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A trip to the Balkans is not complete without visiting the village town of Theth in Albania. This is the perfect place to see the pristine Albanian Alps, also called, the accursed mountains. This region is called the ‘Albanian Alps’ for a reason, as you can expect to see sky high peaks and clear blue mountain water, idyllic stone houses and herds of sheep. This area is extremely underrated and we think it’s time to shed some light on this area of Albania. Keep on reading to get all the information you need for your next trip to Theth, Albania!
Article Contents
- Why you should visit Theth Albania
- Best time to visit
- How much does it cost to visit Theth?
- How to get to Theth
- Where you should stay
- Recommended time to spend in Theth
- The best things to do in Theth
- What to pack for your trip
Why you should visit Theth Albania
Theth is a small village in the Shkodra region of Albania. You could say that the region is somewhat isolated, which is exactly why the region is so beautiful! You get to see this part of nature relatively untouched.
The village is inaccessible during the winter months, as the rocky roads are layered with snow and ice. As of now, the road to Theth is under construction to help improve the trip to Theth. A good part of the road has no asphalt, and that means, longer driving times and pretty bumpy as well!
Theth is nestled in between the beautiful Shala mountains, which is the backdrop for your hikes in the area.
In the village of Theth, a small amount of families live during the summer months. Our host in the guesthouse explained to us that about 20 families live there to run the guesthouses and town store.
Best time to visit Theth Albania
There can still be snow around Theth in the month of June! Therefore, we recommend to visit Theth Albania anywhere between July to October. Around the end of October and the beginning of November the facilities in and around Theth close for winter.
How much does it cost to visit Theth?
Transportation to and from Theth Albania
It’s not always that straightforward to find information about transportation to Theth. Usually, you will contact your guesthouse host who will arrange transportation for you. More about that later in this post! But for reference, we paid about $24 for two people one-way to Theth from Shkoder.
Your stay in the guesthouse
As of now, the main accommodations in Theth are guesthouses. You will be staying with a family who will cook for you and host you during your time in Theth Albania. We paid $40 per night for our guesthouse.
Food during your stay in Theth Albania
There are not a lot of food options in the village. Most likely, you will pay an extra fee to your guesthouse host for dinners. There are a few restaurants in the area, however, we noticed that the prices were somewhat similar to what you would pay in your guesthouse. We paid $10 per person per night for dinner.
Potential extra services
Some of the popular destinations are deep in the surrounding mountains, such as the Blue Eye hike close to Theth. You may decide to pay a driver to drop you off at a trailhead, or even halfway down a trailhead. We would suggest to hike the trail in full, but this is an option! You can inquire about this with your guesthouse host.
How to get to Theth
Generally you have three options. Public transportation, a rental car or tour guides.
Tour guides will take you from Tirana or Shkodra and schedule fun activities around Theth. This is the easiest option, but also the most expensive. A rental car is possible, but also expensive and only for experienced drivers. The roads can get very technical on the Theth journey.
We will mainly discuss the bus routes, since that’s how we got to Theth.
All public transportation options lead you to the town of Shkodra where a connecting bus will take you to Theth.
Step 1: Arrive in Shkodra with the bus
Tirana to Shkodra: Take a bus to Shkodra from the Regional Bus Terminal – North and South. They leave regularly throughout the day and cost about 800 LEK per person. Driving time is around 2 hours. You can’t buy this ticket online, so you will need to just show up. Plan on spending the night in Shkodra, before taking the bus to Theth the next day.
Podgorica to Shkodra: Montenegro’s capital is actually closer to Shkodra than Tirana, so you may find yourself visiting Theth from there. In this case, the bus ride will be about 1.5 hours and cost around 10 euros. These tickets can be purchased online.
Step 2: from Shkodra to Theth
Getting picked up from Shkodra: The best option is to contact your guesthouse or ask your accommodations host in Shkodra to request a pick-up from the local bus. We were picked up at 7:30 AM, but others on the bus were picked up from their hostels around 8:00 AM. You can’t buy tickets online or reserve, so you just have to rely on your hosts. Everything worked out for us, so it will for you too!
Tip: Make sure to withdraw cash, as there won’t be any ATMs in Theth.
The bus journey lasts about 3 hours and cost 1200 LEK per person. The drive is beautiful and the bus will stop halfway for coffee, snacks and a bathroom break.
Because of construction, we had to change buses halfway. The road to Theth is now paved, so the road will be less bumpy for you!
