Albania Travel Diaries: Lakeside Vibes in Shirokë and Shkodër

Albania’s beaches may get all the online attention but we decided to start our 2 week road trip by heading north from the capital Tirana. We pick up our hire car and drive around 90 minutes to our guesthouse in Shirokë, a peaceful fishing and resort village on the banks of Lake Shkodra, the largest lake in Southern Europe. I say “we drove” – of course, Chris is the designated driver on these trips, and I am chief navigator and passenger princess.

We visited Shirokë as part of our 2 week Albanian road-trip. We picked up our rental car at Tirana Airport before heading north to Shirokë, and then on to Berat, Gjirokastër and to the Albanian Riviera before heading back to the capital Tirana.

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Why Shirokë?

It’s easy to plan an Albanian road trip and not travel north of Tirana. After all, what’s up there but lakes and mountains? But that was exactly where we wanted to spend our first few days. We wanted to relax, drink and eat amidst incredible scenery. Which is why we chose Shirokë, 5 miles west of the city of Shkodër. Lakeside strolls, stunning sunsets that EVERYONE comes out to see, a small selection of excellent restaurants specialising in fish from the lake itself, and curious cats and dogs that join us for dinner. And we’d selected a guesthouse with the most spectacular outlook from its terrace and pool area.

Where we stayed

Iart Residence was actuallt the third property I’d booked in the area, after booking and cancelling accommodation in Shkodër (too “in the city”) and on Lake Komani (too isolated). And – just like Goldilocks – the third choice was just perfect.

The owners barely speak English and there’s a weird elevated platform next to the bed so I have to shuffle to the bottom to get out. But it’s comfortable, the breakfasts are HUGE (and perfect if you’re a fan of eggs cooked in every way possible), the views from its hillside location are stunning, and the family that run Iart Residence are warm and welcoming despite the language barrier.

We booked a Deluxe Room with Pool Access at Iart Residence for €164.50 (£140, or around £47 a night). This included breakfast, free cancellation and free onsite parking. Payment is cash only.

Iart Residence is a 15 minute walk from the lakeside promenade of Shirokë – and yes, those beautiful terrace views mean there’s a hill involved. It gives us a taster of what’s to come, particularly on the first week of our trip.

Exploring Shirokë

After checking in, we take the opportunity to cool down with a little pool time. I quickly discover that the pool is freezing – I’ve cooled down quicker than anticipated. So we take our first walk down the hill into the town.

Shirokë itself is small. There’s around 9km of lakeside promenade along the shores of Lake Shkodra, from Zogaj (the last village before the Montenegrin border) to Buna’s Bridge which connects pedestrians and cyclists to the main road into Shkodër. But most of Shirokë’s action is centred around a short stretch of shoreline restaurants.

If Lake Shkodra sounds familiar, and you’re thinking “Emm, haven’t you been there before?”, you’d be right! Lake Shkodra is also known as Lake Skadar, and we took a boat trip on the lake during our 2025 holiday to Montenegro. You can read more about that trip here

And what does Shirokë do best? Sunsets. On each of our three nights we were treated to a spectacular display, as the lake and sky turned from pastel pink and blue to fiery orange as the sun disappeared behind the mountains and into the blue hour as dusk turned to dark.

Where we ate and drank in Shirokë

• Bar Kafe Restaurant Joni 📍
• Shkodra 1943 📍
• Nova Caffe 📍
• Bar-Restorant Shiroka 📍

We were also regular visitors of Tani Mini Market, for crisps. beer and biscuits – standard hotel room snacks. 🛒

Many of our meals in Shirokë were accompanied by at least one four-legged friend – Shirokë has a sizable stray cat and dog population. Most of the dogs we saw were tagged, meaning that they had been vaccinated and neutered before being released back into the community. On one occasion there was also a herd of horses trotting through the town 🐎

From Shirokë to Shkodër (Take 1)

Mr Fletche’s first taste of urban driving comes as we make an exploratory drive into Shkodër. I’ve dropped a pin on Google Maps for a car park which seems central. And all is well as we make our way out of Shirokë, and cross the bridge over the Buna River. There’s a little more traffic building as we join the SH1 towards the centre and Mr Fletche is definitely having to keep his wits about him. We get our first taste of a car overtaking on the right of us at a roundabout, squeezing through a seemingly impossible space. We also begin to understand that cars not only double park, but triple park too. Just pop your car anywhere, stick your hazards on and you’re apparently free to go.

Google suggests it knows a quicker way to get to the car park. And that’s when the fun REALLY starts. Not for Mr Fletche obviously. He is NOT having fun. Narrow back streets are made even narrower still by double parked cars on both sides. Bikes and motorcycles appear out of nowhere. Pedestrians stroll in the road as if pavements don’t exist. Which they don’t, because every inch of pavement has a parked car on it.

