Valbona

We went to Albania because of this place. We found its description in a Russian blog. There's very few information about Valbona in the Internet. And at the time of our visit in 2011, the blog mentioned above was the only Russian reference in Google!

Valbona valley is a nature reserve and a quite remote place in the "Albanian Alps" with unusually beautiful nature. Only a dirt road leads here, so not many tourists decide to visit Valbona. But we cannot say that the road is too complicated, the dirt road can be passed by any car. We were the first Ukrainians who visited this place.

Thanks to an American, Catherine, who arrived at Valbona a few years ago and stayed there to live, online resource with information about Valbona http://www.journeytovalbona.com appeared. Together with a local handyman Alfred she organized a small Rilindja Hotel, where we stayed. In Valbona there are several places where you can spend the night. By the way, Alfred is somebody like a local chief. He is a native citizen of the area, but does a lot for development of the region, even makes roads by clearing rocks with explosions. Moreover, he's not rich, everything happens due to hard work and great desire.




The main thing why people come here is outdoor recreation and hiking. Catherine made hiking trails in the mountains and marked them. We walked along the two of them.




This place is so "wild" that in 2011, when spider cameras were installed near the river, many animals were photographed, among which was even a bear. When we walked along the river, we constantly heard the noise of animals in the bushes, it was a little scary.


We liked everything in Valbona: wonderful nature, nice people, homemade food, rabbit Shoq which came out of the woods and stayed to live near the house, trout which jumped out of the pond onto the ground. We often recall this place and compare it with other places. We'll try to get here one more time, in spring, when the waterfalls are full of water.

















































Getting there: You can get there from Shkodra and Tirana. Information is constantly changing, so check this page. We drove from Velipoja through Shkodra to Koman, then by ferry to Fierze. After that we went to Valbona through the town of Bajram Curri. Asphalt road ends on the turn to Valbona. And there is no pointer, just a wooden plaque, be aware of this.