We are genuinely grateful to everyone at Zbulo for making our trip such a wonderful experience. We really felt the care and effort that went into organizing everything, and throughout the trip we always felt supported, the descriptions and every detail are so thorough that it takes the hassle and the stress of planning completely away. We really appreciated how the attention to detail makes a real difference. Everything, from the accomodations selected and the food to the route and communication was excellent.
We’re leaving with some very special memories.
Zbulo agency were so helpful for the permits we needed for our Peaks if the Balkans Trail. The communication over WhatsApp was quick and informative, even On the weekend. And they managed to get our permits in time for our border crossings. Big recommendation and thank you for your great work!
This was an excellent trip and working with Zbulo! was easy and an excellent experience. The hiking was beautiful and our accommodations were stellar. We did ask them to upgrade tot he Hotel St. Nicolas in Himare and it was well worth it.
We changed our last hiking day itinerary to skip the hike and visit the historic town of Berat. This was an excellent choice as we got to see more Albanian culture and history including the interesting Ethnographic Museum in Berat.
What an incredible trip to Albania! The scenery was breathtaking, the hiking was an adventure, and the whole experience was so much fun. A special shout-out to our guide, Tes, who helped make the trip unforgettable. Having a great guide makes such a difference, and Tes was a huge part of what made this experience so special.
Our group was fantastic—great people, plenty of laughs, and a wonderful group to share the adventure with. Even the challenging hikes gave us some amazing memories!
I came home with incredible photos, stories, and a real appreciation for Albania. Highly recommend this trip to anyone looking for beautiful scenery, adventure, and great company. Five stars!
Just a fabulous trip. Albania is a fantastic country - stunning, friendly people and felt very safe. Walking was amazing - views to die for. Hotel choices were great and drivers all informative helpful and reliable. Bring proper boots. Some of the paths are rocky and unstable. Would thoroughly recommend.
It was a fantastic week that felt much longer. Beautiful hikes. The guide was very professional, interested in a wide range of topics, and led us safely. The organization was excellent, and the food was delicious and varied. I really enjoyed it—the significant ascents and descents were truly satisfying!
I've just completed my second trek organised by Zbulo! (Hidden Valley trek in southern Albania) and can wholeheartedly recommend booking with them. Everything worked perfectly - from initial booking to getting me back to the airport in good time for my flight. Our guide (Nedih) was both highly professional as a group leader and very knowledgeable about local places and history. He managed all aspects of the trip very efficiently - both on and off the trail - and helped immensely with the challenges of communication in a country where English is not always an option. The Zbulo office staff were also very helpful and quick to respond, including booking me an extra hotel night and slightly adjusting the itinerary to allow me to catch my flight home. I had initially been a bit cautious about booking direct with a local Albanian company, rather than with one of the bigger international providers, but my experience with Zbulo is that they deliver a top quality service and much better value for money.
The trek itself is well worth doing and takes in spectacular scenery and some remote, and partially abandoned villages, linked by rough pack horse trails and occasional unsurfaced sections of road. There are also sections with a surprisingly remote "back country" feel (narrow trails and a bit of bushwhacking) and one high pass with a 1000m descent to the town of Permet. Most of the accommodation is in local guesthouses which are typical for a trek of this kind - ie basic but comfortable (with showers). The plentiful food is very Mediterranean (lots of veg, cheese, olives, byrek and dips). Particularly enjoyable were some coffee or lunch stops at local houses where the welcome and hospitality was first class.
In summary, I can definitely recommend both Zbulo and its 8 day Hidden Valley trek. (The trek is also available as a self-guided tour. This would require a degree of confidence with navigation and route finding as trail markings are sometimes a bit haphazard. That said, we met a couple of people soloing the trail without any difficulty).
The Hidden Valley trekking was my first experience in travelling in group but it was great! Our guide Nedih is one of the 1000(like we say in Belgium), it means he ‘s the best…., he was very attentive for each one and safety come first . I appriciate that very much. So, thanks also for the good organisation ( managing) during the trekking. Karine
Loved the tour of the stunning, secluded Zagoria Valley and crossing the Dhembali Pass in S. Albania. Zbulo are an excellent local guiding company with in depth intimate knowledge of the area, love for their country and the environment and great contacts with local farmers and guest houses which made the home-stays, food, history and trips to local sights unmatchable. Our guide looked after us impeccably well and we had a lot of fun. Can’t thank you all enough
Eine fantastische Peak of the Balkans Tour. Hervorragend organisiert. Wunderbare Gasthäuser. Sehr gute Guides und eine wirklich nette und lustige internationale Wandergruppe. Das war ein echter Highlight.
