Valbona–Çerem trail stage: spectacular sceneries after a difficult climb

The Valbona–Çerem stage of the Peaks of the Balkans high route, crossing the Presllopi Pass (2,039 m), is among the most memorable days you’ll spend in the Accursed Mountains — if you’re prepared for the climb it demands.

Hikers can choose between two options here. One is the official low valley route, a tractor road that rolls along the valley floor without offering much to write home about. The other is the high route via Presllopi Pass — longer, harder, and worth every extra step for anyone who came to the Albanian Alps for the scenery. Keep in mind there’s no accommodation anywhere along this stage; if you need it, local transport in Valbona can usually be arranged.

Leaving Valbona, you follow the asphalt east for about 1.7 km before crossing the Valbona River and picking up the hiking path. The climb heads north, working through beech and birch forest, patches of open meadow, and increasingly rocky ground — not monotonous, thankfully, and the views start opening up after roughly 2.4 km when you break out onto a wide mountain meadow. In summer, there’s often a shepherd hut there, and if you’re lucky, someone inside willing to sell you something cold before the final push.

The trail continues northeast across grassy slopes for another 1.9 km to reach Presllopi Pass, the Albanian–Montenegrin border and the roof of this stage. A marked side trail from the pass heads up to Zla Kolata (2,535 m), Montenegro’s highest point and one of the bigger optional challenges the whole route throws at you. It adds around 500 m of elevation gain, takes 3–3.5 hours return, and isn’t something to attempt casually — save it for days when you’re feeling strong.

Past the pass, the trail dips briefly into Montenegro before swinging back into Albania at Bori’s Pass (1,850 m), announced by an old border stone that’s been there far longer than the trail has. Somewhere nearby is one of the route’s stranger discoveries: the Ice Wind Cave, where the temperature holds at 0°C regardless of season. It’s a strange, quiet place — the kind of thing you’d struggle to explain to someone who hadn’t stood there.

From Bori’s Pass the descent into the Çerem Valley is gentler. There’s a seasonal café about 750 m from the pass that tends to appear exactly when you need it most. The route then winds through shaded forest, past a traditional shepherd settlement, before hitting a 4WD track into Çerem village — a low-key, unhurried finish to one of the finer days the Western Balkans has on offer.