Theth is a village of stone houses at the head of a valley in the far north of Albania, under limestone walls, inside a national park, at the end of a single road from Shkoder. It has a small church with a stone roof that appears in every photograph of the Albanian Alps, a river running through a gorge below it, a waterfall up the side valley, and a footpath over an eighteen hundred metre pass to the next valley. It is the best two nights in the country.
What is there
The church, small, stone roofed, standing alone in the meadow, which is the image of the region.
Stone houses, some of them former lock in towers from the era of blood feuds.
The Grunas waterfall, a walk up the side valley from the village.
The Blue Eye of Theth, a spring pool further up, which is a longer and harder walk than people expect.
The river gorge below the village.
Guesthouses, family run, which are the entire accommodation and catering industry.
Getting there
From Shkoder by road, a few hours, progressively surfaced in recent years.
Shared vans and minibuses in season, which is how most visitors arrive.
By the Koman ferry route, which is longer, more spectacular and a trip in itself.
Check the current road condition locally rather than trusting older accounts.
Check your hire agreement, which may forbid unpaved roads regardless of condition.
Late spring to early autumn, because winter closes the village.
Practical notes
Cash for everything, including the van; the nearest machine is hours away.
No signal in much of the valley, and patchy at best in the village.
Warm layers in any month, because the altitude decides the weather.
Proper footwear for the pass, which is a real mountain crossing.
Book ahead in July and August, when the guesthouses fill.
Start the pass early, before the heat and before the afternoon cloud.
What the region is about
The kanun, the customary law code, which shaped the tower houses and the feuds.
Isolation, historically total in winter, which is why the culture survived so distinctly.
Depopulation, which is the current story, with guesthouse tourism as the counterweight.
A national park, with marked trails and a small ranger presence.
Weather that changes fast, and rescue that is a long way away.
Very good food, cooked by whoever owns the house you are sleeping in.
Where this fits in an Albania trip
Two or three nights in the north, entirely separate from the coastal half of the trip.
For the region as a whole and how the valleys connect, our Albanian Alps guide covers the ground.
For the walks themselves, including the pass, our guide to hiking trails in Albania covers the routes.
And because every road and every van up here starts in the same place, our guide to Shkoder, the gateway to the Albanian Alps covers the town you pass through on the way in, and the obvious place to spend a night at either end of the mountains.
The short version
Two or three nights, between late June and September, in a family guesthouse on a half board rate, with enough cash for the whole stay because there is no machine. Walk the pass to Valbona from the Theth side so the climb is in the morning, and pay a guesthouse to move your bag round by road. Add the waterfall and, if you have the legs, the Blue Eye of Theth. Check the road condition and your hire agreement before driving yourself, and take warm layers whatever the month.
