Razëm

Getting there

car. About an hour north of Shkodër on the road toward Boga, paved and unremarkable in summer. There is no useful public service, so it is a car or a taxi.

Parking: Roadside and guesthouse parking.

Photography

Best light: morning, golden.

Pine forest and open meadow at altitude, so the light works early and late and the middle of the day goes flat under a hard sky. Check drone requirements with the AAC before travelling.

Drone: not confirmed. Albania's registration requirement is reported differently by every secondary source, so verify with the AAC before you fly.

Razëm is the first altitude you reach going north from Shkodër: a forested plateau at around a thousand metres with a scatter of guesthouses and small hotels along the road. It is not the Alps proper and does not pretend to be.

What it has is temperature. In July and August, when Shkodër sits in the low thirties and the coast is full, Razëm is several degrees cooler and mostly Albanian. That makes it a useful night on the way to Theth, or a plain afternoon out of the heat, rather than a destination on its own.

The season closes at both ends. Snow shuts most of what is open here through the winter, and the months worth the drive are May to October.