Lake Skadar National Park

Dolphin-shaped Lake Skadar (Скадарско Језеро), the Balkans’ largest, has its tail and two-thirds of its body in Montenegro and its nose in Albania. On the Montenegrin side, an area of 400 sq km has been protected by a national park since 1983; today, Skadar is renowned as one of Europe’s top bird habitats. It’s a blissfully pretty area encompassing steep mountains, island monasteries, clear waters, and floating meadows of water lilies. The main – albeit tiny – towns here are Virpazar and Vranjina, though if you’ve got wheels, you can easily explore the timeless villages sprinkled along the shore.