Valbonë to Çerem

Çerem is a scatter of houses in a side valley north of Valbonë with a few guesthouse beds, no shop, and no mobile signal worth relying on. Walkers reach it as the second stage of the Peaks of the Balkans loop, and almost nobody walks it as a day out, which is most of its appeal.

The research this site works from gives the stage two different sets of figures: 14 km with 700 m of ascent over five to seven hours in one table, and 20 km with 900 m over seven to nine hours in the other. The lower pair is published above, because it is the one the direct line between the two villages supports, and the difference is most likely the variant that swings west over higher ground. Plan for the longer day if you are slow or the weather is uncertain.

The season follows the Koman ferry rather than the trail. The ferry is how you get into the Valbonë valley at all, it runs from 15 April to 5 November, and the ground on this stage is not reliably clear of snow before mid-June. Outside that window the only approach is the road through Bajram Curri from Kosovo, and the Çerem beds are shut anyway.