Desperate to escape the wettest summer Britain has seen in a century, I opened up Skyscanner to find somewhere short-haul, that I hadn’t yet been, with decent weather. I narrowed it down to three; Albania, Romania and Georgia. Whilst all very good candidates in their own right, Albania took the top spot when I delved a little deeper into the famous Valbona (“Valbonë”) Pass. I’ll cover that in a separate more detailed blog later on.
Whilst Albania is defined as a developing country, it’s seen wide-sweeping changes over the past decade to its infrastructure, economy and tourist sector. In the ten years prior to covid, visitor numbers increased 600%, Albania is experiencing something of a renaissance at the moment, similar to what Croatia underwent, whom welcomes five-times the visitor numbers that Albania attracts.
I flew from Luton (joy) on Wizzair (also, joy) to Albania’s capital; Tirana. The flight is around 3 hours and I was through the airport in under 20 minutes thanks to hand luggage and the array of e-gates at the airport. After exiting the airport, I took a taxi (€22 / L2200) to the city… but, wait a minute… A little note on money: Albania is strictly cash only. There are minor exceptions; like the airport and in international establishments around the capital but in almost all interactions, cash is king. They deal in euros or the local Albanian Lek, and, barring a major currency fluctuation, it’s 100 LEK to 1 EUR, so if you’re booking a taxi, they’ll quote you “ten” which means ten euros or 1,000 lek, you can pay in either or a combination of the two. This applies to hotel stays as well, so bring a lot of cash and don’t withdraw it at the airport!
Tirana – 2 Days
Anyway, where were we? So, headed to Tirana, it’s about a 30-minute drive from the airport. There are loads and loads of accommodation options in Tirana, so take your time and remember to check reviews on multiple platforms to get a clear picture – I stayed at “Tirana Backpacker Hostel”, and I was happy enough. It was very overpriced by Albania hostel standards, so I would definitely recommend looking at other options.
The next morning I headed out exploring around Albania’s capital. Albania has had a very troubled history; from four decades of communism, to constitutional atheism, to widespread corruption, to civil revolt and gangs. Admittedly, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself in for, but I can confidently say that Albania is one of the safest and friendliest countries I think I’ve visited to date. Every time I wanted to cross a road, cars would stop and usher me across, every time I looked a little lost; somebody would stop what they were doing and offer directions, locals would talk to you on public transport and everybody wanted to help you. This was a country that was truly thankful for tourists, something I’m sure won’t last as its popularity grows, but it was a pleasant experience nonetheless.
Walking around Tirana I visited the once-exclusive Communist neighbourhood of Blloku. Formerly home to Albania’s highest-ranking communist officials, it’s now a thriving upscale neighbourhood full of shops, cafés and yes, Albania’s first KFC. Other key areas I explored were; The Pyramid of Tirana, Tirana Castle, Skanderberg Square and Namazgah Mosque. A surprising side fact, to me anyway, Albania is over 50% Muslim.
Shkodër – 1 Day
With my daily step count achieved, it was time to head north to the town of Shkodër, the traditional capital of Northern Albania and the gateway to the Accursed Mountains (aka “The Albanian Alps”). Shkodër is a beautiful lakeside town and I wish I’d had more time to explore its history and architecture, but I was on a tight timescale to complete the Valbonë Pass loop. A quick stop-off for the night and up bright and early tomorrow to start the journey to Valbonë.
Transit – 1 Day
Transport gets tricky in Northern Albania and I discovered that buses from one town to another were often limited to once a day, so the pressure was on to be on-time and organised (not my strongest character trait). My first bus from Shkodër departed at 06:45 for the port of Koman and around two hours later we arrived at the ferry, that would take us to our next stop, Fierze. The three hour ferry was jam-packed and after a lengthy traffic jam in the very narrow Komani Lake Tunnel, I was surprised not to miss the boat. The ferry takes you north-east along the river Drin, Albania’s longest river, until you reach the next port, Fierzë.
Valbonë – 1 Day
Once again, swapping transport to another bus, the two-hour journey to our final stop, Valbonë, began. Six hours later, I arrived in the remote town of Valbonë, dropped on the side of the road with my luggage, the driver pointed up at the mountain and chuckled. Oh yes, I’d picked the most remote guesthouse in all of Valbonë, a 30-minute steep hike to Mountain/Montain Rosi was the final piece of this puzzle.
Settled in for the evening, I sat out on the terrace with my Kindle and just stared out into nature, there was nothing here, it was perfection. The guesthouse was at a key intersection for a popular hiking trail, so I saw lots of hikers passing by and also dropping in to top-up their water supplies, it certainly made for a talkative afternoon, for the middle-of-nowhere, at least.
Later that evening I joined the family and other guests for dinner before getting an early night, it was another early start tomorrow and 8+ hours on my feet were up ahead.
Valbonë to Theth Hike – 1 Day
The next morning, my host took me to the trail-head about 5km down the road, whilst some people will walk to it, it’s just an extra 1-2 hours of walking along a road and not worth it. This was the whole reason I was on the trip, so I was very excited by this point! Most people do this hiking loop the other way around but I didn’t fancy 6-8 hours of travel after a day of hiking so I did it in reverse and I was so glad I did. There’s about 1K of vert over the 16K hike which is concentrated at the Theth-end of the hike; going in this direction means the elevation is gradual over about 10km, whereas if you do it the other way around, you’re dealing with all of the elevation in less than 5K, which is pretty brutal. There are a handful of rest-spots and cafés along the way but note this is a largely off-the-track hike and not for beginners (despite what many blogs will tell you). I took my time and with a consistent steady pace, I arrived at Theth in around 8 hours, including about 2 hours of stops.
Theth – <1 Day
I arrived to Theth around 5pm and whilst I had planned to visit the Blue Eye and surrounding areas, the heat had completely taken it out of me. In hindsight, I could’ve done with another day in Theth to recover and then set out and see the surrounding area, the same could’ve been said for Valbonë. Up early the following morning, I arranged transport back to Shkodër. This time, in a thirty-year old leaky Land Rover, as we ripped through the winding mountain roads in the middle of a very heavy thunderstorm. A very character-building adventure.
Journey Home
After arriving back in Shkodër, I boarded the bus back to Tirana – luckily, unlike the other towns in the north, this bus is very regular and would run every 30-60 minutes. I arrived back into Tirana, before heading to the airport for my 23:50 flight that cost me €14, bliss. Tirana airport was actually a dream, I was through security and customs in under 10 minutes and the departures terminal is super modern with plenty to do and comfortable seating, a far cry from the misery of Luton that awaited me a few hours later!
So, wondering whether to go or not? Pack a bag, book a flight and get yourself to this diverse country before it joins the EU and everything triples in price. I cannot wait to go back, there’s still so much of the country to explore, the locals are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and the country is cheap beyond your imagination.
