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ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES
Shkodra
Arrival & Transport
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Arriving intro
The nearest airport to Shkodra is 75km away in Podgorica, Montenegro. Apart from a taxi, which will cost €50-70, the only direct transport to Shkodra is the bus (€40, book in advance) run by the Samsel travel agency in Shkodra. Tirana International Airport, also called Nënë Tereza (Mother Teresa) or Rinas Airport is 100km to the south. After passport control, you pay a €10 visa fee (see also visas). There's an ABA Bank ATM (accepting Mastercard and Visa cards) and a public phone that accepts both lek and euro coins (local/international calls cost from 50/100 lek per minute). An AMC kiosk (open roughly 09:00 - 17:00 daily) sells SIM cards for 2000 lek. Outside the arrivals hall, there is an ABA bank branch with another ATM, and a slew of grinning taxi drivers; expect to pay €25 for a trip to the centre of Tirana (30-45 minutes). There's no public transport here, and the best way to get to Shkodra is to take a taxi to Tirana's train station where you catch a bus or furgon minibus. You can also gamble on catching a bus or furgon along the main road – take a taxi to the main road near Fushe-Kruje (15 minutes over an awful road) and flag down the first bus or furgon (the bus should pass here at about 15 minutes past every hour until 16:15).
Arriving by train
Shkodra's train station is a surprisingly clean and pleasant building at the eastern edge of the city. At present, there are only two trains per day between Shkodra and Tirana. However, there are rumours of a weekly passenger service between Shkodra and Podgorica (Montenegro). The rails are already there, though are used for freight only.
Taxis await arrivals for the five-minute drive into town, or you could walk straight down dusty Rruga Stacionit te Trenit and then right along Rruga Marin Barleti to reach the main square in about 15 minutes.
Arriving by bus
Buses from Tirana drop passengers off at the Radio Shkodra building on Sheshi 5 Herontje square, next to the Rozafa hotel in the centre. The furgon minibuses from Ulcinj in Montenegro stop right outside the Rozafa hotel. Other furgons drop you off along the main road south of the city centre (G/H-5); taxis and the city bus are at hand to take you to the city centre; else, walk straight up Rruga Vasil Shanto for 20 minutes.
Arriving by car
Driving in Albania is an interesting challenge, made even more fun by the combination of a nearly complete lack of signs in Shkodra and the cute habit of having streets with three different names, but no asphalt. To find the city centre, drivers approaching from Tirana should follow the traffic flow which turns to the right at the first main roundabout after passing the castle (Sheshi ne hyre te Xhabijeve) - after a while there's another square (Sheshi i Parashit) with a large statue, where you see a sign pointing the way to the qender (centre). At the first main crossroad turn left onto Rruga Marin Barleti (if you pass the Cathedral you missed it) to reach the centre after 200 metres. Those driving from Ulcinj in Montenegro cross the bridge over the Buna river south of the city; turn left and follow directions as above. Drivers coming from Podgorica in Montenegro enter the city from the north; turn left at the large roundabout with the statue in the middle to find the central square.
Arriving by ferry
The small ferry from Virpazar in Montenegro (groups only; see the Lake Shkodra feature) docks at Shkodra's Buna bridge from where you can catch a taxi or city bus into town. Seafaring ferries from Italy, Greece and Slovenia dock at the harbour of Durres, from where there's a daily direct bus to Durres, departing at 13:15; tickets are 300 lek and the trip takes about 3 hours. It's also easy to catch a furgon to Tirana and then an onward furgon or bus to Shkodra.