8-day guided High Scardus Trail

Es war eine unglaublich beeindruckende Wanderung! Wir waren eine ganz tolle Gruppe aus 6 verschiedenen Nationalitäten, die sich für diese großartigen Landschaften und wunderbaren Menschen begeisterte. Unser Guide Blendi führte uns souverän und vermittelte uns so viel Wissenswertes. Die Unterkünfte differieren von klimatisiert und fein bis rustikal und einfach (Hüttenschlafsack unbedingt zu empfehlen), diese Mischung fand ich sehr gelungen, weil man dabei ganz kurz mal in das Leben der Menschen vor Ort einblicken konnte. Ich bin so glücklich, diese Wanderung erlebt zu haben. Herzlichen Dank!

An excellent trip with Zbulo on the High Scardus Trail, guided by Blend. The organization has been perfect, from the first minute until the very last one. Blend was extremely attentive to each of us, and really cared that we enjoy the trip to the most. The High Scardous Trail was really beautiful, with very little hikers on the way and it made possible to discover the kindness and sense of welcome of Albanian people. This trip highly exceeded my expectations!

I was curious about Albania and had read books about it, but what I actually got to experience was sensational!
a wonderful group, Blend, a great guide
I won’t forget this experience, and I hope to stay in touch with the people in our group.
Thanks to Blend, thanks to the whole group!

Our trek on the High Scardus Trail with Zbulo! was absolutely amazing. The scenery was breathtaking, the itinerary was perfectly paced, and the whole trip ran seamlessly.

A huge thank you to Igli, our guide—his knowledge, professionalism, and passion made the journey truly special. He brought the landscape and culture to life and made sure we felt supported every step of the way.

This was one of the best hiking experiences we’ve ever had. Cannot recommend enough.

Our Guide Mendu Zavalani was great! He has a big knowledge about the Albanian nature and history. You feel the Passion for the job he is doing.

The Night in Grammar Valley with the Sheppards was the best Highlight of the Tour!! The Hosts are so warm and friendly and the Location is incredible

Please add a general note, that in Albania in general it is not allowed to throw paper in the toilet. Because there was no sign in the accomodations.

Please add to the packing list that for the acommodation in Grammar Valley warm clothes and warm sleeping bag is necessary. It was very cold.
For Climbing Korab Mountain gloves should be recommended.

An amazing insightful remote trek which takes you truly off the beaten track and experience some remarkable scenery and some of the friendliest people I have ever met in my life

Can’t wait to come back for the longer trek with your company next year!

Our trek on the High Scardus Trail with Zbulo! was absolutely amazing. The scenery was breathtaking, the itinerary was perfectly paced, and the whole trip ran seamlessly.

A huge thank you to Igli, our guide—his knowledge, professionalism, and passion made the journey truly special. He brought the landscape and culture to life and made sure we felt supported every step of the way.

This was one of the best hiking experiences we’ve ever had. Cannot recommend enough.

Had the most amazing time with Zbulo. Everything was cared for, the food was great, the locations were perfect and we were allowed the space to enjoy the experience to the fullest.

Our guide Igli was 10/10. He took us through some challenging parts, watched our for us, helped us when needed. He became more of a friend that a guide throughout the trip, while all the time making sure we enjoy our trip to the fullest. He did the perfect job and really shaped our enjoyment of such a beautiful country.

Our trek along the High Scardus Trail with Zbulo! was absolutely amazing. The scenery was breathtaking, the itinerary was perfectly paced, and the whole trip ran seamlessly.

A huge thank you to Igli, our guide—his knowledge, professionalism, and passion made the journey truly special. He brought the landscape and culture to life and made sure we felt supported every step of the way.

This was one of the best hiking experiences we’ve ever had. Cannot recommend enough.

Our group had the good fortune of having two guides, Blend and Fatloum, and both were wonderful. I’m in good shape but had never done a trek/multi-day hike before, so I was quite nervous, but the difficulty did not end up being too high. Except for one place, all the accommodations were better than I had anticipated based on the descriptions. Food was largely the same across accommodations but representative of Albanian cuisine and always very plentiful, healthy, fresh and locally sourced. Landscapes were beautiful and quite varied given how little ground we covered (relatively). I’m pretty cold tolerant so never needed any of the warm clothes or sleeping gear that Zbulo had suggested on the packing list (our trip was the 2nd week of June), though my very cold-sensitive friend used her sleeping bag several times. Tour and guides were well-organized and thought-out; if anything, there were a few times I wish the hikes were a little longer. Very glad that I took the leap to sign up, I’m now motivated to try similar trekking trips elsewhere!!

A highly enjoyable tour and a great experience, exploring some remotes but spectacular areas. Organisation by Zbulo! was first class and our guides were superb, proving strong leadership, sharing lots of knowledge about the locations and culture, while also creating a sense of fun.

Please pass on thanks and respect to Blend and Fatlum – they were fantastic and did you proud!

