Valamares is among our most favorite hikes in Albania. It has all attributes that make a good hike: a hotel right at the trailhead - so you just get up in the morning and start walking. There is 1000 Meter elevation gain, but it feels like a breeze as the trail has a steady gentle slope. The first part of the trail leads through...

Gjallica Mountain towers above Kukes town, and it maintains a snowcap long into spring. One may try to hike Gjallica summit directly from Kukes, but it is also possible to drive up high on the side of the mountain, and hike from there to the top. The drive up is easy with a high-clearance 4WD vehicle and worth a trip in itself. We...

Aside from any mountain near the seashore, there is no other mountain in Albania from where so much water can be seen. The summit of Mali i Thatë (the Dry Mountain) is called Pllaja e Pusit, and both Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa - the largest lakes in the Balkans - can be seen from there. The mountain range separating Prespa...

Gropa e Bukura is the "beautiful hole" - a piece of grass that provides the ideal starting point for climbs of Maja e Jezerce or Maja e Popluks (see spearate trail). Gropa a Bukura is at 1700 meter altitude - 1000 Meter higher than Thethi. We took a mule to carry camping equipment from Thethi to Gropat e Bukura, especially as...

Nobody seems to know Maja e Popluks (2569 Meter). This is so because Maja e Jezerce is right next to it, and all eyes and attention seems to be on the highest summit entirely in Albania. Would Maja e Popluks stand alone, it would be an extraordinary mountain, with excellent views to most peaks of the Albania Alps and beyond. As it...

Papingut has a dramatic east face - which drops 2000 Meter into the Vjosa Valley, near Permët. Ascend from the east is reserved for suitably equipped climbers ready to cope with the reputedly bad rock. But the mountain can be relatively easily scaled from the valley of Zagoria on its west side. Zagoria in itself is tremendously...