5-Days Hiking Tour to the north of Albania

My friend and I (two girls) did a custom tour of the Alps in northern Albania with Enjoy Travel. From the very beginning, Genci was extremely prompt with his responses and very willing to go through several iterations of the itinerary until it was perfect and exactly what we wanted. Throughout the trip, he was always very quick to answer our questions, always on time, very professional, and very flexible when we wanted to change items in the itinerary or meeting times last minute. He surprised us with one of the most magnificent guest houses by a lake that i have ever been to, and we would have never have found it on our own or would have been be able to navigate to/from on the ferry without him. As to the sights themselves - Albania is stunningly beautiful. Gorgeous mountains at the Valbona Pass (and being in the Valbona village surrounded by the mountains is pure magic), surreal ferry ride on the Shala River, glorious Komani Lake, lots of fun farm animals in the villages, the historic Berat castle… Albania left quite on impression on us and the trip would have been a lot more stressful and difficult to navigate on our own without Genci by our side. We’ve had an unforgettable experience. If you have any doubts on whether to sign up with Enjoy Travel, definitely do it! They took out all the stress and logistics hustle (a real menace for foreigners like us) out of the trip so we could truly take in all the sights.

Genci is a marvellous guide and driver. We did a 3 day trip from Tirana to Thethi. He picked us up from the hotel and stayed with us the whole time. We had a fantastic journey with him through the mountains, and he also guided us to the 2 well known waterfalls. We stayed at Polia, a local guest house where the dinners provided by the host were both excellent. Genci is the perfect companion: kind and sensitive, and we cannot recommend him more highly!

Visiting the north of Albania is not easy, but Genci at Enjoy Travel made it smooth anyway. The mountains are epic, the in-lake berm of restaurants and bars are (at least at the time I write this) like a mini-hidden resort, and the locals in and around Theth and Valbona are very welcoming. In 2022, Albanians are still seeing their own country so there will be plenty of folks from Tirana on your tour who, if they're friendly like our group, will give you solid lessons on Albania's recent history, current and traditional music, best beer and more. Genci was extremely responsive when setting up our tour and throughout, and after our hiking days gave us a personal tour of Shkodër Castle and the main center of Tirana. Our tour ended with a stay at a day-rental apartment in a building that housed a museum to Ismail Kadare (a famous Albanian author), just across a park from Tirana's Opera and Ballet Theater. The apartment was extremely comfortable and centrally located. A note for the Valbona pass tour: the north of Albania is fairly wild country and you must be prepared ... bring rain gear, sturdy hiking shoes with good traction, a swimsuit for Lake Komani and cash because there are only 1-2 bankomats anywhere north of Shkodër.