Mountains & Nature

National parks, canyons, waterfalls and mountain roads across Albania.

2 Nov 2026

Maja e Vajushës in the Fog: Our Group Hike in the Albanian Alps

Notes and photos from our group hike to Maja e Vajushës, about 2,050 m above Lëpushë: the route, the fog and how to hike in cloud, plus Shala River and Ohrid.

19 May 2026

Bogova Waterfall: The Cold Pool an Hour From Berat

Under Mount Tomorr, a short walk through a gorge leads to a waterfall and a pool cold enough to make August bearable.

28 Apr 2026

Divjaka-Karavasta: Pelicans, Pine Forest and the Largest Lagoon in Albania

A pine forest on a sandbar, a lagoon the size of a small sea, and one of the last breeding colonies of the Dalmatian pelican in the Mediterranean.

14 Apr 2026

Nivica Canyon: The Village at the Edge of a Gorge

In the Kurvelesh highlands, a stone village stands above a canyon with caves, waterfalls and almost no other visitors.

10 Mar 2026

Shëngjergj Waterfall: Tirana's Mountain Escape

Forty kilometres east of the capital, a waterfall drops beside a mountain village that feels much further from Tirana than it is.

11 Feb 2026

Shebenik National Park: Ancient Beech Forest and the Balkan Lynx

Beech forest old enough to be UNESCO-listed, a scatter of glacial lakes and the last Albanian habitat of the Balkan lynx — all two hours from Tirana.

9 Sept 2025

Mount Tomorr: Albania's Holy Mountain Above Berat

The 2,416-metre ridge above Berat is a national park, a hiking destination and a pilgrimage site all at once.

2 Jul 2025

The Lura Lakes: Albania's Glacial Lakes in the Black Pine Forest

A dozen glacial lakes sit at 1,500 metres among black pine forest in the Dibra highlands, including one that fills with water lilies every summer.

17 Jun 2025

Qafë Shtama: The Pine Forest Above Krujë

A pine forest at 1,200 metres, a spring Albanians will drive an hour for, and an easy escape from the summer heat an hour from Tirana.

21 May 2025

Prespa Lakes National Park: Pelicans, Islands and Three Borders

Where Albania, Greece and North Macedonia meet, two lakes hold a rock-cut church on an island and one of Europe's great pelican colonies.

6 May 2025

The Këlcyra Gorge: Where the Vjosa Cuts Through the Mountain

Between Përmet and Këlcyrë the Vjosa squeezes through a gorge with road, river and cliff stacked on top of each other.

18 Mar 2025

Pëllumbas Cave and the Erzeni Canyon: Tirana's Easiest Wild Day Out

An hour from Tirana, a marked trail climbs to a 360-metre cave above a river canyon. It is the capital's easiest introduction to wild Albania, and it takes half a day.