card' coverage for all the EC countries, but Albania is not included.

Do I just pay the money (€10) when I get off the ferry boat, or is the process more complicated? Is there anything that needs to be done in advance to organize insurance for Albania?

Thanks for any insight you can provide,

Michael

PanEuropean said:

Jon:

Can you tell me what the process is for purchasing insurance coverage for Albania? I am thinking about taking the ferry from Italy to Albania, then riding south into Greece. I have 'green card' coverage for all the EC countries, but Albania is not included.

Do I just pay the money (€10) when I get off the ferry boat, or is the process more complicated? Is there anything that needs to be done in advance to organize insurance for Albania?

Thanks for any insight you can provide,

Michael

Click to expand...

There'll be some shacks after the border control where you can buy insurance. Cost is around €15 for two weeks. All you need is your passport and a copy of V5...

Albanian insurance. Help please NOW

Hi. Hoping jonathan is on line or someone that can help. I am at kastoria greece and wanting to cross into albania at bilisht. Locally i am being told they have no facilities there for insuring me. Can anyone confirem. I am hoping that ifno insurance booths they can sort it out on phone with a local agent.i am resigneed to paying as much as 50 e if i have to. Appreciate a quick reply. Thanks jj

I was there in June this year and paid nothing.
No checks, just let me through.

Mind you, 2 questions.
If you have an accident, how long will you be in jail before anyone knows.
If you do buy insurance, how can you know it is worth anything.

Driving through is "interesting", no sat nav at all.
Cars help you along, physically push you at roundabouts in Tirana.

Mind the pot holes and missing man hole covers, not to mention the "Beware of the bears" signs.

Enjoy.

mmmmhhhhhh

Got to say Kosovo is being bankrolled by the EU ie your tax , so they can afford new everything. Serbia is not.

The"border insurance" will satisfy local police. if you have accident it is worthless. If you have accident with local criminal and most are may your god help you. Be prepared to lose your bike. If you damage it or crash it or it just breaks down you are on your own.

Albania is a failed criminal state. Don't go there.

Albania?? Ask someone that have been there.

jeff said:

The"border insurance" will satisfy local police. if you have accident it is worthless. If you have accident with local criminal and most are may your god help you. Be prepared to lose your bike. If you damage it or crash it or it just breaks down you are on your own.

Albania is a failed criminal state. Don't go there.

Click to expand...

Most probably you have never been here!!

so i am not going to argue with you about this issue

But just to give you an impresion the last 3 times i travelled to Greece the cusstoms were not working and the asked to cross without the bike. by foot!

Albania might be a criminal state,,,in the past but it have never been a failed state, like you are now!!. But soon history will be repeated and we are in the border watching the mess you are makking.

God bless bikers around the world!!

Have been there !

15th June 2011.

Many pictures of empty concrete bunkers (gun emplacements) and car washes by the side of the road.

Physically pushed by cars on round abouts in Tirana.

Conned at ferry terminal by beggars and scroungers. To be shown where to park prior to boarding the official !!!! wanted cigarettes or cash.

Scarey place.
Insurance !

zapada said:

Have been there !



Physically pushed by cars on round abouts in Tirana.


Scarey place.
Insurance !

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What amazed me was the number of luxery cars, Mercedes, BMW and Range Rovers. Most still had their English ,French and Italian number plates and damaged door locks. If you've had your nearly new GS or GSA nicked good chance it's in Albania.

Gordon Brown has made a mess of our country but we will sort it out. The Albanians waiting and watching within their borders don't worry us it's the ones here nicking everything that's not nailed down that bothers us

its all poo said:

Got to say Kosovo is being bankrolled by the EU ie your tax , so they can afford new everything. Serbia is not.

Click to expand...

Aye tis true. It was awash or was awash with EU money. Much like the difference between Austria and the Czech Republic. For years the relatively poor Mühlviertel that is north of Linz was being funded by the EU while the then Czechoslovakia was getting nothing despite the two areas being once part of Bohemia and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Architecturally they are similar but economically worlds apart. Personally I am not a fan of borders.

jeff said:

The"border insurance" will satisfy local police. if you have accident it is worthless. If you have accident with local criminal and most are may your god help you. Be prepared to lose your bike. If you damage it or crash it or it just breaks down you are on your own.

Albania is a failed criminal state. Don't go there.

Click to expand...

Albania is a state disadvantaged by the history of imperialism. I would not advise anyone not to go somewhere. Yes there is a large amount of crime, there are road hazards and having an accident would be problematic but my personal experience was of warmth from the people, good food, amazing scenery. Of course I can understand why a blinged up BMW rider would feel nervous riding through a country where most people are subsisting on nothing. They are the 99% and you are the 1%

olsin77 said:

Most probably you have never been here!!

so i am not going to argue with you about this issue

But just to give you an impresion the last 3 times i travelled to Greece the cusstoms were not working and the asked to cross without the bike. by foot!

Albania might be a criminal state,,,in the past but it have never been a failed state, like you are now!!. But soon history will be repeated and we are in the border watching the mess you are makking.

God bless bikers around the world!!

Click to expand...

As always Oisin, spot on





For those too scared to visit this is what you would have seen...


