8-day guided Hidden Valley Trek

Zbulo organized a fantastic experience. Without our delightful guide Blend, we would never have had the interaction with locals, learned so much about the history, personal stories and landscape we hiked through.

The trip was extremely well thought out and organized, the communication with Zbulo excellent and responsive, the guides are clearly carefully selected and well trained. The food everywhere was fresh, tasty and the quantities always generous.

I highly recommend this adventure with Zbulo!

I’ve just completed my second trek organised by Zbulo! (Hidden Valley trek in southern Albania) and can wholeheartedly recommend booking with them. Everything worked perfectly – from initial booking to getting me back to the airport in good time for my flight. Our guide (Nedih) was both highly professional as a group leader and very knowledgeable about local places and history. He managed all aspects of the trip very efficiently – both on and off the trail – and helped immensely with the challenges of communication in a country where English is not always an option. The Zbulo office staff were also very helpful and quick to respond, including booking me an extra hotel night and slightly adjusting the itinerary to allow me to catch my flight home. I had initially been a bit cautious about booking direct with a local Albanian company, rather than with one of the bigger international providers, but my experience with Zbulo is that they deliver a top quality service and much better value for money.
The trek itself is well worth doing and takes in spectacular scenery and some remote, and partially abandoned, villages linked by rough pack horse trails and occasional unsurfaced sections of road. There are also sections with a surprisingly remote “back country” feel (narrow trails and a bit of bushwhacking) and one high pass with a 1000m descent to the town of Permet. Most of the accommodation is in local guesthouses which are typical for a trek of this kind – ie basic but comfortable (with showers). The plentiful food is very Mediterranean (lots of veg, cheese, olives, byrek and dips). Particularly enjoyable were some coffee or lunch stops at local houses where the welcome and hospitality was first class.
In summary, I can definitely recommend both Zbulo and its 8 day Hidden Valley trek. (The trek is also available as a self-guided tour. This would require a degree of confidence with navigation and route finding as trail markings are sometimes a bit haphazard. That said, we met a couple of people soloing the trail without any difficulty).

This is an absolutely fantastic trip. The trekking is done at a good pace allowing you to experience and enjoy beautiful country. I had never done a trip like this before however, it exceeded all my expectations . Our guide , Nedih, the farm stays, food and my travel group all amazing. If you enjoy travelling or trekking it’s a must.

Thank you, loved it. Massive thanks to Nedih for everything. I’ll definitely be looking to do something similar next year, possibly with a higher difficulty rating.

This tour is truly fantastic. The trekking is wonderful and the organization is perfect. What really made the difference for me was our guide, Nidih, with his extremely in-depth knowledge of Shqipërisë (Albanian) history, geography and culture. A truly top-notch trekking guide! Our group was also a fantastic collection of very varied individuals that I had the greatest pleasure to meet. Would do it again in a heartbeat!

Would recommend this trip to all hikers, especially those who want a satisfying outing but without the crowds and somewhat more demanding terrain of the northern alps. Except for six others, we had the valley to ourselves and only saw them at breakfast and dinner. Many opportunities to inteact with the residents along the route. Our guide was totally knowledgeable and attentive.

A special note about Blondi, our guide: Unfortunately, my knee started to be a problem at the end of the second hike and I had to miss the rest of the hike. He accomodated in every way and I had a fine time. Also, the phone call to check up on me was most appreciated. That drive out while the rest hiked to Permet will be one of the most entertaining memory of my decades of travel.

Hiking in the Zagoria valley exceeded my expectations. Fun, varied trails, history/culture along the way, and amazing plant and insect biodiversity at the end of May. Highly recommended!

Constructive criticism: the trip would be better, IMO, if everyone was on the same page communication-wise. Selling the trip through resellers who provided different info/itineraries/etc to clients caused some confusion about e.g. pickup spot/time, how to communicate to the guide directly, etc. Also, some of the Zbulo trello info is out-of-date. I would not recommend anyone to travel in Albania with Euro instead of Lek…in my experience, many places were not happy to receive Euros (or use a poor exchange rate) and some wouldn’t take them.

