Albania on a Japanese Licence — The Side Switch, a 0.01 Limit & Rough Roads

The hardest part of driving in Albania as a Japanese visitor is not the paperwork — it is which side of the road you are on. Japan drives on the left; Albania drives on the right, and that reversal is the one thing most likely to catch you out.

The danger window is your first day. The reflexes you have built over years — glancing the wrong way at a junction, drifting to the left lane on an empty road, taking a roundabout the way you always have — all work against you here, and roundabouts now flow clockwise to anticlockwise. Take your first hour on quiet roads rather than central Tirana, keep the gearstick and wipers in mind (they often swap sides in a left-hand-drive car), and be deliberate at every turn until “right” stops feeling backwards.

On documents, an International Driving Permit is recommended — not always demanded by law, but rental desks and roadside police expect to see one alongside your Japanese licence and passport. Arrange it in Japan before you fly; you cannot get one in Albania. Your licence covers stays of up to 12 months.

Then there is alcohol. Albania’s limit is 0.01 — effectively zero, and below Japan’s 0.03. There is no margin for a drink with dinner; if you are driving, don’t drink. Penalties run to on-the-spot fines and licence confiscation, with genuine enforcement along the coast in summer. Speeds are also low and the roads demanding: towns are 40 km/h, rural roads 80 but often rougher than that number suggests, and motorways 110. A 10-over fine is around ALL 5,000 (≈ €45), paid roadside — you can estimate one with the Speeding Fine Calculator.

Your car must carry a warning triangle, reflective vest, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher. Fuel is roughly $1.52/litre, cheapest at supermarket stations, and the emergency number is 112. The full rules sit on our Albania driving guide, and you can confirm your permit status with the Driving Permit Checker before you collect the car.