The jewel of the Albanian Alps – Lake Komani

There is no better place in Albania, where in such a small area, you can see and explore the vertical landscape of the Albanian Alps, which ranges from 170 to even 2400 meters in height, than the area of the incredibly beautiful Lake Komani.

Lake Komani (Albanian: Liqeni i Komanit) is actually an artificial reservoir on the Drini River in northern Albania. It is surrounded by densely wooded hills, vertical slopes, deep gorges, and a narrow valley completely occupied by the river. In addition to the Drini, the rivers Shala and Valbona flow into it.

The lake is up to 400 m wide, and in the narrowest part it is surrounded by powerful and fascinating vertical rocks, so it is only about 50 m wide at that point.

Komani Lake, Photo: Abenteuer Albanien, Unsplash

There is a developed waterway on the lake with ferries and boats for the transport of passengers/tourists. The lake is also used for fishing and normally for swimming. With two harbors on either side of the lake, Fierza and Koman, the lake as a whole offers many nearby interesting places worth visiting.

Among them, I will mention the Shala, Daica, Berisha, and Gomina rivers, then the Shala and Kaurri caves, the island of peace and picturesque villages.

One of the best ways to get to know the natural beauty of this lake is definitely a boat cruise from Koman to Fierza, which takes just under three hours one way.

On the other hand, if you don’t have that much time, there is a whole series of shorter half-day boat tours, which with lunch and refreshments cost 29 euros, but only if you pay online. Paying with cash on the spot, interestingly, costs 35 euros, so in this case there are no usual discounts for cash. 🙂