Visiting Rozafa Castle, Shkoder

This morning we were up and walking by 7:45 AM as we wanted to visit Rozafa Castle before things got too hot. We had a 3.5 km walk just to get to the bottom of the hill the castle sits on, so we didn’t want to be doing that when it was 31 degrees. At 23 degrees, the temperature was just right—and even better, most of the walk was in the shade of buildings.

We headed out along one of the main roads in and out of Shkodër, so it wasn’t very scenic. But there were footpaths for most of the way, which was great.

The climb uphill started off gradual and then got steeper. Near the ticket gate, the road is paved with stone—quite smooth stone—so it’s a bit slippery. All good in the dry, but definitely wouldn’t be fun in the wet.

We weren’t sure if the official opening time was 8 AM or 9 AM, as Google and various websites gave different answers. We arrived at 8:30, which split the difference—but meant we faced a 30-minute wait in the sun when the sign at the gate confirmed it opened at 9. Fortunately, the ticket man arrived soon after 8:30 AM, and once he was set up in his booth, he was happy to let us in early. Nice! Cost per person is 400 Lek or 4 Euros. We were the first through the gate, followed by one other man—and no one else was waiting.

We therefore got to start our visit with no one else around—no tour groups, no crowds. The castle grounds are very large and hilly. You make your way inside the main stone walls and then climb further up the hill. The castle is mostly what I’d describe as ruins—it’s not a fairytale castle. The outer walls are fairly intact, and there are some walkway tunnels and a few complete buildings. There are lots of grassy areas between the structures. It’s an interesting place to explore, and the views from the castle walls are great.

The castle has two names: Rozafa and Shkodër Castle. Initially, I thought it was also called Kalaja Castle because that’s what was printed on a sign on the road—but “Kalaja” is just the Albanian word for “castle.” 😂

“The hill was settled since the Early Bronze Age. The earliest fortification walls are dated to the 4th–3rd century BC...” Rozafa Castle

There’s a legend about a woman being interned inside the castle walls to protect them. A rather morbid story—which I’m hoping isn’t true.

There’s also a museum inside the castle and a small café/restaurant. I’m not sure how many visitors these get. We saw a lot of comments online from people unhappy about paying the castle entry fee and then being asked to pay an additional museum fee. To be fair, that didn’t bother us as it wasn't much—but we didn’t want to go into the museum anyway. We’d rather just wander around and look at the outside.

Near the museum, though, there was a geocache hidden—which I found. It was tucked in a discreet spot, not in view of the museum or café. It was near a set of circular stone steps heading down into the earth. The steps looked very slippery and narrow—there was no way I was going down them for a look. It would’ve been a one-way trip! I’d love to know where they went and what was down there. We suspect it was related to underground water wells.

As we headed back to the entry/exit point, two large tour groups were just arriving, following their guides. We saw their buses at the bottom of the hill and assume they also had to walk up, as there’s no place to park or turn a bus at the ticket gate.

Our legs were quite sore and tired by the time we got back to the apartment. We stopped to buy more water and a cold drink at the supermarket. Oh yes—did I mention you can’t drink the tap water in Albania? Same as in Thailand and Cambodia. Sarah put bags over the taps to remind us, especially in the bathroom, so we don’t forget when brushing our teeth.

The afternoon was spent reading, and even I had a nap on the couch today. The 10 km round trip to the castle must have worn us out!

For dinner tonight, we went out again! Yes, you heard it here first—two nights in a row! Our budget is now in tatters… no, not really. The place we went to was a traditional Albanian restaurant and the prices were quite reasonable. We had stuffed peppers, a pilaf rice with cheese, beef kebabs (kind of like the sausages we had in Croatia), and two soft drinks. Total cost: 1,080 Lek, or about NZD $20. It was all very nice.

After dinner, we walked around town doing a geocache activity we’d never tried before called an Adventure Lab. It’s an app on your phone that takes you to different points of interest, and you answer questions at each one. At one question spot, it gave us the physical location of the geocache container—it was in the lobby entrance of a small hotel. See if you can spot the geocache container below. They are normally much more hidden than this! Hint: it’s not the Vespa. 😉