Anno 117: how to get to Albion, settle it and trade with Latium (2026 guide)

How you get to Albion in Anno 117 depends on your game mode. In the campaign, the story sends you there when Calidus replaces Lucius on the throne. In sandbox, you need to reach tier 3 in Latium, the Equites: a notification then announces Albion, and you switch province with the earth icon at the bottom left of the screen.

This guide covers Patch 2.1 from September 17, 2026, whose notes leave the unlock untouched. Update 3.0, announced for November 5, 2026 with Dawn of the Delta, is not included. Nothing here comes from a played game: the information cross-checks Ubisoft’s guides, the press and player reports, which are labelled as such.

How to get to Albion in each game mode

The trigger changes with your game, and so does the way back to Latium.

Game Rant and Xbox Play describe the first two lines the same way. Players in a November 2025 Steam thread confirm tier 3 and the notification, and one of them adds that the return stays free in sandbox.

Patch 1.4 also fixed a game over screen on arrival in Albion during the campaign. It affected games started with the resettling option disabled, so an old save deserves a quick test.

Switching between provinces

The game asks for no expedition, unlike what you might expect from an Anno. Several players say so on AnnoZone: you simply change region.

• Earth icon. The circular menu at the bottom left opens the province choice.
• Keyboard. According to players, Numpad 2 opens Albion and Numpad 1 returns to Latium.
• World view. It shows the distance between provinces and tracks ships on the way.
• Ships. A Steam player says a button on each ship lets you pick a harbor, including in the other province.

One point remains unclear: a Steam report mentions a free ship for settling at the first tier 3 upgrade. The AnnoZone thread does not, so check your fleet before paying for one.

If Albion stays locked

Tier 3 does not always seem to be enough right away. On AnnoZone, a player with more than 500 Equites had neither a notification nor access to the province. Another player saw Albion open after a cheese request, a message from the Empress and a gold reward. That account is no rule, but it gives you a lead: open your messages and clear pending requests.

First buildings in Albion

The start resembles Latium, with a few terrain constraints. The Anno Union starter guide suggests this order.

• Timber. Two woodcutters and two sawmills near the trading post, in a dense forest.
• Roads. Every building needs a road link to the trading post.
• Food. The Cockle Picker covers the first need, ahead of the Eel Grabber in the marshes.
• Residences. They go inland and only fill up when their needs are met.

The marsh sets its own rules. According to the Albion DevBlog, residences cannot be built there, and each marsh building has a single street connector. Plan the road layout before you place Eel Grabbers and reed gatherers.

Money is the other early constraint. Anno Union points out that you start at a deficit, because production, public services and ships all carry maintenance. Residences bring income once their needs are met, so build at the pace of demand and keep the market close to them.

Waders, your first resident type, have three need categories: food with cockles or eels, public service with the market or the bard’s hearth, and fashion with shoes or the tunica. One option per category is enough to upgrade. Beyond tier 2, you need three points per category: a tier 1 need gives one, a tier 2 need gives two.

Smiths or Mercators: the tier 2 choice

Albion splits into two paths, described in the official guide.

In practice, this choice first sets how much you rely on Latium. Vodafone notes that Smiths can make everything locally, while Mercators need imports. For a first colony in Albion, the Celtic path therefore asks for less logistics.

The choice does not lock your game. Anno Union says it can change later, and tier 3 on one path also unlocks the other. Celts and Romanized residents can then share an island.

The Roman path carries a diplomatic cost. According to part 2 of the official guide, Voada dislikes Romanization and marsh drainage, while Tarragon opposes Celtic customs. Once your population is Romanized, marsh goods lose value: the Marsh Drainage technology then lets you place sluice gates and canals to win land.

What Albion trades with Latium

The two provinces complement each other, and this table comes from the PC Games and Vodafone guides from November 2025. The lists may have changed since launch.

What matters is that trade runs both ways: Albion is more than a raw material colony. Granite also appears in the Aldermen chains, and the Hippodrome needs it for construction in Latium.

Albion weighs on research too. Players report that some Latium technologies wait for tier 3 on an Albion island, which can stall a game that stays in one province.

Creating the route between Latium and Albion

The route follows the usual process, with a switch between both maps. Game Rant lays out these steps.

• New route. Click the dedicated button at the bottom of the screen.
• Islands. Pick an island in Latium, switch map, then pick an island in Albion.
• Ship. Civilian ships carry more goods, while military ships can defend themselves.
• Cargo. Set what loads and unloads at each stop.
• Confirmation. The Establish Route button starts the automated rotation.

The most common risk is a frozen route. If you move a ship by hand, the route pauses: resume it from the routes menu or with the ship’s play button. Patch 1.5.1 also fixed a bug that pulled ships off their route when crossing between provinces.

These routes are long, and Prima Games suggests assigning several ships. On the religious side, Mercury-Lugos improves trade income and loading speed, once unlocked in the Discovery Tree. Cernunnos strengthens marsh and forest production, and Epona helps animal chains and logistics.

Start in Albion or in Latium

If you are new, start in Latium: Ubisoft and Anno Union both present it as the easier opening. Albion then arrives with a stable economy and goods to exchange. On paper, an Albion start mainly offers discovery, and it leaves marshes and the path choice to players already comfortable with the series.

Going further

• All our Anno 117: Pax Romana articles
• The Hippodrome and its granite requirement
• Our Prophecies of Ash analysis
• What Dawn of the Delta changes after Albion