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3431358677/" title="Albanian lunch, worthy of a photo or 10 by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3431358677_90137e1569_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albanian lunch, worthy of a photo or 10"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3451739726/" title="Korce highway Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3451739726_9739bbd2bd_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Korce highway Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3501893835/" title="Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3501893835_3202dd6a27_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3453847107/" title="Tirana by night by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3453847107_12144f866a_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Tirana by night"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3502644822/" title="Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3502644822_7ece61fe1a_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3431357693/" title="Mullet City - Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3596/3431357693_dedab4fcca_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Mullet City - Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3502685800/" title="Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3502685800_481e75f50a_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3502691622/" title="Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3502691622_9dacb5963c_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albania"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/3502703188/" title="Albania by everywherevirtually, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3502703188_67a70e8628_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Albania"></a>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/sets/72157617317646389/with/3502703188/

Update on Albanaina Border

JJ Jeremy said:

Hi. Hoping jonathan is on line or someone that can help. I am at kastoria greece and wanting to cross into albania at bilisht. Locally i am being told they have no facilities there for insuring me. Can anyone confirem. I am hoping that ifno insurance booths they can sort it out on phone with a local agent.i am resigneed to paying as much as 50 e if i have to. Appreciate a quick reply. Thanks jj

Click to expand...

Well, I tried to cross the Border into Albania from Greece at Bilisht, but they refused me entry without a Green card and wouldnt/ couldnt sell me insurance. I think they may have been waiting for me to offer some inducement but I didnt want to go down that route. In the end I had to carry on to the coast and a ferry to Bari in Italy. Shame, as I was looking forward to the Adriatic coast. What I have learnt from my trip to Istanbul is that life would be simpler with a Green card.

JJ Jeremy said:

Well, I tried to cross the Border into Albania from Greece at Bilisht, but they refused me entry without a Green card and wouldnt/ couldnt sell me insurance. I think they may have been waiting for me to offer some inducement but I didnt want to go down that route. In the end I had to carry on to the coast and a ferry to Bari in Italy. Shame, as I was looking forward to the Adriatic coast. What I have learnt from my trip to Istanbul is that life would be simpler with a Green card.

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That is a shame. What kind of inducement were they asking for? I've never known Albanian border guards to refuse money so the "wouldn't / couldn't" scenario doesn't fit with my experience of two of their borders. The Kosovo/Serbia border is a different matter as there is the whole territorial dispute going on there.

I drove a minibus down to Kosovo for a kids orphanage and it was an eye opening trip.

We took ferry from Bari in Italy across to Albania. We soon realised that we were probably the only people on the ferry that were not car thieves! As noted above, every other vehicle was a freshly stolen high end Merc or similar with broken locks. The characters surrounding us on the ferry looked like serious hard core criminals (they might have thought the same about us).

Albania was very different and interesting and definitely worth the visit. Some of the roads were terrible but they were working hard to improve them.

Food and beer was generally excellent and extremely cheap. We never had any idea what we were ordering, just pointed to the most expensive thing on the menu (less than £2) and said we'd have that. Never disappointed.

We went via Macedonia and the border guards there were very unpleasant when they heard we were taking goods to a charity in Kosovo. "If we get the chance, we will murder all Kosovans" he proudly told us.

Insurance. I'm personaly not a great believer in insurance and prefer to take my chances in life. We had a policy that the charity had obtained from the United Nations so it looked impressive to give the border guards a piece of UN headed paper. However, I doubt it would have been any use whatsoever in the event of an accident. We were advised that if involved in an accident to simply keep going and get out of the area before it all turned nasty.

I would love to go back there at it is very different from most of Europe that is all pretty much the same these days.

I went with a friend in April last year and made our way down to Greece through the Balkans. Carole Nash wouldn’t insure us for the southern Balkans so we paid at the little insurance huts at the border points.

If I remember right it was free on the Bosnian crossing on the Dalmatian coast (it’s a few km of the coast before you’re back into Croatia. I went into Bosnia before in 2000 and 2004 and paid 10 Euros I think), 10 Euros from Croatia into Montenegro, 50 from Albania into Macedonia (the crossing near Struga). Going from Podgorica into Albania north of Shkoder I asked the border bloke where I bought insurance. He said ‘insurance. Why?’ so we rode carefully along the road to Shkoder though riding fast isn’t really an option on that road. Full of potholes, articulated lorries coming across onto your side, and then the road becomes a motorway with no markings and the occasional old woman leading a cow on a string across it, and then turns back into a cart track with no warning.

From Shkoder to Tirana and then to Elbasan the road’s good, weaving through the hills before coming out at the border with Macedonia. We went to Lake Ohrid and through Bitola down to Greece at Florina. The Greek border official said ‘what, you came through Shkoder?! It’s the most mafia-infested, nationalist, jihadist and scary place on earth’. Generally we found Albanians to be really friendly. I naively asked one bloke in a UK registered Range Rover where in the UK he was from. He looked shifty and said ‘no, is my cousin’s car’. There’s an awful lot of cousins cars in Albania and they don’t even bother changing the plates.

From Macedonia into Kosovo was 10-15 Euros, then we headed up the Pristina to Nis road to cross into Serbia but were turned back as they said it wasn’t a proper border point. Some people they let through, others they didn’t. We had to go back to Pristina, through Skopje and into Serbia that way and set us back a good few hours. It didn’t cost us anything to get through into Serbia though.

We cocked up on going back through Slovenia on the motorway. A Slovenia biker said we could pay for the vignette at the end when we rode into Austria but we couldn’t. They charged us 150 Euros for not buying one and it could have been double but they felt sorry for us.

Fantastic trip though. Wonderful roads, people and food.