Trekking in the Accursed Mountains

The Peaks of the Balkans links Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo into a single 192-kilometre circuit through the Prokletije — the 'Accursed Mountains' — some of the least-developed high country in Europe.

Over about ten days you cross the borders on foot several times, climbing to passes above 2,000 metres and dropping into remote shepherds' valleys where the trail is younger than the villages by centuries.

This is the Dinaric Alps at their wildest: glacial lakes, limestone peaks, and hamlets like Theth and Valbona reached by mule track rather than road.

What makes it special is the human texture — you sleep in family guesthouses, eat what the household cooks, and pass through a corner of Europe only recently opened to walkers, where the mountains were long a frontier to be avoided rather than crossed.

It is a trek through a landscape and a history at once.

Around ten days on foot covering some 192 kilometres, crossing between three countries over passes above 2,000 metres.

The walking is strenuous but non-technical — long ascents on rough mule tracks and shepherds' paths, with real daily height gain — and you sleep in village guesthouses rather than tents, eating home cooking each night.

Waymarking is patchy, so navigation matters, and the high valleys are genuinely remote, with limited resupply and phone signal. The reward is empty limestone peaks, glacial lakes and a living mountain culture. Come fit for consecutive long days and prepared for changeable mountain weather at altitude.

Walk it between June and October, once the high passes are clear of snow. The one non-negotiable is the cross-border permit: because the route crosses Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo on foot, you need police-issued permits for each frontier, which local agencies arrange for you — apply weeks ahead.

Most people go guided or self-guided through a regional operator who books the guesthouses and handles the paperwork and luggage transfers. Start from Theth, Valbona or Plav depending on your direction.

Come with hill fitness, a map or GPS track for the patchy waymarking, and layers for cold nights at altitude.