In late May 2024, Helle solo hiked the transnational trail Peaks of the Balkans. Spanning 192 kilometers with a total ascend of 11,600 meters in 10 stages, the trek was not just a physical challenge, but also a personal quest for peace and healing after a tumultuous couple of years with T’s illness.
This post is a guide on how to plan hiking Peaks of the Balkans. Read about the hike itself here.
Resources for planning
I used the website www.peaksofthebalkans.com for the planning as well as the guidebook “Trekking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail” from Cicerone. Furthermore, I bought the map “Peaks of the Balkans (1:60.000)”. The map was not as useful as anticipated, as it had lots of errors and misnaming.
I found it much better to rely on the AllTrails app, where I had drawn the route from home. In the planning I used the Facebook group Peaks of the Balkans to get knowledge of the current situation on the trail. As I was hiking early in the season (late may/early June) snow can be a problem. Especially the Valbona pass can be dangerous with snow, which was very evident with the memorials of two hikes who passed away the year before in an avalanche.
How to get to the trailhead
Peaks of the Balkans have three starting points: Theth in Albania, Pëjë in Kosovo and Plav in Montenegro. Since I had already visited Plav, but never been to either Kosovo or Albania I wanted to start in either of the two countries. Furthermore, I looked for the best deal for a flight ticket and Tirana was the best option at my time of travel.
From Tirana it is app. 160 km or 3-4 hours of driving. It is possible to get to Theth by public transport via Skhöder. From Skhöder to Theth there was one bus a day leaving very early in the morning. But my time was limited, and I wanted maximum freedom, so I rented a car from Carwiz for 12 days. It also gave me the freedom to drive to Tirana (Megatek) to buy some gas for my Jetboil, so I was able to cook on my own. Gas is not available in Theth or anywhere outside Tirana.
Border crossing
The trail is crossing the borders between Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro several times. It is important to apply for a border crossing permit 14 days in advance. Application forms for each country are available on www.peaksofthebalkans.com.
The permits are free of charge in Albania and Kosovo, while Montenegro charge an administration fee of 6 € plus 3 € per crossing. I found the administration part of obtaining the border crossing permits to tedious. Instead, I used the Zbulo travel agency and paid 25 € for all three permits and had the permits within 5 days.
A border crossing permit is only required if you are staying overnight in a new country. It means that if you cross out and back into the same country on the same day a border crossing permit is not required. Permits are issued for a specific date, but I read that it is accepted if you cross +/- 1-2 days. Checks are conducted occasionally, especially in Kosovo, but I didn’t encounter any on my trip and I was one day ahead of all my crossing permits.
Overnight – Tent or Guesthouses
Most people stay overnight in guesthouses and thereby support the local communities and hike lighter. I badly wanted solitude and therefore chose to wild camp.
There are no designated camping spots on the trail, and it is not allowed to have a campfire. The mountains are steep and some days it was difficult to find a decent leveled spot. I only saw 4-6 other people wild camping on the entire hike. Most guesthouses in the villages also offer camping spots as well as simple accommodation. I once used a local guesthouse for lunch and halfway I stayed one night in a guesthouse to get a shower and wash my clothes.
Food on the trail
Grocery shopping options are available in Theth (Albania) and Plav (Montenegro). Theth has a very small minimarket, so do not plan for major shopping here. Plav on the other hand has a proper supermarket.
If you don’t want to carry all your food, it is recommended to purchase food at guesthouses in the villages. It’s traditional food which is plentiful and rich. If you stay overnight at guesthouses, you can get a packed lunch.
I brought freeze-dried food from home to the entire duration of my trip, and it would not have been possible to find on the trail.
Water on the trail
Water can be drunk directly from the streams, except around Doberdol, where there have been many reports of illnesses because of toilets drainage into the river through town.
I drank water directly from the streams until I reached Doberdol. Here I used my water filter and continued to do so afterwards – just as an extra safety.
I planned to hike with only small amounts of water – 1 liter – and fill up water often as there were many streams on the map. It was possible on the first section between Theth and Valbona valley, but from here it was too far between water sources. 2023/2024 was a low snow year and maybe this was the reason. I ended up hiking with 2-4 liters of water and always stocked up at midday to be sure to have enough water for camping. Only one night I had water at camp.
Wayfinding
I always use a map and compass combined with apps on the phone like AllTrails, Pocket Earth and Maps Me. The map turned out to be inaccurate and with misnaming of passes – even the trail was not correctly marked on the map. So, I ended up not using the map at all. Instead, I relied on AllTrails, where I had plotted the route at home.
In general, the trail was easy to follow, and the markings were good. I found the markings especially good in Albania, while in both Montenegro and Kosovo there were stretches with very poor markings and I got away from the trail a couple of times – sometime, I was on the trail in AllTrails app, but the trail wasn’t there in reality. I therefore had some occasionally bushwalking through dense forest.
Safety
Many stretches of the Peaks of the Balkans are without mobile coverage, so I had a Garmin InReach with me and had agreed to message my husband every day. It was also good safety in case of emergency.
There are bears and wolves in the mountains, but it was not necessary to use a bear canister, as there are only few bears and they keep away from humans. Although, I did encounter a bear dropping right on the path in Kosovo. The guidebook mentions a single stretch where landmines were last found in Kosovo, and you should keep to the track. I forgot where it was, and it didn’t seem like an issue anymore.
Prices in May/June 2024
Montenegro and Kosovo use Euros, while Albania has their own currency LEK. It is possible to pay with Euros also in Albania, so I did not change money. The guesthouses are 30-50 Euro/night including meals and meals brought seperately costs around 10-15 Euro/person.
