I want to share my experience in Albania because honestly, it has been a nightmare.
My girlfriend and I took a bus from Tirana to Himarë, and during that trip her wallet was stolen, including all of her cash. After that, it felt like things just kept getting worse. We constantly felt like people were trying to overcharge us because we were tourists, especially taxi drivers. It honestly felt like we were being scammed again and again.
The worst part was dealing with the police. When we tried to report the stolen wallet, they basically warned us that if we reported it as a theft and it later turned out not to be proven as theft, we could face up to six months in prison. That made us feel pressured not to report it properly. They wanted us to report it as ”lost”. When we still wanted to file a report, they told us to come back the next day. We came back the next day, and then they suddenly claimed that the “computer is broken” and told us we had to go to another city several hours away to report it.
The whole situation felt extremely unprofessional, stressful, and honestly unsafe. We came here wanting to enjoy the country, but instead we felt targeted as tourists, scammed, and completely unsupported when something serious happened.
Based on our experience, I personally would not recommend travelling here. Be extremely careful if you do.
One thing I also find ironic is that Albania is often said to have among the lowest reported theft rates in Europe. After my experience, I understand why, because if tourists are discouraged from filing theft reports, warned about potential prison time, told to come back the next day, and then sent to another city because “the computer is broken,” then of course the official numbers are going to look low.