The most popular hike in Albania, the walk from Theth to Valbona was certainly scenic, if incredibly busy in mid June 2023. I would do more enjoyable and spectacular walks as part of a fortnight hiking the Peaks of the Balkans (a long distance trail through Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro), but this was a good start.

I really dislike road walking, and it was another super hot day (more than 30C) so I organised a jeep transfer to Gjelaj, which for €20 saved me 3km and an hour of walking uphill on 4WD roads. The views were already more impressive with some altitude gain. From Theth to the pass is a 1,000m climb, so even better were to come.

Thankfully much of the ascent from here was under the shade of attractive forest.

It did open up though to meadows with big views of the snow splattered mountains in the distance.

From behind the bushes emerged a herd of horses, which turned out to be a relatively common sight over the next two weeks I spent hiking the Peaks of the Balkans.

A particularly beautiful stretch of sun dappled forest made a good spot to stop to eat.

A guided group walked by, followed by their luggage on horseback. I came across 3-4 groups and lots of independent walkers. I saw literally hundreds of people doing the walk. The track is clear and technically straightforward, though poles are particularly useful on the descent from the pass.

The track again emerged from the forest to big views by a popular cafe not far from the pass.

The 1,795m high Valbona Pass offered the big views expected, but much better (more panoramic and diverse) were found from the summit of a peak 100m further uphill from the pass.

From here there was a near thousand metre descent to Valbona, with endless rocky switchbacks requiring some care to navigate, particularly given the distraction of the views ahead. This section had no shade, I was amazed by the number of people coming up it in the early afternoon heat, it pays to start early!

Another example of enterprising locals setting up a drinks stop at the bottom of the main descent section.

Being more organised than most I arranged a transfer from Rragam to Valbona, saving several hours of river bed and road walking in the heat. Where there are limited views, and road walking, I’m very happy to skip these sections, particularly as I had another ten days of hiking ahead.

I stayed at the very pleasant Guesthouse Kol Gjoni, which offered incredible views along the Valbona Valley.