I had never heard of the Valbone to Theth hike before reaching the Balkans, but once here talk of it was ubiquitous. Or at least it seemed that way to me, perhaps because it sounded so wonderful. It’s a hike across the Albanian alps, between two mountain villages. The starting point for travellers is Shkoder, from there you travel to Valbone by taking a bus then a ferry then a second bus. You stay overnight in Valbone and in the morning you hike the 17km to Theth (well 12km, but if you want to do the peaks it’s 17km). You spend a night in Theth and take a bus back to Shkoder the following day. So many people raved about it, and as someone who loves a hike, and is getting even more into hiking on this trip, it was definitely a must for me. The best thing about this hike was how easy it was to organise. Basically, the hostel in Shkoder does everything for you. Because of this, so many people from the hostel are there to do the hike, meaning there’s a nice little gang of you heading up to the mountains together. Maybe I was just lucky, but I had the most wonderful group of people to spend the nights in the isolated guesthouses with, and to do the hike with.
The experience
I knew I’d enjoy the hike. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed all of the other stuff. The immersive ferry journey up the Shales river for 3 hours, with scenery that could have been South East Asia. The gorgeously isolated guesthouses - the Valbone one sat alone in a clearing behind some trees, with the clear glacial river wrapping around it, at the foot of the mountains; and the Theth one with its wooden cabin and delicious homemade wine. The group of people from the hostel who really made the whole experience. We dined together like a family for all meals, enjoying the Albanian delicacies the guesthouses had prepared for us. We sat by the bonfire in Valbone, looking at the stars and discussing how beautiful the scenery was. We hiked as a group, sweating and chatting the kilometers away. We celebrated reaching Theth with cold beers and fanta exotics. I was sad to slowly say goodbye to each of them as we went our separate ways, but there is no one I’d rather have experienced it with.
The ferry
It was cramped and long. It was also beautiful. A group of dutch girls had bought a whole watermelon and spent the journey handing it out.
Valbone
The guesthouse’s location took all of our breaths away. We plunged into the freezing cold river after lunch, feeling so invigorated. Especially with the mountain view. Santtu, Anna Vera and I did the same the morning of the hike. Now that really was the best way to start the day. A couple in their van made a fire for us to all sit around. The temperature dropped in the evening, making it known that we were in the mountains even when their outline had disappeared in the darkness. We huddled around the fire for warmth.
The hike
It began with some flat along the dried up river bed. Then we went up, and continued going up until we reached the top. The scenery was mountainous, but also still very green. At the mountain top there was a gang of dogs, hoping to get some of our packed lunches. We marched down into Theth, with me slipping over the most times on the loose rocky path. We stopped at a little mountain cafe, having a rest before finishing the descent.
Theth
More of a town than Valbone, our guesthouse was surrounded by other guesthouses and a little odd looking church. Santtu, Anna Vera and I lucked out and got a private room in a separate cabin. The others got stuck with less ideal sleeping situations… Another glacial river flowed by this guesthouse, so we ended the day as we’d started it, with a cold plunge. After taking the most wonderful shower we enjoyed an even more wonderful dinner outside, watching the sunset as we ate. The homemade wine was free-flowing and delicious.
Anna Vera and I got up early the next morning to squeeze in another small hike after breakfast, before we got the bus back. We walked down to the waterfall, with an unexpected additional member: Bashko the guesthouse dog! He was a great companion, guiding us to the waterfall and refusing to leave either of us behind at any point.
The bus back
I found the bus journey back to Shkoder really enjoyable. I found a comfy position next to Santtu. There was a cool breeze from the window. Amazing scenery. Drowsiness from the mountain air and the walking settling in. Good music. It started to rain and the smell of rain on the hot tarmac filled the bus. And the smell of BBQ for some reason. I put my hand out of the window and caught the cold raindrops. The bus driver was hungry so obviously we all therefore had to stop and wait for him to have a full sit down lunch (balkan buses summed up nicely). We got back to Shkoder and I realised I’d just had the best few days of my trip so far. In a bubble of the mountains and nature and good food and even better company.
The logistics
This bit will most likely be boring for those reading at home, so feel free to skip. I’m including it because I’ve spent so long explaining to other travellers how to go about doing the hike and how it all works, so I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to point them to instead (and some free blog promotion!).
- Arrive in Shkoder and stay 1 night. The hostels that I know organise the hike for you are The Wanderers (this is the one I used), and Me Casa es tu Casa (I also stayed here and it was lovely, but didn’t do the hike with them). They’re both really cheap, £9 a night. I’d recommend The Wanderers if they have availability, mainly because they organise the hike in the Valbone-Theth direction which I think is the better way to do it. The other hostel does it in reverse. They also have free breakfast and the other one doesn’t! Once at the hostel, explain that you’d like to do the hike and they’ll sit you down and talk you through everything. You can leave your luggage at the hostel for the few days you’re away, taking with you just a little rucksack with the essentials in.
- You’ll catch the minibus at 6:30am the next morning and travel for 2 hours to the ferry terminal at Lake Koman. The ferry takes 3 hours to get to the destination - Fireza. Here you get on another minibus for another 2 hours to Valbone. The hostel provides the tickets for all of this, and it costs 22EUR.
- You spend the rest of the day and the night in a guesthouse in Valbone. They cook dinner for you, and breakfast, and provide stuff to make a packed lunch with. The stay costs 25EUR.
- You hike to Theth!
- You then spend one night in Theth, at another guesthouse. Again, dinner is provided and so is breakfast. It also costs 25EUR.
- In the morning you catch one last minibus back to Shkoder. This you organise with the guesthouse. It costs 11EUR and takes 2ish hours. You arrive back to Shkoder in the early afternoon, so you can travel elsewhere or you can stay one more night in Shkoder.
The total cost for the trip is 88EUR. That includes 2 nights accommodation, all of the transport and 5 meals. On top of that the only money I spent was on lunch in Valbone, snacks to take with me and the wine in Theth.
TIP: If you have the time, I’d recommend staying two nights in Theth. There’s a day hike you can then do to the Blue Eye (a natural spring), and it means you have more time to soak up the mountains.