Zagori - trekking in southern Albania
I've just completed my second trek organised by Zbulo! (Hidden Valley trek in southern Albania) and can wholeheartedly recommend booking with them. Everything worked perfectly - from initial booking to getting me back to the airport in good time for my flight. Our guide (Nedih) was both highly professional as a group leader and very knowledgeable about local places and history. He managed all aspects of the trip very efficiently - both on and off the trail - and helped immensely with the challenges of communication in a country where English is not always an option. The Zbulo office staff were also very helpful and quick to respond, including booking me an extra hotel night and slightly adjusting the itinerary to allow me to catch my flight home. I had initially been a bit cautious about booking direct with a local Albanian company, rather than with one of the bigger international providers, but my experience with Zbulo is that they deliver a top quality service and much better value for money. The trek itself is well worth doing and takes in spectacular scenery and some remote, and partially abandoned, villages linked by rough pack horse trails and occasional unsurfaced sections of road. There are also sections with a surprisingly remote "back country" feel (narrow trails and a bit of bushwhacking) and one high pass with a 1000m descent to the town of Permet. Most of the accommodation is in local guesthouses which are typical for a trek of this kind - ie basic but comfortable (with showers). The plentiful food is very Mediterranean (lots of veg, cheese, olives, byrek and dips). Particularly enjoyable were some coffee or lunch stops at local houses where the welcome and hospitality was first class. In summary, I can definitely recommend both Zbulo and its 8 day Hidden Valley trek. (The trek is also available as a self-guided tour. This would require a degree of confidence with navigation and route finding as trail markings are sometimes a bit haphazard. That said, we met a couple of people soloing the trail without any difficulty).
8 day Hidd n Valley hike
Your review: 8 days Hidden Valley hike We had a great hike through a fantastic landscape. The food was so good! Zbulo could sell this as a food tour for hikers. The valley is remote, you really go back in time. It was my second guided hike with Zbulo. Maybe this one was not so demanding as PoB, but absolute worth it. Again everything was very well organized and again we had the best guide (Nedih).
An exceptionally good all-round experience. Communication, accommodation, materials, drivers, everything was well organised, ran on time and at a high standard of comfort. Walking routes were excellent and very enjoyable. Our fellow travellers were delightful. We changed plans from an Alpine walk to the Albanian Coast trek at pretty much the last minute and Zbulo were flexible and responsive in meeting our request. We would recommend Zbulo to anyond planning a trip in the Balkans.
First, my wife and I booked this trip through Natural Adveture and not directly with Zbulo!.
Overall we had a nice trip in an interesting country and beautiful mountains, but we believe it could andvshould be better.
Out of the "8 days' trip", we hiked only full three (very nice!) days: one and a half days were spent on transfer (started at 2pm!), one day was raining, so it was reassigned to transfer only, in one day we visited a few accessible and touristic attractions nearvm Theth before returning to Shkoder, and on the last day we returned to Tirana before noon(!!).
The accomodation in 'shared' low-end guesthouses was disapointing, and truely diminished our satisfaction. Instead of spending more time together, we joint others in these shared rooms.
Personally we requested private rooms wherever possible, but was advised that 'this is not possible', although in all guesthouses there were available rooms (to book in advance).
Guidance was setifying, though on the minimal side,, with just a few depth explanations, mostly following our questions. One local guide was teriffic and very much involved with the group. The other guide was a bit sick throughout the trip and she mainly rested with less contribution to the group.
The atmosphere in the group was great, and can be marked as the main upside of the trip.
We enjoyed the trip. However, our overall experience was that the entire trip could have been better with a few asjustments. but as-is, it did not meet our expectations.
There are other trips that cover this area that onyone should consider before signing to this one.
We did the Peaks of the Balkans with Zbulo! One of the best travel organizations I have ever worked with. From the start they were responsive and everything they promised was more than delivered. The app and maps and descriptions were spot on and very useful, the accommodations always excellent. We had to change our last day due to bad weather and they immediately planned everything for us. Would highly recommend!
Loved the Coastal Trails of Albania 7 night trek. Absolutely beautiful scenery, great variety of treks, accommodation was perfect especially in Llogara National Park & our guide Tess was delightful- knowledgeable, great on the trails and very funny! Woukd highly recommend
This trek is absolutely fantastic! Not only was the scenery stunning, but our guides Renii and Endrit really made the landscape come alive with stories and history about the regions we traveled through. My husband and I had considered doing the trek on our own, but we're so happy that we decided to go with the guided option with Zbulo. Everything was handled for us and we felt much more immersed in the landscape and culture than we would have on our own. All of the guesthouses, food, and pre/during/post-departure communication was excellent. We can highly recommend Zbulo and this trek.
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