Walking Albania

Our trip begins at Tirana International Airport (TIA) at 3pm, the latest your flight can arrive is 2.30pm. You will need to arrive by this time to join the airport transfer today. We will travel together as a group to our hotel in Shkodra which will take approximately one-and-a-half hours. The welcome meeting with your leader will take place this evening before dinner. Known as the 'Capital of North Albania', Shkodra is one of the oldest cities in the country. Founded in the 4th century B.C. the city is rich in cultural heritage and boasts a large number of artists, musicians, poets and writers. Time permitting we will visit the imposing Rozafa Castle that rises up on a rocky hill to the west of the city's entrance and, after dinner, take a walk around the city's pedestrian area, 'pjaca', with low elegant buildings from the Venetian period. Stay: Hotel Tradita (Comfortable)

This morning we drive from Shkodra to the docks at Lake Koman, before boarding our ferry. Described in the Bradt guides as 'one of the great boat trips of the world' our two hour journey takes us on glassy blue waters through twists and turns of narrow waterways beneath stunning mountain peaks. A truly beautiful introduction to the amazing scenery that Northern Albania has to offer. Once at the other side we drive to Valbona and dive into an alpine landscape, stopping on route for a beautiful riverside walk that will stretch out our legs and prepare us for the weeks' walking ahead. After our walk we will have a short transfer to our base in the mountains for the next three nights.

Today's 6 kilometre/3.7 mile linear walk is expected to take around three hours with 360 metres/1181 feet of ascent and 180 metres/591 feet of descent. Stay: Bujtina Hotel (Comfortable) (B)

We spend the next two days hiking in Valbona National Park. Valbona is based in the Tropoja district of Northern Albania which, along with two adjoining districts, encompasses a region called The Malesi, roughly translated this means The Highlands. A wild and high mountainous region inhabited by fiercely independent and strong people who have never really been conquered or subdued by the various invasions in the last 2000 years! The full name of the mountains around Valbona are the Malësi e Gjakovës and this name is most often translated in English as 'The Accursed Mountains.'

A short drive after breakfast brings us to the beginning of our trail near to Drogobia village. We start a moderate climb, crossing meadows and patches of beechwood, climbing higher until we reach the elevated pastures known as 'Gjarpri I Dragobis' - the Drogobia Snake. It is the perfect spot to have a picnic lunch and to taste dairy products from the local shepherds as graze their herds here throughout the summer. We will loop the pastures, enjoying the spectacular views of the Dragobia Gorge on the opposite side of the valley, sided by numerous peaks, before descending to the bottom of the valley and taking a short drive back to our hotel.

Today's 11 kilometre/6.8 mile out and back walk is expected to take around 5 hours with 630 metres/2067 feet of ascent and descent. Stay: Bujtina Hotel (Comfortable) (B/L)

Today we will walk straight from our hotel to the mountain slopes in front of us that create the massif of Paplluga. The trail winds (steeply at times) through woods of beech and fir, crossing occasionally an old road used during the regime years for timber, until we reach the plateau known as 'Rrethi i Jubanit' and continue towards a panoramic spot where we'll have a picnic lunch at a local farmers house. In front of us tower the magnificent vertical peaks of Grykat e Hapta, that create an impressive ampitheatre of limestone stretching untill the end of the valley in the south west, where the Valbona Pass awaits for us to cross it in the coming day.

After lunch we will continue to stay high on the plateau before starting the descent in the east facing slopes of 'Rrethri' to reach the hamlet of Kukaj where we will taste a cup of herbal mountain tea on the terrace of a local family's home. Refreshed, we will then descend to the bottom of the valley under the soft late afternoon light.

Today's 7 kilometre/4.3 mile walk is expected to take around 5 hours with 650 metres/2133 feet of ascent and descent. Stay: Bujtina Hotel (Comfortable) (B/L)

A morning transfer will bring us from the hotel to the top of the valley in Rrogam where the road ends. Here our luggage is loaded onto horses and we start walking uphill to reach the Valbona Springs via a steep and winding forest trail. Later the walk continues into wide alpine pastures with large glacier erratic rocks scattered around the valley floor. The path then continues to steepen into a narrow trail that leads to the Valbona Pass. On clear days the views from this location at the heart of the Accursed Massif are truly breath taking. From here we follow a rather steep trail that winds through fir and beech forest and descends into the Thethi valley, also surrounded by a number of 2500metre/8200 feet high sheer rocky domes, such as the Radohima and the Harapit.

For the next two nights we stay in Pisha Villa, a guesthouse ran by a local family with mountain views. The rooms accommodate two to four people in each so you may be sharing with other members of the group for these nights. The rooms are basic but comfortable with shared bathroom facilities. You will receive a warm welcome from your hosts who will provide lovely home cooked meals.

Today's 11 kilometre/6.8 feet walk is expected to take around seven hours with 850 metres/2789 feet of ascent and 1,240 metres/4068 feet of descent. Stay: Pisha Villa (Simple) (B/L/D)

Thethi is an iconic Northern Albanian 'malesore' (highlands) village. Enclosed in the full remoteness of the Accursed Mountains, it stayed protected from the multiple invasions that afflicted the more accessible parts of the Alps and life was organised following the detailed rules of the 'Kanun' - the Unwritten Code of the Mountains. These aspects were well pictured by the Victorian traveller Ms Edith Durham in the book, High Albania, written on her journey into the area at the beginning of the 20th Century.

After breakfast we will have the chance to visit some of the local attractions of the village such as the stone built catholic church, Kulla e Ngujimit - and the blood feud lock in tower, used under the old 'kanun' to solve crimes amongst local families. Leaving the town we walk along the river and reach a small waterfall. Our walk also takes us along the Grunas Canyon's ancient terraces towards the hamlet of Nderlysa; here we will have a tasty lunch prepared by one of the local families.

In the afternoon, you will have the option to stay back at the guesthouse where we had lunch and relax in the gardens or take a further optional walk (total 6 kilometre/3.7 miles) to a natural crystal clear swimming pool. The natural pools in Nderlysa are created by the clear and icy water of the Kaprea Creek and offer the opportunity for a swim. Later on in the afternoon we will take a short 20 minute drive back to Thethi for dinner and overnight.

Today's 7 kilometre/4.3 mile walk is expected to take around 4 hours with 420 metres/1378 feet of ascent and 660 metres/2165 feet of descent. Stay: Pisha Villa (Simple) (B/L/D)

This morning we drive into the scenic valley of Boga, there is the option and depending on the group's wishes to stop for a leisurely circular walk at the Thore Pass surroundings to admire the views (approx. one-and-a-half hours). Leaving behind the silhouette of the Albanian Alps and heading towards the Shkodra plain we reach the colourful Albanian capital of Tirana, where we stay in a hotel near the city centre (approx. 4 hour drive). A city orientation walk led by the tour leader this afternoon gives us the opportunity to learn more about the developments of Tirana throughout the various periods of influence, and have a taste of its cosmopolitan atmosphere. The rest of the day will be free for a relaxed afternoon and final evening in Tirana. Stay: Hotel Oxford (Comfortable) (B)

The trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Tirana.

There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Tirana at any time. If your flight is departing later in the day luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. If you would like to receive an airport transfer today, you need to depart from Tirana International Airport (TIA) a 40 minutes' drive from the hotel. If you are spending some more time in the city we recommend taking the cable car up Mount Dajti for great views of the city, or visiting some of the history based museums in the capital such as the 'house of leaves' or 'Bunk'art'. (B)