Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Albania (Northern Albania) · Montenegro (Central Montenegro)
Skadarsko jezero · Liqeni i Shkodrës
Lake Skadar lies on the border between Montenegro and Albania and is the largest lake in the Balkans. It is a karst lake with a changeable shoreline: its water rises and falls with the seasons over a wide flat plain on the northern side. The Montenegrin part is a national park and the Albanian part a nature reserve, and together they make one of the most important bird sanctuaries in Europe.
Skadar is a cryptodepression, a basin whose floor lies below sea level. Its basin formed through the sinking of blocks of rock in a tectonic zone and was flooded by the sea in the Miocene and Pliocene; the connection to the sea was cut in the later Pliocene. Its water comes mostly from the Morača river and from many karst springs, some of which rise under the lake surface in deep pits called oko.
The lake drains to the Adriatic through the Buna (Bojana) river, which forms part of the border between the two countries, and it is linked by the Drin to Lake Ohrid. The southern and south-western shores are steep and rocky, while the northern side is a broad flooded plain whose edges move with the water level.
The Montenegrin part of the lake and its shore became a national park in 1983, and the lake was added to the Ramsar list of wetlands in 1996. Near Rijeka Crnojevića a steamboat sunk during the Second World War lies on the lake bed.
Small islands hold the traces of the past. Kom monastery sits on a rocky island reached by boat through channels of water lilies. Starčevo, another island monastery, was a medieval scriptorium. Beška has two medieval churches, one reportedly built by Đurađ II Balšić in 1440, and Grmožur is a former Ottoman fortress and prison on a rocky island that you can explore for free. The fortress of Lesendro can be seen from the road and the train on the way from Podgorica.
The name of Virpazar is said to come from the Turkish pazar, a market. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was a small lake port that shipped fish and wine to Shkodër. The Belgrade–Bar railway reached it in the 1970s, and its station is still a pleasant way to arrive. Above the town the Besac fortress, said to be Ottoman, is about a 15-minute walk from the centre, with free entry and a 360° view.
Skadar is a hotspot of freshwater biodiversity. It is one of the largest bird reserves in Europe, and it is recognised as an Important Bird Area. The lake is rich in fish such as carp, bleak and eel, and several fish species and a notable share of its freshwater snails are found nowhere else.
More than 280 bird species are recorded here. Dalmatian pelicans nest on the islands, with an estimated 30 to 50 nesting pairs, and April and May are the best months to see them. In summer they hide in the reeds, so go out early in the morning. Other birds to look for are pygmy cormorants, whiskered terns, glossy ibises and ferruginous ducks. In winter the lake fills with waterbirds, up to about 200,000 of them.
The water lilies bloom from about May to August, and they open in the morning and close in the late afternoon. The densest fields can only be reached by the shallow wooden boats called čun.
Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Helmut Kienzle · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Helmut Kienzle · CC BY 4.0
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The Montenegrin part of the lake is a national park and the Albanian part a managed nature reserve, so expect protected-area rules on both shores. Shkodër, the Albanian city that gave the lake its name, lies on the south-eastern shore, and its water level changes a great deal between seasons, so the shoreline you find may differ from one visit to the next.
April to June is the pick: pelicans are nesting, the lilies come into bloom and the temperatures are around 20–26 °C. July and August can be very hot (over 35 °C), so get on the water before 9 a.m. September and October bring the grape harvest and milder weather, and in winter the lake is quiet, with some facilities closed and plenty of birds.
Virpazar, on the western shore, is the main gateway. It is about 30 minutes by road from Podgorica, and the Belgrade–Bar train stops there, with a few trains a day. The national park entry fee is paid separately from your boat trip (about 4–5 euros a day). A two-hour group trip typically costs 15–25 euros per person, and operators do not all charge alike; book ahead online to avoid touts in the harbour. Kayaks are a quieter way to reach the narrow channels, and motorboats can disturb nesting birds, so choose a guide who keeps a distance. Longer cruises usually stop at Kom monastery, where the monks sometimes sell homemade honey at the jetty.
Murići, on the southern shore, has a pebble-and-sand beach, with sun loungers for hire in summer. The water is calm and clear, and the gentle entry suits children. There is parking at the beach and a restaurant nearby, and boat trips to the small islands off the shore can be arranged from the beach. The road down is narrow and rough, with blind bends, so arrive in the morning before it fills up.
On the Albanian side the villages of Shiroka and Zogaj, on the southern shore near Shkodër, are where locals swim at weekends: simple pebble beaches, boardwalks and wooden fishing boats. Bring repellent for summer evenings, and do not be alarmed by water snakes, which are harmless. Because the lake is shallow, it warms quickly in summer.
Pavlova Strana, about 30 minutes by a winding road from Virpazar or Cetinje, gives the classic view of the horseshoe bend of the Crnojević river. Go between about 7 and 9 a.m. for the softest light. There is a small car park and a restaurant at the top.
Carp is the local speciality: grilled, baked, or in fish soup. Ukljeva (bleak) is fried whole and eaten in one go, and is best in winter and spring. Eel is grilled or boiled. At Rijeka Crnojevića, with its old arched stone bridge, try fresh cheese and priganice, fried dough with honey. The Crmnica region above Virpazar is wine country, with the red vranac and the white krstač grapes: Godinje has old stone cellars, and the Šipčanik winery is in a former railway tunnel. A small market sets up by the old bridge in Virpazar on Friday mornings.
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Fortress
An abandoned medieval fortified town at the confluence of the Morača with Lake Skadar. Visiting the fortress Žabljak was built to control the terrain, not to impress, and visitors find it quiet, often with the whole fortress to themselves. Access…
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