We really enjoyed the luxury of having two guides. The two young women were very ambitious and extremely helpful. It was also nice that they were infected by our interest in nature, plants and birds and were happy to learn more. The trip was very well planned and fully met my expectations.

I expected to be hiking in some mountains with this tour. However we got so much more. Incredible experience that was a blend of immersion in the people, culture, history, and nature of Albania. Great guides and group enjoying the remote and urban environments. ‘Wow’ is how I would describe the experience.

Highly recommend! An excellent way to begin to learn about Albanian culture and history. The hiking is moderate and well paced. Zbulo are the most professional hiking tour company I’ve ever engaged with and there was plenty of information provided before and during. They also have great relationships with the local communities they work with. The food was a very welcome surprise and absolutely delicious. As a solo woman hiker I would recommend this hike to everyone.

Thank you so much team Zbulo!

Es war eine gut organisierte Tour. Unsere Erwartungen, die wir aufgrund der Reisebeschreibung hatten, wurden mehr als erfüllt. Unser Guide Anton hat uns das wunderschöne Land mit seinen gastfreundlichen Menschen auf seine unvergessliche, wissende, geduldige und fröhliche Art nahe gebracht, so dass wir am Ende der Tour z. B. zumindest ein Minimum an albanischen Höflichkeiten äußern konnten.
Wir würden Zbulo jederzeit wieder auswählen.
Mario und Editha

Highly recommend the Hidden Valley trek – excellent natural environment, well organised and professionally run, delicious food, and incredible way to begin to learn about Albanian culture and history. As a solo woman hiker this was excellent.

A gentleman, even our guide had never seen before, took the whole group to his place because heavy rain was starting. And he and his wife offered a dry terrace, coffee, tea, juice and Raki for everybody who wanted until the host from Hrosteve (!!!!!) came back and drove us with his car to our next guesthouse.

Trust the guide! He/she will handle everything with knowledge, care and empathy. And don´t try self guided. It´s difficult to find the route and it´s difficult to deal with all the dogs…

I found ZBULO by internet research, and I found them convincing because of their clearly structured website, and above all because auf their always very quick and clear responses to my inqury and questions, thanks to Eda – in contrary to other providers, some oft them even did not respond.

Our Trek was a wonderful experience. We were offered a very good understanding and insights to albanian nature, the people of Albania, to the devlopments of the country. The trekking was sometimes exerting and challenging; but all in all perfect. All aspects were clarely described in the detailed day by day program sent in advance; thank you for this.

Accomodation in Hoshteve was poor regarding food and housing. The host seemd to be overstrained with the situation. But I know, the actual personal situation of the host was not favourable and actually there is no alternative to this location.

Our/ your guide Mirjeta was great, excellent, billiant. She guided us with prudence and placidness. She was always in good spirits, but professionally earnest, was helpful, attentive and observent.

She was always communicative with the group and with all the locals, easily getting in touch and in a very good contact with everyone. She stimulated in a smart way the communication in the group and between the participants, constantly creating a good an comfortable atmosphere.

In the evening she was the last to go sleeping and in the morning the first to get up, always looking that everthing is well prepared and carefully arranged for her guests.

One day we were surprised by heavy rainfall in the middle of the day. Mirjeta offhand organized transports (by the host of Hoshteve) to a spontaneous found accomodation with cordially hospitality. More than once we unplannedly dropped in at locals, she offhand got in contact with. She never expresses problems, but finds solutions.

She answered factual, competent and with interest all questions of the groupmembers, whatever the subject was. And there were many questions by all the very interested participants, especially from one oft he participants, a voyage journalist , who by profession asked questions we did not think of and asked questions we did not dare do ask. We thereby learned a lot. I am deeply grateful having met Marjeta.

I would say that the very best thing has been the several meetings with local people – some organized and some others just by case – and the possibility to share time with them

To join it, without any doubt! The mountains are wonderful, the villages impressive and the whole experience is worth it

Seeing remote parts of Albania

To consider their ability to hike in heat, it was fine for me but the group was very varied in their abilities. I think Nedih managed it well but for my ability I think peaks of the Balkans would’ve suited me more

Perfectly organized, impressive hiking tour. We did the Hidden Valley Tour through the Zagoria Valley at the beginning of October: wonderful, untouched nature, warm hosts and fresh, local food in the accommodations. Our professional and very sensitive guide Anton explained the background to the country and its people in many conversations. All processes during the 7 days were perfectly organized. The Zbulo employees were always easy to reach in advance and answered all of our questions quickly and in detail. We can definitely recommend a tour with Zbulo!

