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While the city of Shkodër, Albania, itself is a nice place to visit, there are plenty of things to do nearby. They include Rozafa Castle, Mes Bridge, and Lake Shkodër.
Hiring a Driver
While I didn’t have time on my day trip to visit the lake, I hired an English speaking driver at the tourist information booth in the city center to take me to both Mes Bridge and Rozafa Castle for an acceptable fee. You can ask the person at the booth to set it up for you.
In my case, it ended up being a husband and wife team helping me, with the wife working in the info booth and the husband driving me in his personal car. They didn’t volunteer that information, which is fine, but I figured it out after the woman told me her brother-in-law lived in Florida and the driver later told me his brother lived in Florida.
Mes Bridge
Anyway, our first stop was Mes Bridge (Ura e Mesit), just six kilometers outside of Shkodër in the village of Mes. The roads to the village were only suitable for animals, with terrible potholes and flooding at times. Once at the bridge, I was given as much time as I wanted to walk across the modern bridge and the original bridge, around and down near the base, for several different perspectives.
The bridge was built in 1780 by Ottoman governor Kara Mahmud Pasha (d. 1796) of the Bushati family. It spans 108 meters over the Kir River and has 11 arches. It was one of the most important bridges in the region, on a road leading all the way to Pristina. After touring the bridge, we headed back through town to Rozafa Castle.