The HST was a unique adventure for me. I loved that we were almost alone hiking in these vast and overwhelming mountains. I was worried before that it might be too tough for me but in the end I could do it all and even climbed the Korab. 🙂

Accommodation is basic but okay (as expected) with nice hosts.

ZBULO organized everything very well. (My second trip with ZBULO).

I can only recommend the HST to any hiker who does not like to hike with masses of other hikers.

Thank you very much 🙂

Our guide Nedih was very professional and friendly. He shared a lot of knowledge and insights about the countries and history. The Accommodation except the first guesthouse meet our expectations. We had luck with the group, all were on the same fitness level so the pace of hiking was really good. It is overall a fantastic landscape to explore !

Absolutely epic tour! Mendi was an incredible, lovely, knowledgeable guide who went above and beyond.

The scenery was unreal. The accomodation surpassed expectations. Truly a unique, remote, rugged and beautiful experience. Loved every moment of it.

The trip was very well organized, in advance and also during the trip. Everything was perfect. Especially it was a lot of fun with our guide, Kreshnik. He made everyone feel part of the group. You could see/feel that he likes what he does and he enjoyed giving us an understanding of Albania, its landscape, history and people. Thank you for an amazing week with beautiful mountains, many animals & plants, lots of food, lovely people and some Raki.

Towels we’re missing on the packing list, I think.

I expected the hikes to be a bit more dificult but it was fine anyway.

I have just returned from my second hiking trip with Zbulo, which might not be the last.. Both the PoB 12 days and the High Scardus Trail 8 days were amazing. Perfectly organized, beautiful landscapes, very informative, professional and friendly guides and just a really good mixture of hiking, getting to know Albania and sharing the experience with a like-minded group. Highly recommend!

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 ist 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.

Climbing Mount Korab was a wonderful experience – a day of pristine nature, beautiful waterfalls, and positive attitudes. I also enjoyed staying with Enri, Vera and their family near Lake Grama.

Northern Albania is so beautiful and we had all of the trails to ourselves in late June (we only saw 2 other hiking groups in 7 days!). I would highly recommend joining Zbulo for the High Scardus Trail!

The High Scardus Trail with Zbulo was a wonderful experience! Pristine nature, beautiful views, and a friendly group. Visiting in June meant we had all of the trails to ourselves. Our Albanian hosts at guesthouses and mountain cabins were so welcoming you and generous with their time and cooking! Visit Northern Albania – you won’t regret it 🙂

So many highlights – being welcomed into the homes of our hosts, the views from the top of Mt Korab, meeting shepherds on the mountains, the huts up in the mountains, the seamless logistics with transport etc all being so well organised.

Please use Zbulo to create a mountain adventure for you!

What a wonderful mix of physical challenge, landscape, culture and people. Can’t recommend Zbulo and our guide Mirjeta Shatra enough! Everything was planned beautifully. I turned my brain off and opened my eyes, mind and heart. This experience will stay with me forever!

Climbing Mt Korab, our wonderful young guide Mirjeta who was lovely and wise beyond her years and helped us to understand the Albanian culture and to interact with the local families and shepherds. I loved trying the local food too and the beauty of the countryside and its nature.

We did the 8 days tour on the High Scardus Trail which was a great experience, from the beginning until the end. From the first email contact Ricardo was very responsive, provided helpful information and you feel that he really wants to do the best to his clients. The tour itself was guided by Adriatik who is a great guide and a very nice person. We had a lot of fun, but also discussed about everything under the sun. Thanks for the great time!

The High Scardus Trail is quite new and leads through a very remote part of Albania close to the border to Northern Macedonia. It is so remote that we did not meet any other hikers and often we justed walked even without paths. It was really incredible and very special. I think there are not many places like this in Europe… Accomodation varies from guesthouse to shepard’s hut. Everything is basic (to a different extent), but always clean. And the hosts are very friendly in all of these places. Food is good and mainly homemade.

We did the tour with a group (6 persons plus Adriatik). When organizing the trip we were not convinced whether we actually like a group-tour. Looking back I can just say that I was a good decision. It was nice being part of a group, since there were no other (English speaking) people. And without a guide it probably would have been often quite complicated. Most of the hosts do not speak English at all and during the day we just followed Adriatik who knows the way perfectly. Otherwise, you really have to focus on the GPS, since the trail is marked very, very limited and often there are not even paths.

A true gift: Our group was less than ten members, we had a fantastic local guide, who was almost a member of the local farmer families we stayed at: Very special to be a guest in daily life of locals who master their lives in the mountain environment. A true cultural experience to share what they offer: Their homes, food, hospitality and friendliness. By hiking the ridge (and border)of the mountains, permanently crossing between Kosovo, Albania, North Mazedonia, it is not just a stunning nature experience. You become beware of (historical) reality hiking there, but of the life people up there had to copy with. A landscape and societey prior unkown for me. Zbulo! and their empathic and friendly guide Adriatik let me dive right into it. Great experience. @Zbulo!: Keep this way of tourism as long as you can. Small groups, close contact to the local people. A way to appreicate nature and people which hopefully many more hikers like me will enjoy!

