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Book here to sleep on Lake Skadar itself, a few steps from the harbour where the national park's boats leave.
Hotel, Virpazar. Meridian Dispatch.
By road or rail. From Bar the road runs through the Sozina tunnel, by private car or a tourist taxi or van, and the lake is easily reached from Podgorica and Bar by highway or by train via Virpazar.
Yes. The hotel has a pool on its roof with a view over Skadar Lake. Its other facilities include a restaurant serving local and international dishes and a spa and wellness centre.
Yes. The hotel's Spa & Wellness Center has a Finnish sauna, a Russian banya, a steam bath, a salt room, a jacuzzi and a tepidarium.
Yes. Boats and kayaks can be rented in Virpazar, the most visited settlement on the lake, and organised excursions visit the smaller islands with their monasteries and fortresses.
Hotel De'Andros is a large modern building in the middle of Virpazar, right at the water's edge. On the roof are a pool and a bar that look straight across Lake Skadar, the largest lake in the Balkans.
Which room you book decides what you see. The hotel sells lake view as its own categories, from the Standard and Premium rooms to the apartments with view, each with a balcony over the water. Rooms are sold by view, so choose a lake-view category if the view over the water matters to your stay.
The lake beyond is protected as a national park. Rare curly pelicans nest on floating peat islands at its northern end, and autumn and winter are the best seasons to watch birds there.
24-hour reception means you can arrive late, off an evening train or the road from Bar. The hotel's restaurant cooks local and international dishes, so dinner needs no walk into the village.
The spa floor has saunas, a steam bath and a salt room. In the evening, head up to the roof bar for a drink.
The harbour is right outside, where canoes, barges and larger taxi boats carry visitors onto the lake. On land, Besac Fortress sits about 750 metres from the village.
Come by train or bus if you have no car: Virpazar is the most practical base on the lake without one, with services from Podgorica, Sutomore and Budva. From the station, a taxi is the simplest way in to the harbour.
Take a kayak out for the closest look at the lake's waters, which you can rent in the village.
Nearest first, all within 20 minutes on foot from the door.
Besac Fortress
Best climbed before you plan the rest of your day on the lake: from the upper walls you see Lake Skadar, Virpazar and the Crmnica basin at once. The…
Lake Skadar National Park
Quiet channels between floating lilies, and reed beds where Dalmatian pelicans nest in spring: Lake Skadar is a protected wetland where some 280 bird…
Hotel De'AndrosThings to do
The town
From Virpazar's quay, a small wooden boat takes you into the lily channels of Lake Skadar, past island fortresses and on to monasteries that stand on islands of their own.
Read the Virpazar guideLast updated
