Lakes
Swim the sinkhole lakes
Merhoja is 61 metres deep and the clearest water on the plateau. One restaurant on the shore, no lifeguard.
Dumrea Plateau · Central Albania
Eighty-four lakes, one quiet plateau.
Ninety minutes from Tirana, thirty from Elbasan, and nowhere near the coast in August. We run the tours and the transfers that get you here.
84 Lakes
Karst sinkholes across one plateau.
90 Min from Tirana
And 35 minutes from Elbasan.
−100 M Deepest
Çestija drops to around 100 metres.
What you’d actually do here
Cycling
Ride the flat plateau
Quiet paved roads between lakes, long horizons, almost no shade. Three loops from 12 to 30 km.
Harvest
Saffron & olive season
Pick crocus stigmas at Dëshiran in late October, or watch the olive mills run in autumn.
Food
Fish lunch on the water
Lake fish, homemade bread and local oil at a table over the water at Merhoja.
Day tours we run
All tours →
BELSH8 H · FROM TIRANA / ELBASAN · MAX 7
Dumrea in a day: four lakes, one olive mill
Merhoja, Seferan, Belsh and Rrumbullakët on a single loop, with a working olive mill and a fish lunch over the water.
Ask for price
DUMREA PLATEAU5 H · FROM BELSH / ELBASAN · MAX 6
Saffron harvest at Dëshiran
Late-October mornings picking crocus stigmas with the growers behind Zafferano di Dumre — the plateau’s strangest crop.
Ask for price
SEFERAN4 H · FROM BELSH · MAX 8
Cycling the plateau: a flat lake loop
An easy ride between sinkhole lakes on quiet roads, little shade and long horizons. Bikes and a support car included.
Ask for price
Fixed price · Agreed before you get in
All routes →Arriving at Tirana Airport?
| Route | KM | Time | Sedan 1–3 | Van 4–8 | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tirana Airport (TIA) → BelshMeeting with a name sign inside the terminal. Free waiting for delayed flights. | — | ~90 MIN | Ask | Ask | Book |
| Tirana (city) → Belsh | — | ~90 MIN | Ask | Ask | Book |
| Elbasan → Belsh | — | ~35 MIN | Ask | Ask | Book |
Why so many lakes
A plateau of limestone, punched full of holes
Dumrea is karst country: rain dissolves the limestone from below until the ground collapses into a sinkhole, and the sinkhole fills with water. Do that eighty-four times across one plateau and you get this — dark jade discs scattered through pale olive hills.
Most of the 84 have no name on any sign, and some shrink or dry out in late summer with the heat and irrigation. About a dozen are worth a detour; those are the ones we’ve written up.
From the guides
All guides →Planning · July 2026 · 7 min
Belsh in one day: a realistic itinerary from Tirana
Leave Tirana by 9, reach Belsh by 10:30, and you have time for two lakes, an olive mill, and a fish lunch before driving back by dark. This is the hour-by-hour version that actually fits into a single day.
Read →Practical · July 2026 · 6 min
How to get to Belsh: car, bus, furgon, or transfer
Belsh is about 90 minutes from Tirana and 35 from Elbasan. You can self-drive, take a furgon (shared minibus) via Elbasan, or book a fixed-price transfer door to door. Here is what each option really costs you in time and hassle.
Read →Practical · July 2026 · 6 min
Where to swim in the Dumrea lakes, and where not to
Merhoja is the clearest and deepest lake, with a restaurant on the shore and no lifeguard. Belsh town lake has the promenade but is busier. Some lakes drop off fast from the bank and some dry back in late summer. Here is where locals actually swim.
Read →What guests say
Real guest reviews go here, quoted plainly with source and date — pulled from the same review history as our sister operations.
Send one message. We’ll plan the rest.