There aren’t really scary parts climbing along the ridges, but there are some steep inclines. It is important to not do the hike too early / late in the year when there is still snow on some of the passes. There have been accidents with people slipping on the snow and ice.

Hi Natan and Einat,
The ferry is quite nice and we recommend it, but it seems like you might be backtracking a lot with it so I’d probably skip it. If you’re OK going without the ferry I’d suggest transferring from Shkoder to Theth by bus/shared taxi on Day 1 and then starting your route from there. We have not done the Theth to Valbona route, but we have heard that it’s beautiful. And, we’ve heard that talking that direction is better than Valbona to Theth.

As for Day 6, Doberdol to Babino Polje we didn’t take that route as we took a detour to climb Mt. Gjeravica instead. I do remember our guide telling another group of independent trekkers that it’s a long day. They ended up hiring a local guide from the shepherd’s hut in Doberdol to guide them as they had gotten lost the days before and wanted a bit of security. But, I’m sure the wikiloc trails are accurate and if you are comfortable navigating in the mountains you should be fine.

I believe that some of the guest houses and shepherd huts close down at the beginning of September (when school starts) so it might be useful to get in touch with them in advance, especially Doberdol, to be sure that they are still open at that time. Although you probably don’t need reservations per se as this will be low season it still might be worth letting them know in advance so they can be prepared with dinner and food and such. You can contact Zbulo! in Tirana to help you with accommodation bookings or try contacting some of the places yourself. Here’s the list of places where we stayed: https://uncorneredmarket.com/peaks-of-balkans-trek-itinerary-accommodation-transport/

We did not carry sleeping bags as each place had blankets and was warm enough. We did carry a silk sleep sack/sleeping bag liner though.

Have a great trip!

We are a couple, and we though about hiking for about 6 days, in mid-Septemember, from Albania to Montenegro (sleeping in huts / homestays), (a non-guided tour),

We are a bit confused, and thought about the following itinerary:
:
Day 1:. From Shkoder – taking the ferry tour on Komani lake (maybe both directions in one day) and the next morning taking transfere towards theth.,
Day 2: theth to Nderlysa (maybe one way by transport), the Blue Eye and sleeping in theth.

then the following hike:
Day 3: Theth to Valvona
Day 4: Valbona to Cerem
Day 5: Cerem to Doberdol,
Day 6: Doberdol to Babino Polje (thogh we are a bit concered, we did not find much information about it except wikiloc),
Day 7: Babino Polje to Plav (and from Plav a bus to Podgorica)

What do you think?
A. It sound like we are doing a small zigzag (returning with the ferry sounds a bit like a waste of time, but we heard that Teth-Valbona is nice.
Another alternative is taking the western part (clockwise – start with the ferry to valbone and start the hike there), though we heard that doing the hike clockwise is less recomanded.
B. We are also not sure about our dat 6 (Doberdol to Plav),
C. In mid-September – can we relay on housing along the way? do you think that we should reserve places? is sleeping bag required?

We would really appriciate your opinion.

Thanks!
Natan and Einat

Hi Lisa,
Agree that the first two days of hiking that you have planned (Valbona to Theth, Theth to Vusanje) are pretty well marked. We did the next segment the opposite way, from Lepushe to Vusanje. There were some markers along the way painted on rocks, but I don’t remember it being particularly well-marked. If you have good wikiloc tracks (check out this account: https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/user.do?id=273885) then you should be OK. It’s a beautiful walk.

Thanks!
Lisa

Hi Rafa,
You’d have to contact Zbulo! to find out if the cost of a guide has increased, but when we did the trek a few years ago the guide’s daily fee was €70-€75/day (his room and meals were free). If you are worried about going on your own perhaps ask at Zbulo! if they have a group trip going during the summer that you can join – that will decrease the costs as the guide fees are spread amongst more people.

It is possible to go on your own with a smartphone and GPX files/Wikiloc Route, but I’d be sure that you have some experience or practice following trails like this so that you are comfortable doing the trek independently. Otherwise, it may not be an enjoyable experience if you fear getting lost all the time.

What about wild animals?

Thanks a lot1 Aw the best!

Thanks for your kind words! It’s hard for us to compare as we’ve never done the trek between Valbona and Theth.

With the Vusanje to Theth route we’d try to get a super early start so that you can climb Mt. Arapit as well. I imagine that some of the views and landscapes will be similar to Valbona to Theth, but perhaps a bit more green (at least closer to Vusanje) and possibly not quite as dramatic in terms of the granite peaks.

One trek to consider is Lëpushë to Vusanje to Theth (Day 10 & 11 above). We thought that the views from Mt. Taljanka were incredible – the most dramatic of our entire trek. It’s relatively easy to get to Lëpushë from Skodra by bus. And, if you didn’t want to continue to Theth you could take a bus back from Gusinje or Vusanje after crossing Mt. Taljanka.