Things to do
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Kruja Castle
An Albanian castle 35 miles north on the road to Shkodër, built in the 5th century and expanded during the Ottoman period. Home to the National Museum of Skanderbeg and historically significant as a stronghold of resistance against Ottoman expansion.
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Kruja Old Bazaar
Wooden shopfronts line a cobbled lane climbing to the castle gate, rebuilt after a fire and trading much as the Ottoman bazaar did: kilims, filigree silver, copper pots, carved chests and a good deal of reproduction antique. Bargaining is expected. Coaches from Tirana arrive late morning and the lane fills, so an early start leaves it quiet enough to look properly.
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National Ethnographic Museum
A wealthy Ottoman era house below the castle keep holds looms, an olive press, a watermill and the tools of village crafts, arranged as the rooms of the Toptani family would have used them. Guides walk small groups through in about half an hour and work the presses by hand. The building itself, with its carved ceilings and glazed verandas, is half the visit.
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Skanderbeg Museum
Inside the castle walls stands a concrete and stone tower raised in the 1980s to hold the story of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, who held this hill against Ottoman sieges. Replica armour, banners, frescoes and heavy carved doors fill the halls, and the terrace at the top gives the whole plain down to the Adriatic. Captions run mainly in Albanian, so a guide helps.