Cycling Along Shkodra Lake to the Montenegrin Border
On Monday, we took the bus to Shkodër: a charming, midsized city at the foothills of the Albanian Alps. This city is basically a required stop if you want to do any hiking on the Albanian side of the mountain range.

The week started off rainy, which was perfect for our goal of resting and recharging before our hiking trip. We are staying at Hotel Colosseo which has an amazing spa.


There is one excursion though that motivated us to get up off our pool loungers, and that’s cycling around Shkodra Lake: a massive Balkan lake that crosses the border between Albania and Montenegro.

Bicycles are very popular in Shkodër – which is (surprisingly) the flattest Albanian city we’ve seen – and there are many rental places throughout the city. We picked up these bikes for the day for 5 euros each.


Riding through the city itself can be a bit chaotic, as this is the sort of place where anything goes when it comes to traffic rules.


However, it didn’t take us long to reach the beautiful pathing that follows along the lake.

We next made it to Shiroka: a small lakeside village 7km outside of Shkoder. We stopped at a restaurant here to have some refreshments and enjoy the view.

In another 5km, we found ourselves in Zogaj: an old fishing village at the border of Montenegro. This is actually the furthest you can go along the lake, as the road ends and there is no legal border crossing.


James has a real knack for riding one-handed while taking pictures of me.


We accidentally interrupted some goats on the ride back to Shkodër.


Goats ❤️