The whole trip was amazing but the personal highlight would be walking amongst the wildflowers. They were in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous on many parts of the hike.

There isn’t much shade covering so make sure you are properly covered for sun protection.

All the experiences we made due to the remote character of the tour.

It is sometimes a little bit exhausting due to the temperature even at the end of june. No problem, but you should no about this. You should love to meet no other tourists. You should be open to meet locals.

We booked an individual tailored hiking trip with Zbulo! in august 2019. Zbulo arranged evrything according to our wishes. This region is still lonesome, untouched from tourism and the locals are extremely wellcoming.

We had beenaccompanied by our guide Drini from Zbulo!, who was professional, helpful and who translated for us and explained the local Albanian culture of this mountain region. During the trip he became a real friend!
Homestay accomodation was sometimes simple and basic, but we had always everything we needed. People were nice and perfect hosts and we learned a lot of the local culture, farming and living.
We discovered by an additional day the stone villages of the Diber region with its still traditional agriculture and gardening. Food was always delicous and it came always from the gardens and farming of our hosts. We had’nt a single plastic packed food during the trip; everything came from local production.
Some day trips are quite demanding and we would suggest this trip only for experienced and adventourous hikers, especially the Grama pass and the climbing of mount Korab with more than 1400 m of altitude difference.
Zbulo! organized evrything according to our wishes and suggesstions and guide Drini and the backoffice team in Tirana with Jona and Endrit took really care of every detail. Bravo, we have been in good hands!
During the trip we took profit from a huge amount of ripe fruits everywhere in the landscape and blueberry tea and local cheese from sheep have been some of our daily food.
We went back via the Koman lake boat trip to Shkoder and travelled by bus to Bar in Montenegro, from where we took the amazing train trip through the mountains to Belgrad (11,5 hours) before going home to Germany. This is an amazing alternative to a flight back from Tirana.
We would lbook again with Zbulo!! – backoffice people and guide Drini are doing a perfect job and we would encourage everybody to express their wishes and requirements if you book an individually tailored trip as a group or as a couple.

Julian & Jana

We have done the High scardus trail from Popinarë to Cukes with Zbulo in June 2019.
From August 2018 when we started planning with the Zbulo office to June 25th at the end of the trek there was absolutely nothing they could have organized or done better.
Very reactive to email, very professional communication and last but not least a Guide who would rank in the top 3 we ever had. The high scardus trail is new and we would recommend this as a must do before hundreds or thousands will look for it . This is unique and Zbulo make’s it a no brainer when it come’s to organization.
Might want to add that mountains are beautiful everywhere the difference is made by the people you meet . In Albania we met the most wonderful people we ever did .

We came to Albania to do a hiking in its beautiful mountains and we had a marvelous time. Once again – we were there also two years ago with ZBULO – we could count upon the experience and support of your guides during 8 days of walking. We agreed upon a schedule in advance, a schedule that was adapted without any problems by ZBULO; where it was necessary, due to weather circumstances or our slow walking style. The guides, all three of them, Vladimir (in North Macedonia), Nikola (Pelister National Parc) and Anton ( high Scardus trail ), were very friendly and helpful and became true friends in such a short period. They walked slowly with us, giving us the time to enjoy the environment, to take a rest every now and then, to take pictures, and they gave us lots of interesting information about the country and its history. We were very lucky and pleased that they spoke English, so we could easily communicate and they acted as interpreter for us with local people we met or we were staying with.

About the accommodation nothing but praise. We received a warm welcome everywhere, and all be it sometimes basic, it was always clean and the people did their very best to make it comfortable for us. So nice to learn how normal everyday life in the little villages is going on. The food they cooked was delicious, but far too much in some cases, we couldn’t eat it all but we felt they put their heart in it.

Last but not the least we were also very pleased with the transport to our different destinations, for ourselves as well as for our luggage. Even in a thunderstorm on the mountain in the Pelister National Parc we were happy to see the jeep coming very quickly to our rescue. It couldn’t have been better. The coordination between guides and drivers was perfect.

We hope we can come again ! In case of, we won’t hesitate to recommend Zbulo to our friends and relatives.

Mieke, Katrien, Bart and Anne-Marie

Zbulo-Discover Albania was skilled, talented and reliable every step of the way in arranging our recent treks of High Scardus and Peaks of the Balkans. We highly recommend Zbulo without any reservations. Our guide, Anton was exceptional in all ways. His warmth and friendliness made the trip. He was willing to go the extra mile day in and day out and worked tirelessly so we could have the best trip possible. The home stay families were delightful and will never be forgotten. We look forward to another trek with Zbulo and Anton.