And then Google suggests that we have arrived. Only there’s no car park in sight. Only bollards in the road which suggest that we have found the only pedestrianised street in Shkodër. Mr Fletche performs the most miraculous of three (hundred) point turns, with cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians paying no attention to the slowly rotating Skoda Fabia.

We find ourselves back on the main boulevard through the city. And we keep driving. I tentatively suggest we pull over and regroup but Mr Fletche is very over this Skoda in Shkodër now. We keep driving all the way back to Shirokë. We’re going to have to explore Shkodër another way.

This tale also features in the “What It’s Really Like Driving In Albania (According To Mr Fletche)” blog post, along with lots of hints and tips about renting a car and taking an Albanian road trip.

From Shirokë to Shkodër (Take 2)

Whilst debriefing our disastrous drive into Shkodër over a lakeside beer, we spot something of interest. A little red sightseeing bus. With a bus stop right here in Shirokë. It turns out that Shkodër has a hop on hop off bus. Brand new for the 2026 summer season, we booked our tickets online via the Sightseeing Shkodra website. And then had to message them to advise that we wouldn’t be joining at the first stop in Shkodër, and could we please be picked up in Shirokë?

The 8 seater bus makes four stops, as well as its start/end location on Rruga Teuta in Shkodër. Stop 2 is lakeside at Shirokë, where we joined the bus, initially as it’s only passengers. With only one bus on the route at the moment, we have the choice at each stop – to “hop off” for a quick 15 minute stop, or meet the bus on it’s next circuit in 2 hours time. Our first stop is Rozafa Castle, where we wave off our driver with a promise to be waiting for him on his return.

Rozafa Castle sits atop a rocky hill, around 3km south of the city and a 10 minute drive from Shirokë. It takes us around 10 minutes to walk to the entrance, on a cobblestone pathway. Admission is 400 LEK (€4). Inside is a sprawling complex of ruins, with panoramic views stretching across Lake Shkodra, the city of Shkodër, the meeting point of the rivers Buna, Drin and Kiri and even to the Albanian Alps in the distance. Nowhere is off-limits, including some crumbling walls with a scary looking drop. You wouldn’t get that at a National Trust property. There’s work going on to improve the visitor facilities, we certainly appreciated the little café for a cold drink in the surprisingly warm temperatures of this September morning.

The Sightseeing Shkodra website has live tracking, which means we could see where our bus was along its route. We descend with time to spare to reunite with our driver. We’re glad we made an early start, and got the jump on the tourist buses spitting their passengers out to start their climb up to the castle.

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Our next stop is the historic centre of Shkodër. We plan to spend longer in the city when we reach the final stop so instead we use the 15 minute opportunity to see the Cathedral of Saint Stephen, the largest Catholic cathedral in Albania. It’s light and airy inside, in muted tones of peach and pink. The interior is minimalistic, although it has an ornate wooden ceiling, painted by renowned Albanian artist Kolë Idromeno.

We continue our tour to Ura e Mesit, an 18th century Ottoman stone bridge 8km northeast of Shkodër. It spans the Kir River, which is barely more than a dribble after a long hot summer. Our 15 minute stop gives us enough time to walk to the far side via the road bridge and cross back over the cobbled bridge itself.

After (sort of) negotiating a lift back to Shirokë with our driver, we have a couple of hours to enjoy lunch in the city. We head to Rruga Kolë Idromeno, a pedestrianised street lined with café bars and restaurants. We stop for lunch at Muza (which I pick because I like the tablecloths) and then craft beer bar Shega e Eger on Rruga G’juhadol. My Epos makes a nice change from the omnipresent “Korca” and “Elbar” beers.

We return to the bus stop to find our bus but no driver. I start checking the VrapOn app for taxis when our driver appears. We’re the only people hopping on once more. When we hop back off in Shirokë we assume he’s planning on knocking off for the day. It was a great relaxed way to see Shkodër and I highly recommend Sightseeing Shkodra, whether you’re staying in Shkodër or Shirokë.

We had originally booked a day tour from Shkodër, which would take in the Albanian Alps and the Blue Eye of Theth. But once we arrived in Shirokë we decided to prioritise a more relaxing few days to kick off our holiday. Despite all the planning and research, not all plans work out when you’re actually travelling. If you’re interested, this was the tour we had booked.

Reflecting on our stay in Shirokë

Shirokë was the perfect location for our first three nights in Albania. Having a guesthouse with a pool meant relaxing time never felt wasted, there were enough places to eat and drink without feeling overwhelmed by choice, and lakeside sunsets are just a balm to the soul. I don’t regret not visiting Theth, or even doing a boat trip to Komani Lake & Shala River – the socalled “Thailand of Albania”. Both or even one trip would have turned our “relaxing” stay into a jam-packed itinerary. There will be enough of that to come.

Planning your next trip?