Hiking in the Albanian Alps

This trip was wonderful! The scenery is beautiful- mountains, forests, rivers, waterfalls and more. The walking is not too intense and the days were pretty relaxed with a steady pace suitable to all group members. Our guide Albi was amazing, incredibly knowledgable, fun and friendly! I would highly recommend!!

I have done other group holidays before but this was my first hiking tour, and first Explore tour, and is very unlikely to be my last! I was a last minute on request booking and the company were really helpful and communication was easy. Besi was a great tour leader! The accomodation and food were good and better than expected. The walking and scenery were stunning and really enjoyable in the warm sun. We had a fantastic group of 16 and chatted and laughed the whole week. This was my first time in Albania and I would highly recommend and would happily visit again! To note, 1 filtered water bottle was useful, with 1 normal one too. Water socks/shoes were handy for rivers. There were plenty of places to buy soft drinks or beers, and ice cream throughout the week. The Theft zip lining was good fun and worthwhile and it is definitely worth booking flights to give time for a day exploring Tirana.

The holiday starts with a long travel day which includes an interesting ferry ride, then a shortish walk. Two days of longer walks in spectacular scenery, then the biggest day over a high pass into another valley - by this time we are prepared, even in temperatures in the high 30s. Then two easier days full of interest. First hotel is great, the second is a simpler guesthouse involving sharing rooms with one or two people - but by then we all knew each other. The only down side was a huge traffic jam between Shkoder and Tirana on the way back, but we still had time to enjoy the capital.

This was possibly the best holiday I have had in a long time. The scenery was amazing, I loved the walking and enjoyed being outside for so much of the week. The people I met in the group and the leader, Besi, were also a big part of the reason why I really enjoyed this holiday. I would definitely recommend this trip.

Our leader was excellent. The holiday was very good. But we had serious issues with travel arrangements and will be writing formally to register our concerns.

Albi our guide was outstanding. He managed the needs of our group, which ranged in age from mid 20s to mid 70s, so well. He provided lots of personal insights about Albanian life and culture and constantly thought through our itinerary to make sure we walked in shady places, had rivers to dip into, and was very vigilant on any trickier parts of the hiking route. Accommodation particularly in Valbona was even better than I expected - the view from our balcony of the surrounding mountains was magnificent. Would highly recommend this trip.

Albi was the best trekking tour leader!