kruje
Kruje
Published on 15/09/2025
From Tirana, it is an hour by bus to Kruje. We took the bus at 08:00 and arrived around 09:00 (surprise) The bus drops you off at a random roundabout and from there it is a 10-minute walk (uphill) to the center. The big thing to visit here is the Pazara i Vjetër, the bazaar, however we read that it is not as lively in the morning and we did not want to walk around with our souvenirs the whole time. And indeed when we walked through it at 09:00 there were not many shops open, so we decided to first look at some other highlights.
noëlle
Hi! I am Noëlle and I wrote this article for you!!! Hopefully, you like reading this article and find my tips and struggles helpful. Also, ignore the grammar and spelling mistakes; I did not proofread it. I absolutely loved Albania and hope you will have the most amazing trip too! :)
The only other highlight is the castle actually and it is a 5-minute walk from the bazaar. The castle is free to enter. There is a big garden and we walked around for a bit. The mountains are impressive to see and you can also wander a bit beyond the castle. There is also a museum at the castle, the Skanderberg Museum, which you had to pay a small fee for (I believe 100 LEK per person?). Here you can read about the history of Albania, which was interesting. Personally, I would not have done this if there was much more to do, but there is not in Kruje, so it is a nice way to spend some time (and it is a lot cooler inside). After the museum, we walked through the gardens where a man was playing the saxophone (very beautiful) and we went to the cafe located at the castle, where we had a drink.
Then we decided to finally hit the bazaar. We were really excited for this and were ready to spend money. We both wanted to buy a handmade carpet, so we walked over the entire bazaar looking into every shop to pick out the perfect carpet. One shop invited us in to look at how the carpets were made. They explained the whole process, from cleaning the wool to weaving the carpets and it was so incredibly cool and interesting to see it. Obviously we bought a carpet from them.
After buying tons of souvenirs and some lunch we headed back to the bus. Remember that it is still a 10-minute walk to the bus. I think we took the bus back at 12:00, so we spend a good three hours in Kruje. Kruje is the perfect place to visit for half a day trip or to visit as a stop on your way to Shkoder. I loved the bazaar, I personally thought it was nicer than the Gjirokaster bazaar, but I think the opinions are divided on that…