Protected area
Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park
Albania's only marine national park: sea caves, wrecks and the country's clearest water.
In plain language
This section covers Albania's landscape: the mountains, rivers, lakes and national parks.
National parks
11
Protected area
Llogara National Park
A pine-forested pass at 1,027 m where the road drops from mountain forest to the Ionian in a few kilometres.
Protected area
Butrint National Park
A wetland and forest park wrapped around the archaeological city, on the Vivari channel.
Protected area
Valbona Valley National Park
A broad U-shaped glacial valley of white gravel and beech forest under the Alps' highest peaks.
Protected area
Divjakë-Karavasta National Park
Coastal pine forest, dunes and lagoon protecting the region's Dalmatian pelican colony.
Protected area
Kune-Vain Nature Reserve
Lagoons, pine and one of Albania's few surviving coastal alluvial forests, beside Shëngjin.
Protected area
Theth National Park
The glacial valley park at the heart of the Albanian Alps, merged into a wider protected complex in 2022.
Protected area
Vjosa Wild River National Park
Declared in March 2023, Europe's first national park built around a whole free-flowing river system.
Protected area
Lurë-Dejë Mountain National Park
A cluster of small glacial lakes among black pine on the Lurë ridge, badly damaged by logging and slowly recovering.
Protected area
Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park
Old-growth beech forest on the North Macedonian border, part of a UNESCO-listed primeval forest network.
Protected area
Prespa National Park
The Albanian share of a three-country park around the Great and Small Prespa lakes.
Mountains
5
Mountain
Mount Tomorr
A 2,416 m massif above Berat, and the site of an annual Bektashi pilgrimage each August.
Mountain
Mount Korab
At 2,764 m the highest point in both Albania and North Macedonia, on the border ridge.
Mountain
Maja Jezercë
At 2,694 m the highest peak entirely inside the Dinaric Alps, deep in the Albanian Alps.
Mountain
Mount Dajti
Tirana's own mountain: 1,613 m, a national park, and a 4.2 km cable car from the city edge.
Mountain
Maja e Çikës
The 2,045 m high point of the Ceraunian ridge, directly above the Riviera coast.
Mountain ranges
2
Mountain range
Ceraunian Mountains
The coastal ridge that makes the Riviera: 2,000 m peaks rising directly out of the Ionian.
Mountain range
The Albanian Alps
The limestone wall of the far north — locally the Accursed Mountains — shared with Montenegro and Kosovo.
Rivers
6
River
The Vjosa
One of the last large free-flowing rivers in Europe, declared a Wild River National Park in March 2023.
River
The Shala River
A tributary of the Drin above Koman, reached by boat and often called Albania's Thailand.
River
The Shkumbin
The river that splits Albania in two — the historic dividing line between Gheg and Tosk.
River
The Drin
Albania's longest river and the backbone of its electricity system, dammed three times in the north.
River
The Osum
The river that carved the Osum canyon and runs through the middle of Berat.
River
The Buna
The short outflow of Lake Shkodër, and Albania's only navigable river.
Lakes and lagoons
7
Lake
Lake Ohrid
One of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes, UNESCO-listed and home to species found nowhere else.
Lake
Lake Prespa
A high tectonic lake where Albania, Greece and North Macedonia meet, draining underground into Ohrid.
Lake
Lake Shkodër
The largest lake in southern Europe, shared with Montenegro and a major bird wintering ground.
Lake
Karavasta Lagoon
The largest lagoon in Albania and the western Balkans' main breeding site for the Dalmatian pelican.
Lake
Narta Lagoon
Albania's second-largest lagoon, with working saltpans and the island monastery of Zvërnec.
Lake
Bovilla Reservoir
Tirana's drinking-water reservoir, ringed by limestone cliffs half an hour from the capital.
Lake
Lake Koman
A 34 km reservoir in a gorge so narrow the ferry crossing is treated as a scenic journey in its own right.
Springs
2
Spring
The Blue Eye
A karst spring of extraordinary clarity whose bottom has never been definitively reached.
Spring
Bënjë Thermal Springs
Sulphur pools beside the Ottoman Katiu bridge, at the mouth of the Lengarica canyon.
Canyons
2
Canyon
Osum Canyon
A 26 km limestone gorge up to 80 m deep, run by raft in spring and walked in late summer.
Canyon
Gjipe Canyon
A narrow limestone slot that meets the sea at Gjipe beach — the Riviera's one true canyon.
Waterfalls
2
Waterfall
Bogovë Waterfall
A cold spring-fed fall and pool in the Tomorr foothills near Berat.
Waterfall
Grunas Waterfall
A 25–30 m fall in the Theth valley, and a declared natural monument.