Getting back to nature and back to basics turned out to be exactly what I needed. Beautiful views, the friendliest hosts and an incredible guide (Menduh). He is impressively knowledgeable, helpful and fun to hang out with. He will make sure you get from A to B safe and sound and is great at motivating you.Some hiking experience is recommended. Be prepared to go back to basics for three nights and enjoy the hotels afterwards. Highly recommended if you want to see a part of Albania that mass tourism hasn’t touched yet.

Wow, where to start?! It was my first group hiking tour, and so was quite surprised how much I like it. Part of that is of course luck with regards to my co-hikers. Overall, it is Menduh’s infinite knowledge and enthusiasm for hiking and introducing to the particular culture and history of Zagoria Valley, plus his knowledge of plants and people. It was great to meet people through Menduh and have him also as a translator when we stopped for coffee or Raki or met our hosts in the village.

With regards to the hike, the hike from Sheper to Permet was my favorite, despite the dogs we encountered. But again, I learned so much from this and feel more confident about hiking and dogs now. And, the hosts make a huge amount of the trip as well. The teacher’s house in Limar and the homestay in Sheper were my favorite, despite little comfort. It’s the people and the soul in their meals that made this an unforgettable experience, not to speak about the moon rising above the mountains. I hope that this kind of tourism can contribute zo keep Zagoria Valley (and its nature-culture relying on shepherds) alive in a sustainable way and provide both, The Valley people and visitors with new perspectives.

Ask for Menduh 😉

Don’t hesitate for a second about this trip. The hikes are incredible, the landscapes magnificent, the guest houses unique and the hosts friendly. The food is of excellent quality and the trip with Zbulo is extremely well organized. Everything was perfect. Would definitely do it again!

As previously written I can only tell and confirm that this trail can be considered as a “well oiled machine”.

Different (planned or unexpected) stops by local people where we were very well received and got coffee as well as other local products. During a trail (when possible) visiting a school, churches, cultural and architectural buildings, and more. For me it could not be better.

The same as mentioned on the previous screens.

And specially emphasize that Albania’s people had so long suffered during all the dictatorial years, while we lived here in prosperity not knowing what the local situation had to endure.

Beeing in this beautifull nature and in the lovely homestays far away from the civilization.

I also liked the mixture of the different type of accomodations.

The people where all very friendly and helpfull.

And our guide Mirjeta was absolutely brillant!!! The eplained us so many about the culture and had a good feeling for the different desires of the people in the group. So everybody in the group really enjoyed.

It was a fantastic travel!

Hiking in a beautifull nature far away from civilization. Simple but lovely homestays at very friendly people.

The landscape!!! What a wonderful variety!

Our sweet and great guide Mirjeta! So calm, friendly and well organized. And with a sense of humour.

The owners of the guest houses were so friendly and warm.

The people were we dropped in for coffee surprisingly and who welcomed us with wet and dirty clothes in their homes, incredibly compared to Germany …

Our wonderful group! So funny, we had a great time together and laughed a lot.

Just do it! It will be among the best experiences in your life!

However, be prepared to live much more simple and share rooms and bathrooms. Nevertheless, it’s worth it so much!

We had a perfectly organized tour through an amazing landscape (second week of May 2023). Although we had some rain almost every day it meant the vegetation was very lush and all the flowers were blooming – a breathtaking sight. For me it was the perfect way to get to know a remote part of Europe. The presence of an Albanian guide meant that we were able to get in touch with local people, all of whom showed great hospitality and provided insights into their life.

1. The landscape and nature, especially the amount and variety of flowers! And the remoteness of “hidden valley”, we only met 2 other hikers in 4 days!

1. living in the simple homestays and see how people live – Menduh never got tired of translating questions and answers. And he told and explained a lot about every aspect of life in Albania and its history.

