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