Escursionismo in Albania

Started from Himare instead of Livadh, meeting the party at Himare Castle. Better way marking than expected but the map is crucial. The final section is steep and rocky but interesting and beautiful with spectacular views. Took us 4h15 including breaks. Spent the night in Pilur at Vila Silvi Bala. There's also a small bar/cafe for a drink and a taverna for meals. We skipped the following section due to reviews that it was impassible - we had planned to take a taxi but we're unable to arrange one and the only bus goes back to Himare. We paid the barman to drive us to Kudhes to start the following stage of the walk but would have walked to Kudhes by road if he hadn't offered.

Weg teilweise sehr schwer zu erkennen ohne Markierungen. Viele Wildpfade und Wege über Steinplatten ohne Markierungen

Tolle Runde, allerdings viel begangen auch von Gruppen. Ich empfehle die Runde oben definitiv nicht so wie im Track sondern gegen den Uhrzeigersinn zu gehen (Popadija zuerst, Valušnica zuletzt), dann hat man den kurzen „schwierigeren/steilen“ Wegabschnitt zwischen Popadija und Scharte Ćafa im Anstieg.

Tolle Runde, allerdings viel begangen auch von Gruppen. Ich empfehle die Runde oben definitiv so wie im Track gegen den Uhrzeigersinn zu gehen (Popadija zuerst, Valušnica zuletzt), dann hat man den kurzen „schwierigeren/steilen“ Anstieg zum Popadija im Anstieg.

Tolle Runde, allerdings viel begangen auch von Gruppen. Ich empfehle die Runde oben definitiv so wie im Track gegen den Uhrzeigersinn zu gehen (Popadija zuerst, Valušnica zuletzt), dann hat man den kurzen „schwierigeren/steilen“ Anstieg zum Popadija im Anstieg.

Schöne Wanderung durch die Gebirgslandschaft der Vjosa. Wir sind vom Dorf Strembëc gestartet. die Fahrt über die Schotterfahrstraße ist etwa 3 km lang und dauert rund 20 Minuten ab der Brücke über die Vjosa. Die Wegbeschaffenheit ist auf der ganzen Strecke etwa so, wie von der Hauptstraße bis zur Brücke. Wer das nicht fahren möchte, kann das Auto vor der Brücke parken und den Weg zu Fuß wandern. Dabei sind zusätzlich gut 200 Höhenmeter bis zum Dorf zu überwinden. Die Wanderung selbst verläuft fast ausschließlich am beziehungsweise in der Nähe eines Wasserkanals. Unterwegs gibt es immer wieder schöne Ausblicke auf das Tal der Vjosa. Allerdings passt die Einordnung der Tour als „leicht“ nicht. Die Fitnessanforderung ist meiner Ansicht nach 3, die techn. Schwierigkeit mindestens 2, vielleicht sogar 3 aufgrund der langen ausgesetzten Passage über das Schotterfeld und der größtenteils alpinen Wegbeschaffenheit.

Mise à part que Strezimir n'est franchement pas un endroit agréable... Ascension de Korab excellente ! Paysage et vue sur l'Albanie. Pas technique du tout, et beau challenge, plutôt récompensé au sommet.

Kann die letzte Bewertung nur bestätigen. Diese Tour sind wir im Hochsommer zur Mittagszeit angegangen. Dadurch dass der größte Teil von der Vegetation bedeckt ist gut schattig. Gehrichtung wie im Rother Tourenguide im Uhrzeigersinn, aufgrund des Anstiegs. Die Weg sind sehr abwechslungsreich und an den wichtigen Stellen auch gut markiert. Uns kam während der gesamten Tour lediglich ein Pärchen (mit Hund!) entgegen. Beim Beginn des Anstiegs auf dem Schotterweg hinter der Autobrücke in Thet hatten wir Problem den Einstieg zu finden da eine Baufläche entstanden ist.

Très belle balade ! Nous étions seuls au monde au pied de la cascade... L'itinéraire est facile à suivre, puisque le sentier suit le ruisseau qui apporte au village l'eau de la cascade. Attention cependant à avoir de bonnes chaussures, la traversée des pierriers n'est pas toujours évidente.

Update for May 2026: We did this trail last month. We followed the exact route described here, no deviations, and did it in 5 days. That said, as all the other reviews mention as well, some parts are really challenging due to the overgrowth, but I don't think it's worth skipping a section for that. For example, the second day there's a really shitty part before you get to the bottom of Kudhës (but not right before, the last 2kms or so are fine) - think a sea of hip-high bushes where you need to struggle through and have no idea where the actual trail is - which takes you about half an hour, but the rest of that day was so beautiful I'd definitely do it again. Especially because it's the one part of the trail where you go more inland and it's completely different there. Just make sure you have the gpx on your phone. Another bummer are the big construction sites you pass often at the edges of villages at the sea, where they are sometimes excavating whole hills to build resorts and hotels. But apart from the overgrowth and the construction, it's a really beautiful trail with turquoise blue waters, green mountains, a lot of magnificent olive trees and other flora and fauna (we even had the pleasure of seeing tens of lightning bugs at one of our wildcamping spots), and really friendly and hospitable people. By the way, we also had trouble finding the start of the trail at Dhërmi beach, but just ask someone and they'll show you. About the shepherd dogs: we had one encounter, just before we got to Kudhës, after the shitty overgrown part, where we already saw a dog barking from some distance away. There was a shepherd with him and 2 other dogs, but those were puppies. The shepherd signed that we had to go around as much as possible, and was trying to calm the dog down but he didn't listen at all and followed us, constantly barking, for a good 5 minutes after we passed. It wasn't a really big dog and he just wanted to chase us away but it wasn't a nice experience. One of the puppies however was just casually strolling next to us and he was really cute lol. We did have to skip the last 5kms of the last day however, because as we came to the last beach before you start the climb to Nivicë, we passed 2 girls coming from the other side, who said they had just been attacked by 6 (!) dogs on the hill and were forced to turn back (they weren't bitten or anything but the dogs were really charging them so it was much worse than what we had encountered). About the food: you could say Albanian cuisine is a bit of a mix between Greek and Italian food, it's really good! In the villages we ate in a restaurant a couple of times, almost all of them have a wood oven for pizza, and they make them really good! So I'd recommend you to eat a pizza at least once, and try some local dishes as well :) I also recommend you to go to the 'Ujvara' restaurant in the Borsh village (not at the beach). We had lunch there and the location is amazing, as you're surrounded by little waterfalls of the river that is just passing through the restaurant. About sleeping: we slept at a camping once, booked an apartment once and wildcamped twice. If you're looking for the perfect wildcamping spot, go to Lukovë beach, walk past the 2 campings (The old anchor and Gate to horizon), about 200m further there's a big Eucalyptus tree that has 'Oktoberfest' written on it with a perfectly flat grass plane below. That night we saw the most beautiful sunset we've ever seen. (But please leave no garbage if you're camping there ;) ) About the weather: it was perfect actually, it could get hot in the sun in the afternoon, but it was still doable as it never got to 30 degrees. So to sum it up, I do recommend the trail but get ready for some adventure :)

Kurzer, aber steiler Aufstieg mit fantastischem Panorama