1. the meals – the best dinner and breakfast we had in Limar! in retrospect breakfast in Peshtan was a bit poor, after having experienced what the other and more remote homestays provided 😉

everything is organized perfectly, nature is great, be prepared for getting wet feet when using the toilet (because it’s next to the shower) -> better bring flip flops

The originality of the way how the host families live and make their living by producing all food themselves. The honest and warm way how nearly all hosts (except the man in Hoshteve) wellcomed us and treated us during our stay.

You definitely need to be in good physical condition. I reached the limits of my physical endurance 3-4 times. But I made it! And the Raki consume, as well as the long and deep sleep in the nights helped to recover very quickly.

All the hidden stops you would not have found travelling on your own. I loved the coffee stops during the hike when people just opened their terraces/houses for us. Also the family at the fish farm. That was awesome. It is great to have a well connected guide 🙂

Great tour in the backcountry. Hidden spots you would not find on your own.

For me personally the second part Permet via Kosove to Borozke was more exciting. Perhaps somehow more a ” timetrip” and slightly more impressive views and nature than in the Zagoria trail.

Simply a great experience for people who loves to be close to the nature and traditional ways of farming and food producing snd incredible friendly openminded people.

(Translated by Google) A perfectly organized and impressive hiking tour

We did the Hidden Valley tour through the Zagoria Valley at the beginning of October: wonderful, untouched nature, warm and welcoming hosts, and fresh, local food at our accommodations. Our professional and very empathetic guide, Anton, explained the background of the country and its people to us in many conversations. Everything during the 7 days was perfectly organized. The Zbulo staff were always easy to reach beforehand and answered all our questions quickly and thoroughly. We highly recommend a tour with Zbulo!

(Original)
Perfekt organisierte, eindrucksvolle Wandertour
Wir haben Anfang Oktober die Hidden Valley Tour durch das Zagoria-Tal gemacht: Wunderbare, unberührte Natur, herzliche Gastgeber und frisches, lokales Essen in den Unterkünften. Unser professioneller und sehr einfühlsamer Guide Anton hat uns in vielen Gesprächen Hintergründe zu Land und Leuten erklärt. Alle Abläufe während der 7 Tage waren perfekt organisiert. Die Mitarbeiter von Zbulo waren im Vorfeld stets gut zu erreichen und haben alle unsere Fragen schnell und ausführlich beantwortet. Eine Tour mit Zbulo können wir unbedingt empfehlen!

Meeting the guesthouse and tea hosts was the highlight for us. All were lovely interesting people. Petro, our guide made meeting these people easy. The hiking was strenuous for us, but also enjoyable, in the beauty of the Zakovia River Valley, with the support of many hospitable people

Albania is a beautiful country with friendly people. The tour company ensures you are taken care of and enjoy great food and great hospitality.

Peco was a friendly guide and knew the region very well. It would have been nice if he had explained the landscape and flora/fauna a bit more and brought me into the conversations with local homestay hosts.

Hidden valley scenery, albania food, raki, ease of the itinerary, ease or communication with Zbulo. Albania is a beautiful country with friendly people. The tour company ensures you are taken care of and enjoy great food and great hospitality.

Zu siebt als Damentruppe ( alle 60+ ) brachen wir neugierig nach Albanien auf. Wir wussten fast nichts über dieses Land , was sich unter der kundigen Führung unseres Reiseleiters rasch änderte. Ricardo ein junger bemerkenswerter Mann, fit und empathisch, begleitete uns professionell auf allen Etappen unserer Tour .Er überzeugte uns mit viel Hintergrundwissen und Wärme für Albanien. Unvergleichliche Natureindrücke , Kunstschätze und lukullischer Genuß, und das in einer harmonischen Gruppe machten diese Reise zu einem wunderschönen Erlebnis.

I recently came back from a hiking trip organized by Zbulo!-Discover Albania. It was the hidden valley Zagorie tour and I loved every minute of it. The owners were very responsive from the first moment, I contacted them and everything worked out perfectly during the trip.
Homestays were amazing, our guide was very friendly and helpful. Besides all this, Albania is a stunning country…I would love to go back!

