Shkodër, the Gateway to Albania Where Illyria Meets the Largest Lake in the Balkans

Some cities function as thresholds: you pass through them on the way somewhere else and only afterwards, thinking back, realise you missed something essential. Shkodër is one of these. Most travellers entering Albania from Montenegro use it as a transit stop toward Tirana or the southern beaches. Those who linger discover a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants with four thousand years of history, a castle that resisted the Turks better than almost any other Balkan fortress, and a 530-square-kilometre lake that is the largest on the peninsula.

Rozafa and the legend of Illyria

The fortress of Rozafa rises on a promontory overlooking the confluence of three rivers — Drin, Buna and Kir — and around it gathers one of Albania's founding legends: three brothers wall up the youngest's wife alive in the castle foundations to stop it from collapsing, and the body of Rozafa, it is said, has been fused with the stone forever. From the ramparts you can see everything: the lake to the west with its reed banks, the Albanian Alps to the north rising to 2,500 metres, and the plain where the city has developed over the centuries.

Lake Shkodra and its pelicans

Lake Shkodra — shared between Albania and Montenegro — is one of Europe's largest ornithological reserves: 270 bird species, including one of the continent's last flocks of Dalmatian pelicans. By boat you can explore the inlets of the reed beds, the small islands with remains of Byzantine churches, the fishing hamlets where smoked eel is sold at the roadside for a few euros per kilo. A boat excursion can be arranged from Shiroka, 10 kilometres from the centre, for 15–20 euros per person.

The city of bicycles

Shkodër is one of the few Albanian cities where bicycles outnumber cars in daily traffic — a rarity on the peninsula. The old town is flat and walkable in every direction; the cafés on the main boulevard serve Italian-style kafe macchiato (Albania has a deep cult of espresso) for less than one euro. The best months are April, May, June and September.