The one place that you have to visit is the Rozafa Castle!
The fortress is located in North Albania , precisely in the city of Shkoder.  The Castle has an amazing view of the city , of the lake and its the best place to have a picnic with your family and friends. Rozafa is surrounded by the two beautiful lakes Drin and Buna.

Behind the beautiful castle ,there is fantastic legend,which has been told by centuries.

Legend says that three brothers were initially trying to build a castle,a fortress. They worked day and night, they got tired, the walls kept going down. Then a wise man, told the brothers “Sacrifice someone,the walls will not break !” .
They had to decide whom to sacrifice so the fortress would not break down like before.

The tree brothers decided that they would sacrifice one of their wife, but they would not tell them. They decided that the first wife that brings lunch to them shall be sacrificed,but two of the brothers told their wifes but the youngest brother said nothing to his wife.

The next morning the wife of the youngest brother, Rozafa carried the lunch to them and the three brothers decided that it was Rozafa who shall be sacrificed . The husband of Rozafa explained to her what was going to happen , that she was going to be sacrificed for the Castle, she didn’t protest.
The young couple had an infant baby, she decided that she should leave her breast outside to feed the newborn son. Her right eye to see him, her right hand to caress him and her right foot to rock his cradle.

The story is told for many centuries, to young Albanians. Some still believe that there is a wall in the castle from which, even today, milk flows.

Also,in the late 1400’s a lot of wars have been fought by the Great Scanderbeg and others after him.

Since Illyria, medieval times and nowadays, some of them even destroyed are standing.
They were built by the strongest rocks, they stand even opposite the greatest empires of the time.

Some of them are :

Ali Pasha Castle is a castle in the city of Butrint, its named after Ali Pasha of Tepelenë who held residence at the place until 1820.
The current fortress was rebuilt in 1819 from its surface with 3 towers. Until 1820 was the second residence of Ali Pashe Tepelena.

Berat Castle is a castle in the city with the same name, it is built on a rocky hill on the left side of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. First burned in 200 b.c by Romans, then rebuilt by Byzanitine Emperors.
The buildings inside the fortress were built during the 13th century and because of their characteristic architecture are preserved as cultural monuments.

The Elbasan castle is a 15th century fortress located in the city of Elbasan, part of Via Egnatia passes through that castle.

The Krujë castle is a castle in the city of Krujë, and the center of Skanderbeg’s resistance against the Ottoman Turks.Today it is a center of tourism in Albania, and a source of inspiration to Albanians.

The Rozafa castle is a castle near the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 meters above sea level, surrounded by the Buna and Drini rivers. Shkodër is the capital of the District of Shkodër, and is one of Albania’s oldest and most historic towns, as well as an important cultural and economic center.

Here is a list of the most popular lakes in Albania:

• Shkodër Lake – This lake is near the city of Shkodër which is situated North of the country, very near the border of Albania with Montenegro. This is the biggest lake of the Balkan peninsula.
• Ohrid Lake - This lake is one of the best in the peninsula for tourism. Albania shares this lake with Macedonia. The numbers of tourists here is very high during all the year.
• Big Lake Prespa ; Small Lake Prespa – These 2 lakes are shared between Greece, Albania and Macedonia. Very popular for tourism.
• Lurë Lakes – The potential of these lakes is huge. Sometimes they call this place ” a miracle of nature ” . The government expects investments from foreign investors.
• Butrinti Lake – This lake is situated near the ancient city of Butrint. It’s not a very big lake but it’s known for its archeological values. Thousands of tourists visit this place every year. It is one of the most visited place in Albania by both tourists and Albanian people.

In all this lakes the infrastructure gets better year after year and it’s not perfect yet. Anyway, these are great places to visit because Mother Nature has done an awesome job. Surrounding these lakes there are many hotels. Prices vary from place to place but the most expensive ones are in the Ohrid Lake.

Going to these lakes is very easy. Each of them isn’t more than 3 hours driving from Tirana.

How to go in Albania?

First of all depends how are you going to travel, there are actually 3 different ways to visit Albania. Let me explain each of them below.

Visiting Albania By Car

If you are visiting Albania from Greece , you will encourter 2 different borders. Kapshtica, which is in Korca and Kakavija which is in Gjirokaster

If you are visiting Albania from Macedonia, you will have to pass from Plloca or Gorica.

If you are visiting Albania from Kosovo or Montenegro, you will have to pass from Morine

Visiting Albania By Plane

Using the plane its faster, more secure but of course more expensive. There is solely one international airport and that is Mother Teresa Airport, which is situated approximately 17 km away from the center of Tirana. Most of the well known cities in Europe have direct flights to Tirana, Albania so its a good option if you have a couple of hundreds to spend

Visiting Albania By Ferryboat

If you are visiting Albania by Ferryboat (especially from Italy) then there are 2 big sea ports which are respectively located in Durres, which is the biggest port in Albania and also in Vlora. Once you are in the Durres port, you can get a taxi or a bus and be in Tirana for approximately 30 minutes

I believe I have included all the information needed for each of you to know where Albania is located or how to visit it

If you have any questions dont hesitate to contact us below