We did a hiking tour of the countryside of Albania with Zbulo Discover and really loved it. Albania is still far from overcrowded tourism and this is what we appreciated. Very authentic tour organised by nice staff of Zbulo. Thanks a lot. Highly recommended.

A group of three of us just returned from a trip to Albania. The main purpose of our visit was hiking in the southern highlands. We booked this through Zbulo. They also arranged an English speaking guide for us, Mario. He and Zbulo were excellent and we cannot praise them enough, both in terms of organisation but also Mario’s improvisation when one of us suffered a minor injury. Suffice to say, we would love to go back to Albania with Zbulo. Next time to do a more challenging hike in the north.

Hiking in South Albania is all I could have wanted. It was thoroughly wonderful, with beautiful sights and very friendly people – and brilliant, homegrown, home cooked food.
I’ve always been fascinated by Albania, ever since it was briefly mentioned in My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, which I re-read many times as a kid. It was there, across the water, when we went on holiday in Corfu and it had such a weird reputation: gangsters, a Norman Wisdom fanbase, a former king called Zog and its own communist dictator who made Stalin look a wuss. And a language unlike any other.
So a trip with our own Albanian guide was the natural choice and it proved perfect in so many ways. Not only was Mario thoroughly fluent in English but he was also very well-read and informative. The back-office support was also very good indeed so that even when he left us we were met by friendly taxi-drivers who took us to our next hotel without any fuss or worry. Zbulo! even sorted out a fresh taxi to the airport when the first got stuck in traffic.
Travelling in the Albanian mountains is a tricky affair – you need four wheel drive vehicles and, in our case, pack animals. This was all arranged without any fuss – Mario had it all sorted. If you’re looking for an unspoilt wilderness, then this is it. I saw more varieties of flowers, birds and insects than I thought possible and this can only be because there are no pesticides. And yes, there are wolves, bears, jackals and lynx. It’s not just a claim – every single night every single four-legged beast has to come inside a paddock protected with a thorn fence.
Coming down to Gyrokastra was extraordinary. We were taken around one of the main sites of this UNESCO heritage site – a massive house that had been in the same family since the 18th century. And our guide was the owner, who only got it back from the Communists in the 1990s.
And, just in case we hadn’t had enough culture, we came down the coast to Butrint, the internationally recognised archeological site, complete with extraordinary fortifications, an amphitheatre and superb museum.
And then we hit the beach. I mean, this holiday really did tick all the boxes. Wonderful. And I’m going back.

Re: Hidden Valley:
Hi Ricardo and team,

We had a great hike thanks to you all and especially Petro. He introduced us to many fine, interesting folks who made the experience so lovely. The hike was strenuous but Petro kept us at a nice slow pace ( or we kept him at a slow pace!)

As you asked I figured that we spent 60USD all together.

We will recommend your company.

Julie Borgerding July
________________________________
From: Zbulo! Discover Albania \
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 9:49:57 AM
To: Julie Borgerding July \
Subject: Re: Hidden Valley

Hello Julie,

Great question, I think you’re the first person to ask and I don’t have an exact amount at hand. Beyond drinks and tips, which vary greatly by the person, only lunch and dinner in Permet and Gjirokaster aren’t included, I would put those anywhere from €5-12 per meal. Altogether, I think you wouldn’t spend more than 10.000 lek on the journey. It would be great, if you could let us know after the journey what is an expected amount to inform other travelers accordingly.

Best regards,
Ricardo
[

On Wed, 16 Mar 2022 at 09:43, Julie Borgerding July [[email protected]> wrote:
Thanks , it does help. How many lek(?) should we have on hand to pay for the things not included?

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 15, 2022, at 7:10 PM, Zbulo! Discover Albania [[email protected]> wrote:


Hello Julie,

Please take a look at the 8-day Hidden Valley Trek> description, page three provides an overview of the walks.

You’re skipping day 4 with a transfer, everything else is as described in the PDF.

I hope this helps,
Ricardo
[X]ᐧ

On Tue, 15 Mar 2022 at 18:57, Julie Borgerding July [[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Recardo,
Thanks for info.

Can you please send distance and trail difficulty rating between the places?

Thank you.

Julie