Cycling the Balkans: Krujë to Shiroka

This is the second of five parts detailing a four week cycling tour around Albania, Montenegro & Bosnia in May and June 2023. Here are links to Part One, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five.

Krujë had been a late addition to the route, as I abandoned the plan to go over the mountains into Kosovo due to bad weather. When I arrived I was very pleasantly surprised with how picturesque and charming the town was. Despite its proximity to Tirana and its historic significance, it's not particularly touristy.

Krujë is best known for its huge hilltop fortress. Unlike many European castles, it is still an active site with some hotels, restaurants and shops housed inside the walls. The fortress holds a special place in Albanian history as it was the center of Skanderbeg's rebellion against Ottoman rule in the 15th century. Inside the castle there is also a museum dedicated to the resistance - an event that played a significant role in the founding of Albanian national identity.

The castle itself dates from the 6th century CE; little remains from this era, but there are still plenty of towers, walls and fortifications to explore.




If you cycle to Krujë you can stay inside the castle, but be warned that it is a very steep, cobbled climb up at the end. I stayed just below the entrance which was accessible by more gentle paved roads, and was a bit more lively for finding somewhere to eat in the evening.

On my return to the hotel from the castle I was greeted with the sound of the call to prayer from a mosque. Unlike the far north, this part of Central Albania is predominantly Muslim. Regardless of their religious denomination, I have always found Albanians to be exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and it was no different here.

Bovilla Lake Circle

On my second day in Krujë I did a circular route that I had been looking forward to. It was a mostly gravel ride that headed south towards Tirana, before looping back alongside Bovilla Lake. This turned out to be a very tough, but hugely enjoyable ride. With around 1,700m of elevation gain in just over 60km, it was steep, but the views were really spectacular.

The route left Krujë to the south on a gravel road, which was steeply undulating but with nice views and all rideable for the first 6km. After that there was a short descent (less than 1km), which was on a single track that I had to walk for a bit. With wider tyres you would be able to ride 95% of this, but with my 40mm Schwalbe Marathons it was a bit too bumpy. I then rejoined a good gravel road next to a charming Ottoman era bridge





This road continued through a couple of villages and around a scenic lake, leading to the northern edge of Tirana. Here I turned north and continued on a gravel trail which briefly became quite rutted and busy with trucks. This was a result of a large quarry which was about 24.5km into the route above. Once I passed this the road actually became paved for a while up to the dam and was very quiet once more. The climb up to the dam was steep and scenic, and there were magnificent views of lake Bovilla at the top



At the lake I joined another gravel trail which was in good condition and climbed through a series of hairpin bends above the lake. This was one of the best riding sections of the whole trip.

The road continued climbing gently for a while past the lake into the Qafshtame National Park. The scenery was beautiful here although the road was slightly rough at times, at least on my narrowish tyres. I got caught in a heavy shower, but even that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the ride.

The final part of the circular route joined the paved SH-38 road and followed that mostly downhill into Krujë. I arrived in the early afternoon, just as a thunderstorm arrived.

Albanian Mountains

My plan from Krujë had been to head east on the SH-38 and SH-37 to Burrel, then continue on to Peshkopi and Kukës and into Kosovo.

Once again, this plan was thwarted by the thunderstorms that continued to arrive early in the afternoon. There was a very real risk from lightning in the high mountains, and so I decided to stay lower down and do slightly shorter rides so that I would be finished by lunchtime, before the lightning typically arrived.

My modified route consisted of returning towards Shkodër by a more mountainous route (but not too high!), staying in the villages of Rubik and Fushë Arrës. Then I would descend down to Lake Shkodra and stay in the lakeside resort town of Shiroka, before crossing into Montenegro.



The ride from Krujë to Rubik was basically retracing my steps from a couple of days earlier. It was a pleasant ride and was easy enough that I could recover a bit. The highlight was the last section, riding a very quiet road alonside the Mat River, followed by a beautiful narrow climb up to the hotel in Rubik.

Shortly after I arrived (around 12:30pm) a very heavy thunderstorm broke with lots of lightning, and I felt vindicated in my decision to have skipped the high mountains. Instead, I enjoyed a tasty lunch and rested during the afternoon.


From Rubik, the day began with a long, gradual climb on the SH-30, which runs alongside the Fan River. This used to be one of the main roads leading to Kukës and onto Kosovo, but a relatively new motorway (the A1), now takes nearly all of the traffic, leaving the SH-30 extremely quiet. The surface is good and could even be ridden on a road bike, although, there are still a few imperfections to avoid.

It was a very scenic climb with mostly gentle gradients, followed by a superb descent to Gjegjan, which looked a decent place to stop for food or refreshments. Once again, I was racing to finish before the thunderstorms arrived, so only stopped here briefly to admire the views of the river and surrounding valley.

The day finished by following the SH-30 gently uphill to my hotel on the edge of Fushë Arrës. This was a lovely ride, with some spectacular views, even though it was pretty cloudy.




The final ride of this section was from Fushë Arrës back down to Lake Shkodra. On the profile it looks mostly downhill, but there was still a considerable amount of climbing, in particular the first ascent up to Pukë, which ascended 500m in around 11km.

Most of the day was spent on the SH-5, which is an excellent road for cycling. It has a perfect road surface and very little traffic. The gradients are mostly gentle and it has sweeping curves and diverse scenery, switching from forest to open mountains.



The road became slightly busy on the edge of Shkodër, but it didn't feel dangerous at all, and the day ended with a very nice section along Lake Shkodra to Shiroka.

Shiroka is kind of a resort town, but it is mostly just locals from Shkodër who come here, and so is not particularly busy, even on weekends. It has a relaxing vibe and several restaurants specialising in fish.

I stayed in Shiroka for a couple of nights to have a rest, before continuing the trip by crossing into Montenegro...




Part 1 - Podgorica - Krujë

Part 3 - Lake Shkodra & Cetinje

Part 4 - Durmitor National Park

Part 5 - Foča - Dubrovnik

Albania, Montenegro & Bosnia Tour Overview

Cycle Touring Guides