Albania — Currency & Money

The Albanian lek (ALL) has strengthened in recent years to roughly 95-100 to the euro. One quirk trips up every visitor: locals often quote prices in old lek, which adds a zero — a taxi driver saying 1,000 for a short hop almost certainly means ALL 100. Cash dominates: cards work in Tirana hotels and bigger restaurants but little else, and euros are accepted along the coast at poor implicit rates, so pay in lek.

Nearly all Albanian ATMs charge foreign cards a fee of several hundred lek per withdrawal — take out larger sums less often. Tipping is a 10% round-up in restaurants and small change elsewhere.