Where to get a PCR Covid test in Tirana (Albania)? Address & Prices
Back in Tirana (Albania) 72 hours before our flight to France, we set out to find a lab to get our mandatory PCR test.
How to find a lab offering PCR tests?
The time when it was a hassle to find out how to get tested (like in Rome last December) seems to be over.
I simply typed “pcr test” into Google Maps, which displayed several results.
Google Maps is very powerful; if “pcr test” doesn’t match any category in its database, it searches for the information in user reviews or even on the websites of the businesses it lists.
To choose from the handful of results, I did the following:
- Shortlist of the closest results (accessible on foot)
- Check that they indeed mention PCR tests and that it’s not an off-topic result
- Choose the lab with the best reviews
In this little game, it was the Swiss Medical Center that won.
The Swiss Medical Center
We went around 2 p.m., without an appointment to the Swiss Medical Center.
We were received immediately by very friendly staff who, a nice surprise, spoke a little French.
We had come with our passports, a good reflex since they were requested. We paid 85 USD per test by card, payable in euros or LEK.
Our email addresses were also requested.
We were then taken care of instantly, the sample took 5 minutes each. The nurse was very gentle, kind (and French-speaking).
We were told we could ask for the results from 8 p.m.
Without quite understanding why, we were asked to write to a WhatsApp address to request the results. Apparently it’s very common in Albania.
The WhatsApp number is: +355 67 403 3331.
That’s what I did shortly before 8 p.m., they quickly replied and sent the results by email, they were negative 🙂 The results are in English.
We can only recommend the Swiss Medical Center, everything is done to make the testing experience as pleasant as possible.
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