As one of the most unique and popular places in Albania, Mrizi i Zanave invites you for an unforgettable experience. The complex is located in the city of Lezhë, in the midst of nature and beautiful fields. It’s the perfect place to leave all your stress and worries behind and indulge in Albania’s beautiful landscapes.
Except for its hotel, Mrizi i Zanave is widely known for its
agrotourism properties, including the farm and the restaurant, which we’ll talk about later on in the article. The whole place is an absolute oasis of tranquility, leaving you to unwind and simply enjoy yourself.
Mrizi i Zanave is one of the first agrotourism businesses in Albania, bringing the concept of “slow food” properly to life. The owner of the business, Altin Prenga, started his cooking career in Italy in the late 90s.
When he returned to Albania, he wanted to use his experience to bring something new to the country, thus combining his international skills with his true roots. He named the establishment
Mrizi i Zanave in 2007, just like the poet Gjergja Fishta called it, as the village of Fishte was his hometown.
From the beginning, the chefs of the restaurant focused on
homemade food, which is full of flavor and is sure to stay on your mind for a long time. After all these years, this place hasn’t lost its touch, and it continues to be one of the most famous
Albania tourist attractions, accommodating more than
100,000 guests
each year.
Let’s start with what made the Mrizi i Zanave agrotourism business so popular—the farm, winery, and production facilities, where you’ll find some of the freshest produce, which they also use for the dishes served at the restaurant.
The dairy and meat products are gathered from 400 families who grow them themselves, in addition to fruits and greens. There are also
food stands
at Mrizi, where you can buy jars of organic honey, milk, or olive oil, which count for some of the
best souvenirs in Albania!
The whole premises is
covered in greenery, with various greenhouses, olive trees, grapevines, and squash vines. Even the walk up to the restaurant is amazing, with green vines accompanying you all the way.
You can also take a tour around the
fields and workshops or visit the winery, which produces the finest wine you’ll ever taste, using fresh grapes and other organic ingredients. All the production facilities at Mrizi are state-of-the-art, but the owner also wants to incorporate
traditional methods for food processing, like wooden barrels or old stone mills for flour.
At Mrizi i Zanave, you can really get in touch with nature and all of its charms, including animals. At the farm, you’ll get to see horses, cows, chickens, sheep, and more. They all live in harmony with each other and nature, making for a very pleasant environment.
You can even take
horse rides around the farm, with the help of the staff, of course.
If you’re a food lover and looking forward to trying new and unique dishes, the restaurant at Mrizi i Zanave is the place to go. It’s among the first restaurants in Albania to perfectly combine traditional Albanian food with fine dining, making for some mouthwatering dishes.
What’s unique about the restaurant is that the Mrizi i Zanave menu is never written down, as it changes regularly. They always focus on
seasonal produce, preparing variations of delicious dishes and drinks.
The outdoor area of the restaurant is breathtaking, set in the
middle of the fields, offering stunning sunset views and amazing panoramas. The staff is always friendly and helpful, carefully walking you through the menu and making suggestions based on your preferences.
The restaurant’s motto is “Think Globally, Eat Locally.” There couldn’t be a better way to represent this place, which works with the local resources to create something original and full of taste.
Keep in mind that you should
book a table
before you go to Mrizi i Zanave, as it’s usually pretty packed there. You might be lucky and find a table without booking in advance, but to avoid any unpleasant situations, simply call the number
+355
69 210 8032 for reservations.
The hotel at Mrizi i Zanave is a unique and beautiful building set in an old stone house that once belonged to the owner's grandfather. A really creative aspect of it is the ruined corner of the structure, which has been turned into a floor-to-ceiling glass window, beautifully illuminating the space.
There is a variety of rooms available, so here is a list of them to help you decide which one fits your needs best:
The deluxe room features a comfy double bed, air conditioning, and a glass-wall bathroom. The room is very inviting and has a unique, cozy feel to it, thanks to its wooden floors and stone walls.
It’s the perfect accommodation choice for a cold winter evening, letting you feel all the warmth and hospitality of Albania.
You can book this room for about €60 per night.
Next, we have the Basic Triple Room, one of the best and most popular Mrizi i Zanave rooms, thanks to its glass wall corner. There is a double bed and a single bed in the room, along with wooden furniture and stone walls.
There are beautiful bits and pieces all over the room, like traditional wool rugs, embroidered bed sheets, and more. This room costs about €100 per night.
Perfect for friend groups or families, the family room provides a large double bed, a bunk bed, and a sofa bed. It’s a pretty spacious room with wooden floors, a balcony, and a beautiful traditional interior.
The room has a classic design with pops of color here and there, thanks to the decorative rugs and colorful bed sheets. This room costs about €120 per night.
All the rooms have the same rustic and cozy character and style, fitting in perfectly with the surrounding environment. You can visit Booking.com for more information on the rooms and to check their current prices.
Mrizi i Zanave is all about unique dishes made with only the freshest ingredients. Among the most unique ones is their homemade pasta served with blueberry sauce, different kinds of pickled vegetables, or their delicious spinach puree.
At the Mrizi i Zanave Hotel, you can check in from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. and check out until 11 a.m.
Mrizi i Zanave was opened in 2007 in the beautiful and small village of Fishtë, near Lezhë.
“Mrizi i Zanave” basically means Valley of the Fairies. This is an artistic name that the famous poet Gjergj Fishta gave his hometown, Fishtë, in one of his poems. The owner wanted to be as close to the village’s heart as possible, so he gave his business the name “Mrizi i Zanave”.
You can take the bus that goes from Tirana to Lezhe and tell the driver to drop you off along the way, but there aren’t any direct lines that go straight to Mrizi i Zanave.