in , , ,

How to spend 24 hours in Shkoder, helpful guide

Albania 360 degrees handy guide for a daily trip in Shkoder

Rozafa Castle in Shkoder

By Deli Muçollari

We just had a 24 hours trip in Shkoder and we’re totally satisfied with the outcome. Frankly, we are glad we handled it well. No rush, no fatigue, no problems. We visited new places, we enjoyed great views, we ate well or amazingly low prices and we had a lovely evening in a bar. Such great time, we’re happy to share with you and suggest you best places to visit, have dinner, drink and learn more about the area.

How to spend 24 hours in Shkoder might help you to organise your trip better. With the right amount of planning, you can also easily see the highlights of Shkoder in one day. We’ve prepared the perfect itinerary to help you discover the best areas of Shkoder during your precious travel time in this historic city.

All the attractions we’ve included here are within walking distance to one another, besides the castle, which is not far at all but we actually did it by car so we’ll be honest til the end. Riding a bicycle in this city will make you feel like a local and will make getting around Shkoder in a day easy and convenient.

So here it is, the best way to spend 24 hours in Shkoder!

Promenade in Shkodra

Start with a good breakfast

..or brunch, if you haven’t had anything yet. The city has a few good places to brunch and have a quiet time to get the right energy and prepare the daily agenda. We chose to have the breakfast at Cocja Boutique Hotel at 8:30 am until 9:30 (because we love breakfasts a lot) and we were very satisfied. The photograph says it all. The waiter was very polite and kind, and most importantly the service was fast. We had the food in the table just 6 to 7 minutes after we ordered it and it was all warm and delicious. The fresh orange juice and the cute yard were the cherry on top. We highly recommend it.

Visit the Museums

Learning first, fun later. This is our travel slogan and it stands for Shkoder too. Our second stop was The “Marubi” National Museum of Photography, which offers an online exhibition too that you can find it right here. We wanted to see the photographs and the old cameras in person, so we had a 1 hour visit there. it is in the centre of the city and you can find it easily. The entrance fee was 700 Albanian Leke, around 5 euros per person. Every last Sunday of the month, the entrance is for FREE and you can enjoy the museum with no costs at all. We were presented to the new artist presented in the first floor, Pjeter Rraboshta and then we continued learning more about the saga of Marubi in the other rooms and the second floor or the museum. You can also visit the Shkodra Historical Museum if you are able to manage the time better.

how to spend 24 hours in shkoder
“Marubi” National Museum of Photography

Get a drink or an ice cream

Around 11.30 we left the museum and kinda needed to sit down. It was very hot so we were truly dying for a tasty cold ice cream. We had a look at the places near the museum, because we didn’t want to walk any further, and we found a cute bar with a balcony. Ice cream with a view. This is what we live for. 😀 The bar was also decorated with venetian masks and had a similar style decoration. The view from the balcony was nice although the ice cream was melting faster than we thought. We could melt under that sun too.

How to spend 24 hours in Shkoder

Have a delicious pizza

Lunch time around the corner so we had to make a quick decision. We chose to try a relatively new place in town, Proper Pizza. You can find it in different cities in Albania, but we had this one specially suggested by a dear friend. It has a very modern interior design, funny quotes on the wall and a few tables in a veranda too. We took advantage of a very kind waiter to ask him for visit suggestions in Shkoder and he was really nice to name a few good places to visit or take a drink. We ordered Macho and Beacon Pizza and they were delicious. It is an Albanian type of making pizza, so better give it a try.

proper pizza shkoder

 

Explore the Rozafa Castle

After we received the proper energy, we were ready for discovery. To the castle! Rozafa castle has a very unique story, which we explain better in this article: The Legend of Rozafa. We didn’t want to walk til up there so we drove until the entrance because there is a parking place for a few cars. The main entrance fee costs 400 Albanian Leke per person.

Rozafa Castle Shkoder

A museum in the castle

Keep in mind that there is a museum inside the territory of the castle, whose entrance is an additional 200 Leke per adult, and there is a bar where you can rest a bit after walking around the castle. We had a walk around, reading the descripitions on the tables and rested a bit to enjoy the view of the lake of Shkoder, Bahcallek bridge and Shiroka from up . Then, we also visited the bar showed in the picture.

Rozafa castle museum how to spend 24 hours in shkoder, things to do in shkoder

Enjoy the lake of Shkoder

If you want to take the best of the lake though, you better go near it. You can go by bike if you want to take it slowly and ride a horse by the lake for a more optimised experience too. 850 plant species and 600 animal species are known in the Lake of Shkoder. The lake itself represents a habitat of large size, quite interesting, unique, and very complex for the migration of these species. 54 species of fish are known in this lake. Guess which is the most famous one? The carp. Because it is delicious when you put some lemon in it. This is the hunger speaking. It’s dinner time.

Lake of shkoder

Have dinner in a fancy restaurant

Around 7 pm we reached Aroma restaurant, just a few steps from the city centre too. we were not looking for a traditional food place, but just a fancy one. so we chose Aroma. You know you are going to have a pleasant lunch, when three waiters await you at the door. Can’t deny, we kinda freaked out too, thinking it would be a super expensive restaurant. Actually no. It is one of the places where you pay way less than deserved. We had a delicious ceasar salad, soup and spinach ravioli (which must be said were amazing). The service was extra and we paid less than 10 euros per person. We are still amazed.

Aroma restaurant shkoder

Night party

We were told to go at Retro bar for a drink, but you can choose amongst many nice bars at the Promenade of the city. Most of the times there is live music and a lot of people, making this area, the most crowded in the city at nights. There are shisha bars, pastries and restaurants too. Choose your favourite and enjoy the night in Shkoder.

a bike in the promenade in shkoder

Treat yourself in a fancy hotel

A good day ends with a comfy bed to sleep. We chose Cocja boutique hotel to spend the night and it was a resting one. There is a underground garage for your personal car and a very professional service. The garden is the best part of the hotel although we loved the interior design too. Highly recommended.

cocja boutique hotel shkoder interior design

Another day and another trip. Your Albania summer 2021 is what you need. We hope we were able to help you for an easy and enjoyable daily trip in Shkoder. We think this is the right way how to spend 24 hours in Shkoder. Any other suggestion?

Comment below if you liked our suggestions and text us on social media for more advices. Other than that, have a great adventurous day!