Peaks of the Balkans from Kosovo, without the hype

For a lot of British hikers, Peaks of the Balkans is the first reason Kosovo ever appears on their radar. So I want to be straight with you from the outset about what I can confirm and what I can’t, because plenty of numbers about this trail are passed around that I have not been able to check against any official source.

What it is

It is a mountain trek joining Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro through the range Kosovo calls Bjeshkët e Nemuna, the Accursed Mountains. Peja’s tourism website, which does not name its publisher and which I therefore use only as a secondary source, says it grew out of a partnership between national and local tourism bodies, hiking clubs and German development cooperation, with the aim of bringing income to local people and stopping these mountains emptying out. It follows shepherds’ paths past valleys, lakes, waterfalls and remote villages.

According to the same website, you can start in any of the three countries, and in Kosovo that means Peja. You sleep in traditional houses, stone kullas, huts and small lodges, with home cooking from whoever puts you up. It rates the walking easy to moderate, while stressing that you need good fitness and proper kit.

What I won’t give you

The trail’s own website returns an access error, and the figures in circulation for total distance, number of stages, days and permits come from tour operators, blogs and commercial guidebooks. None of those is an official source, so I am not repeating them. If you are planning the trek, your guide or operator will give you those details, and the border formalities need confirming with the Kosovo border police before you go.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Peja for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Why I would not do it independently

Peja’s website recommends going in a group or with a guide, because much of the route crosses uninhabited country, and mentions local guides trained by the German Alpine Club. I would add the weightiest reason of all. The FCDO warns of mines and unexploded ordnance left on the border massif shared by the three countries, the very ground the trail crosses, and wants walkers on the main routes.

Then there is the usual list for the mountains here. Wildfires from April to October, altitude sickness on high ground, and the fact that a GHIC gets you nothing in Kosovo, so you need travel insurance that covers trekking. If you plan to carry on into Serbia after coming in from Montenegro or Albania, read the entry rules on Kosovo entry requirements first, because the order of your crossings matters.

A gentler way in

If the trail tempts you, try a day in Rugova first, for instance the walk to the Liqenat and Drelaj lakes, which I describe on hiking in Kosovo. It shows you the terrain and the pace. Peja has the mountaineering pedigree too, since the same website dates the territory’s first climbing club there to 1928. If you like it, book the trek with a local company that handles beds and borders. For the bigger picture of the whole range, see Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Peja for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.