Posted: October 11 2019
Backpacking in Shkodra, Albania visiting the Rozafa Fortress and Xhamia e Plumbit Mosque
From Tirana I headed north. Shkodra/Shkodër. 4th largest city in Albania. Buses to Shkodra leave from the North Bus Station on Rruga Dritan Hoxha in Tirana. You can see the schedule in the photo below. It's just 20 minutes to walk there from Skanderbeg Square. Fare to Shkodra, 350LEK. 
The journey takes about 2 hours. Arrival point in Shkodra is the Sheshi Demokracia round-a-bout.
I stayed at the Home Hostel which is about 5 minutes walk from Sheshi Demokracia. Highlight of the trip to Shkodra is the Rozafa Fortress which is about a 45 minute walk, South West from the center. On the way, I went to the Xhamia e Plumbit mosque. In English it's known as the Lead Mosque as the dome roof was made of lead. It dates from 1773. 
Inscription above the door of the Xhamia e Plumbit Mosque in Shkodra
Birdseye view of the Xhamia e Plumbit Mosque in Shkodra on the walk up to the Rozafa Fortress.
Entrance to the Rozafa Fortress is 200LEK. It wasn't 'til later that I discovered that I had been given a student ticket (60LEK a tidy sum pocketed no doubt by the badly paid guy manning the ticket office).
Shkodra is also the jumping off point for the Valbona to Theth hike. See www.thecandytrail.com for more details
I wrote about getting from Shkodra to Kotor on my Backpacking in Kotor | Montenegro post. |
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