Rozafa Castle — Attraction in Shkodër Municipality

This immense ruin perched high atop a hill at the confluence of three rivers (Kiri; Drin; and Buna) provides breathtaking views of Lake Shkodër, the lowlands to the south of the city, and the city itself.

Once you’ve made the trek up the polished cobblestone road leading to the entry point you pay a mere 400L per adult to enter. The slippery road (it would be very treacherous if wet) and the opportunity to scramble about the ruins dictate that you should wear solid shoes with good grip. We saw a couple of people in beach sandals, and others in rubber flip flops, and they were not having a good time walking up that road!

The castle itself is huge! There are three “courtyards”, with the third dominating the highest point of the castle. You can get some incredible views at all points as you explore, but the views from the top are truly spectacular.

A few things to keep in mind before you visit.

First, although there are some interpretive panels (with English translations) detailed information about the castle isn’t really available on-site. There are no audio guides, and no interpretive tours (at least that we could discern). So if you’re keen to learn the history of the castle it’s best to do reading in advance.

Second, most of the walls have no safety railings, and some of the drops are more than ten metres. Keep a close eye on toddlers and young children, and resist that urge to get the perfect Insta selfie! This applies also to several instances of cistern openings that have no grates, and drops of five or more metres should someone fall in.

Third, there is a small coffee shop/resto in the third courtyard. They make passable coffee for a not bad price, and have a range of canned, cold drinks available as well (*we didn’t order any food).

Finally, there is a small museum beside the coffee shop. It’s worth the 200L per person entry fee, especially if it’s not busy. When we visited the person taking admissions happily showed us some of his favourite exhibits, explaining in detail the stories behind them. There is some wonderful history here.

Hopefully someday audio guides and interpretive tours will be available. In The meantime, this castle is still...

I wish we could have stayed longer here. I admire medieval-style experiences, thus castles are always a strong pull. Rozafa Castle stands proudly on the top of a distinguishable hill at the doorstep of the charming city of Shkodra. Surrounded by Buna and Drini rivers, it is the place you would like to go at least once in your life. Either as a tourist, explorer, local, student, retired, whatever.

We visited it on June 1, 2025 for a wedding photoshooting, and we are absolutely amazed with the results. I mean, how could we miss getting out-of-fairytale pictures in such a fairytale place.

Now, to be honest, we were far from exploring mode, and yet it did not fail to amaze us. I wish we had more time to literally explore every stone, every corner.

The road to the entrance door is narrow and coble-stoned, so you can drive the car uphill, but in a very careful way. There are parking spaces (free) and the entrance was just 400 LEK/person (we paid in Euros and they calculated it 1 EUR = 100LEK). Photoshootings inside are allowed, but flying a drone without prior consent is forbidden. We met a lot of tourists, and all of them were saying hi and congratulations since we were wearing our wedding dress/costume - such a nice feeling being greeted from all those strangers whose faces were smiling all the way :) If you are among those, THANK YOU! Made our day!

So basically, take your kids, your partner, friends, or even go alone on a short hike / or by car to the top, and enjoy half a day, even picnic. The views are stunning, the place is spacious, and you will want a nice experience to remember while being in Shkodra or passing...

Okay guys this in Albania/Shkoder. And i am solo traveler. Everyone knows from the gpt or google: You need bike for traveling around the city. I rented (5euro and untill 10pm) and go for this castle. Dont pay for the park (bike) just follow the road and park before enter the castle. You can lock with any stick. If you are going with car you can drive end of the entrance (dont pay for the park) and you will see the ticket office (small one) buy ticket and park free before the castle.

And bring water with you. Because inside is expensive.

And of course this is not angkor wat(cambodia) but still you can visit (It's not very impressive but it's nice to see the city from a distance.)

Last one you should go early because in summer very very hooot.

Last last :) after that you should go buna bridge for go to shiroke because so close. (The one with the plank that people are walking on. If you go by bike, choose to walk from the map so you can see it.) this is small city and you can eat fish / you can see lake most biggest balkanian lake.

One coffee 150 lek. (At least i paid 150 for good drink)

Eating fish around ten euros.

I am telling long because if you’re solo traveler you will wondering park the bike(how,where bla bla.) and you need to learn price for you budget.

Have a enjoy trip my frendooooo. Btw sorry my english not good i am still improving but you can...