Hiking in Shkoder

I can say the warnings given on the official gps route are valid! The ascent going south bound is hairy enough but doable if you are comfortable with climbing and scrambling at height. Wouldn’t do it in bad weather or alone. The descent southbound gives every impression of a death trap. We turned around after 1 hour to go back to the top and take man longer route to thethe back towards the lakes. Making it a very long day! I’d suggest the via Dinarica team need to change the route of the descent going southbound

Beautiful hike. But it’s pretty hard to get down from path to Valbone, small rocks are very slippery.We went from Theth to Valbone.

This hike was beautiful. We did it at the end of may 2025 from Theth to Nikč. The climb was hard because it was steep but not technical. We had snow on the top, but on flat parts so it was not a problem. Then for the going down to Theth it was ok until the split of the way around 1350m. We tried to follow the path on the right (which joins the road Nikč to Lepushe) but after 15 minutes, we lost the trail (around 1250m). So we came back and we took the other path on the left (which is well market at the split) but shortly after 10 minutes, there is no trail anymore. You have to follow a direction with your GPS during 1h/1h30 and walk in the brush and over dead trees.

Absolutely sensational! https://youtu.be/m8RkQGx9Jng?si=ybQ8sHIBfyjsylJh

Stage done in mid-August 2024: The trail between Theth and Valbona is very popular and there were plenty of opportunities to buy cold drinks along the way. I refilled my water at the spring near the Simoni Café. In general, the path was straightforward. The only challenge was the heat.

Stage done in mid-August 2024: I came from Plav and not from Vermosh because in Plav, I picked up my permit to cross the border. In Vusanje is a public water tap when walking to the end of the first road to the left after entering the village. I did not follow the path to the left towards Zastan Karaula and Jezerca because I did not want to climb the summit alone. As alternative, I continued my way straight towards Ropojanska Jezero reaching the VD again at Qafa e Pejës (markings are no longer for VD but for the Peaks of the Balkan trail). The views on the alternative routes were nice. All the water sources were dry due to the extremely hot weather, which also made hiking in the afternoon hours very challenging.

Hiking NB. It was around 20km, straight up and straight down. You have to walk on the road for 3-4km before you start ascending. Beautiful views on the way up. When you get to the top, highly recommend taking the extra 10-15 min to hike higher to get a 360 view of both valleys. Pretty crowded on a Sunday. Then a long descent into Theth. In Theth I camped near a hotel for $5, found an area where other campers were camped out for the night. Theth has an atm if needed, more touristy town for day hikers. Hike took 5-6 hrs in total.

The view of the first part compensates for the terrible last part

Hike with a beautiful view

We completed the whole hike and it was an amazing experience. Beautiful scenery and experiencing local culture and food in guest houses. I would really recommend it. GPX really helps as well as having a detailed msp where other paths can be seen. Reasonable experience in navigation is needed.

Lovely route and lots of cafe and refreshment stops if needed. Sticks can help with gravelly descents especially with a rucksack. Nearer Valbona you walk through what must be a river bed or snow melt the path is harder to follow there but we knew roughly which direction to go in. If needed you can get a taxi through the road section after but its not too bad. You can get your speed up on road sections after being slow on rocky passes. Stunningly beautiful. Don't miss the detour to the view point at the top of the pass!