Road Trip to Northern Albania

The locals in Albania take turns complimenting the white beaches in south and then the majestic mountains up north. We decided to rent Soffe (a nickname for our little blue Fiat) and go on a classic road trip to the Albanian Alps.

When driving in bigger towns you’ll be dodging everything from cows to families on Sunday walks, whom both cross the sketchy roads at random spots. Everything stays the same when driving towards north, but instead of families you now have shepherds with their sheep taking over the serpentine roads. 

Our first destination was Thethi, which is a valley surrounded by huge mountains. This national park is still inaccessible by normal car, which made it a perfect mountain hideout after a three hour hike.

Francesco was the true gangster kid of Thethi who managed to sell us a ride back to our own car, on the way back he charmed every tourist while casually smoking his cigarettes. 

The following two days we slept in the car and made it to Valbona, which is the other national park in northern Albania. Driving here sometimes feels like you were stuck in a loop. The roads can get quite scary, especially after dark. All the graves next to the road don’t make this anxiety any easier either. 

But we’ve now managed to experience the beautiful landscapes in northern Albania and returned Soffe without any scratches!