Lake Koman, also known as Lake Komani is a a beautiful reservoir, surrounded by towering mountains, located in the north of Albania.
What makes Lake Koman extra special to any other reservoir, you can take a vehicle ferry along it. Not only that, if you are planning on visiting Valbona Valley National Park, from Shkoder, this is actually the quickest route!
Here’s everything you need to know about planning a trip along Lake Koman:
Getting to Lake Koman
To get to Lake Koman, you can either drive to the ferry port at Komani, or at Fierza. Komani is located on the west side, Fierza is on the east side.
If you are driving from Shkoder to Valbona Valley National Park, you will drive to Komani Ferry Port, and catch the ferry to Fierza.
The road from Shkoder to Komani is mainly paved. However, small sections are unpaved. But please don’t let that put you off! We saw coaches and big motorhomes drive down with no problem at all!
The road from Fierza Ferry Port to Valbona Valley National Park is a very good, paved road.
The Different Ferries
There are two different vehicle ferries you can book onto. The Bersiha Ferry, which is more traditional-looking one. Or the Alpin Ferry, which is a more modern one. There are also other ferries with operate, passenger-only ones, which offer round trips. These are great if you just want to experience Lake Koman.
The journey from Komani to Fierza, or vice versa, takes around 3 hours. The Bersiha Ferry is slightly cheaper than the Alpin Ferry. We chose to go on the Alpin Ferry, as the ferry crossing times suited us better.
In the busy season, I recommend booking ahead of time, just to guarantee a spot on the ferry. You pay in cash on arrival for the ferry. With Alpin Ferry, you pay for the size of your vehicle and per passenger.
(Please note, we did get told we could pay by card we we booked. However, when we came to paying at the ferry terminal, it wasn’t an option. So make sure you have plenty of cash!)
You will also be asked to pay a small fee for port tax too. At the time we visited in 2024, we paid €2 port tax.
Here is the link to the Bersiha Ferry: https://komanilakeferry.com/
Here is a link to the Alpin Ferry: https://alpin.al/index.php?lang=EN
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Further Reading
A guide to hiking Valbona’s most famous trail: Hiking Guide To The Valbona-Theth Trail
A guide to Theth National Park: A Guide To Theth National Park
