2026-08-08 · 5 min read
Most visitors to Albania head south for the beaches. The north is quieter, greener and, for a lot of travellers, the more memorable half of the country. Shkodër is the base for it: a relaxed lakeside city about 90 minutes from Tirana Airport, and the gateway to the Albanian Alps.
Here is what a northern road trip actually looks like, and where the roads get interesting.
From Rinas Airport the drive is straightforward: north on the SH1 through Lezhë, roughly 90 minutes in normal traffic. It is one of the better roads in the country and an easy first drive if you have just landed.
Shkodër itself is walkable once you are there, so the car earns its keep on the day trips rather than in the city.
The main roads to and around Shkodër are fine for any ordinary car. The mountain roads are a different matter: they are narrow, they have long unprotected drops, and passing an oncoming vehicle sometimes means reversing to a wider spot. Drive them in daylight, keep your speed low, and use the horn on blind bends the way local drivers do.
Fill up in Shkodër before heading into the mountains, and do not count on mobile signal in the valleys. If you would rather not take on that kind of road, the lake and Koman trips give you most of the scenery with none of the difficulty.
For Shkodër, the lake and Koman, anything in the fleet is comfortable. If your plans include Theth or the higher valleys, tell us when you get in touch so we can talk through what fits. Our guide to choosing the right rental car covers the trade-offs.