Step 3: Returning to Shkodra
Returning from Theth: Buses leave daily to Shkodra from the village of Theth. Just let your guesthouse host know and they will set it up for you. Expect to pay 1200 Lek per person.
Returning from Valbona: We hiked from Theth to Valbona, so we wanted returned to Shkodra from Valbona.
You will take two buses and one ferry back to Shkodra. The ticket is combined and cost around 2000 LEK per person. Again, you will need to ask your guesthouse in Valbona to arrange a pick-up.
The first bus will take you to Fierze, where you will board the Lake Koman ferry. This is a very scenic ferry ride that last about 3 hours. After the ferry, you will board another bus back to Shkodra.
As you can imagine, this is a full day event.
Where you should stay in Theth Albania
You can find a good amount of guesthouses in Theth. We found ours on Airbnb, but you can also look on websites such as booking.com and Agoda.
A guesthouse is comparable to a hostel, since you won’t have the entire accommodation to yourself. You can book a private room with or without a private bathroom, so privacy is definitely possible.
The experience of a guesthouse is unlike a hostel though. The family will give you a warm welcome and cook traditional Albanian foods for you. It is really nice to interact with the family and hear their stories and experience in Theth. They can also give you some awesome recommendations on things to do around Theth!
Recommended time to spend in Theth
We would recommend to spend several days in Theth, 5 days to be specific. The first day will be your travel day, since that will take up several hours of your day. Then we recommend to have 3 full days to explore Theth and return to Shkoder on the 5th day.
The best things to do in Theth Albania!
Hike to the blue eye
This is probably the most popular attraction in Theth, Albania. The blue eye is a water spring deep in the mountains of Albania. The water is incredibly blue, clear and cold! It looks extremely tempting to jump in and swim, but, think twice! It is so cold, you really don’t want to be in there.
It’s about a 6 hour hike round-trip through mountains, rivers, cow fields and lots of trees. You do not want to miss this hike.
See the Grunas waterfall
This is a short one hour hike from Theth, and therefore a fun and easy thing to do in Theth! Again, you will walk through the beautiful nature of Albania and breathe in the crisp mountain air!
Explore the small village of Theth Albania
There is not much to do in the small village of Theth, but that is one of the reasons you will enjoy your stay! You will find peace and tranquility here, a simply way of living.
Visit the church in the village, which is beautifully surrounded by all the mountains. Then, eat at one of the restaurants and observe the stone houses where the local people live. Our favorite thing to do in Theth was to observe the farm animals graze the day away. Expect to see sheep, pigs, horses and much more!
Hike from Theth to Valbona
This is such an iconic hike! You hike from the village of Theth to the village of Valbona, which is about an 8 hour hike in total.
Several websites suggest that this hike is easy to intermediate, but we don’t think so. We though this hike was strenuous, because of the elevation (you get out of breath sooner), you walk steep up the mountain for several hours and you walk on loose rocks (difficult to get a grip).
Do not let this deter you from hiking this beautiful trail though! We think the second part of the hike, where you enter the Valbona pass is the most breathtaking part of the trail. You will feel like you’re on the moon or maybe Mount Everest. The rocks are white and grey, with the beautiful green trees at the bottom in the Valbona Pass.
The views just can’t be described in it’s full beauty! We would definitely hike this trail again. I am still seeing these mountain views in my dreams.
Experience the guesthouse
Depending on your guesthouse, you might have some activities to do. At our guesthouse, we could feed the farm animals, hang out in the community area with a cozy fireplace, eat traditional Albanian foods and interact with other travelers!
Albania was one of our stops on our full-time year of travel. If you’re interested in how we travel full time, check out our blog post that gives you all the details!
What to pack for your trip to Theth Albania
- Enough cash (don’t count on paying with card)
- Some toiletries
- Sunscreen
- A reusable water bottle
- Good shoes for hiking
- A wind-proof (rain) jacket
- A daypack
- Maps.me (You will not regret downloading this free app, which has offline maps of trails in and around Theth. Because… getting lost just isn’t fun!)
We want to hear from you!
Have you been to the beautiful village of Theth? How was your trip? And if you’re still going, do you have any questions that we can answer?
great post and lots of information. Now http://www.albanianbus.com is offering online bus tickets from Tirana to Shkoder and Shkoder to Theth
Hi! Thanks for a great post! Do you have any idea how much a minibus from Theth to the Blue Eye would cost, please? Thank you!
Is about 5 euros per person