NATURE is the dominant theme for travel in Albania’s north. While Shkodra is not a bad place, with some historical interest, for most it is a stepping stone to the scenic mountains Albania shares with Kosovo and Montenegro. Lake Shkodra is also good for some R&R before or after trekking.
Shkodra sits by a large, clear lake which straddles the Montenegro border.
The town has a collection of old building, crumbling and restored, and is well set up for independent travellers.
Strolling the pleasant streets turns up curios like mosques, markets, old houses and plaques dedicated to heroes.
Somewhat small, but no less interesting, the Marubi photographic museum must be seen. There is also a museum outlining the horrors of communist rule, but it never opened for us.
If you need to see another fort, yes, up on the hill, and the Plumbit Mosqye sits nearby looking lonely.
Renting a pushbike can take you along the lake all the way to the border, but not across it.
There are a couple of lakeside towns to stop for lunch or a beverage, watching the fishermen or the just the water.
The sturdy bird hide will probably disappoint most twitchers.
But most travellers are stopping by on the way to somewhere else.
Velipoje has bad beaches and good birding, but foreign travellers will be heading here, to the Accursed Mountains.
For once, getting there really is half the fun.
A minibus shuttles you to the Koman Lake Ferry, which takes a few hours through these dramatic cliffs and hills.
Summer weekends are crowded, but the views are quite something else.
A second minibus deposits you in Valbona, where family-run guesthouse like this are cheap, cheerful and plentiful. And they feed you well.
Short village walks, bold mountains and a couple of restaurants complete the picture.
And so begins the other half of the fun, hiking across to Theth.
Hot, often hard, sometimes exposed to the sun, the 5-7 hour hike is rewarding.
The tough stretches are actually short and intense, followed by longer, easier parts. And you can buy lunch in the middle.
Theth is larger and more spread out than Valbona, but has a similar make up of family guesthouses etc.
The most popular hike is to the justifiably famed Blue Eye.
There and back took most of the day, and takes in viilages, farms, rivers and hills.
Unlike the Sarande Blue Eye, this hike was enjoyable, even if the water was far too cold for me.
Dedicated hikers can trek across the Accursed Mountains into the beautiful west of Montenegro. Kosovo lies not much further away, too.