DURATION
LOCATION
ANNUAL LEAVE
SEASON
GROUP SIZE
MEETING POINT
ACCOMMODATION
Hotel · Guesthouse
DIFFICULTY
No previous experience is needed but you should be in relatively good shape and a confident swimmer.
Kayak and raft along the mighty Vjosa, the last truly wild river in Europe – a unique and richly biodiverse ecosystem
Venture deep into the sacred Tomorr Mountains on remote trails, featuring incredible vistas and welcoming villages
Explore the verdant natural wonder that is Osumi Canyon, swimming in natural pools and waterfalls along the way
Day 1
Welcome to Albania!
Your host will pick you up either at Tirana Airport or in central Tirana, then drive south for about an hour and a half to reach the ancient, fortified city of Berat – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the old castle here and get to know your travel companions this evening over a traditional Albanian meal.
Day 2
Explore the sacred Tomorr Mountains
Hiking
Head out in off-road vehicles to explore the remote mountains of Albania. At the heart of Albanian folklore, they have deep spiritual significance in the country. Hike through one of the last wild wolf and bear sanctuaries left in Europe, stopping for lunch in a small village. Enjoy the views of Mount Tomori, one of the country’s most magnificent mountains, then unwind with wine tasting in a local winery.
Day 3
Kayaking the Vjosa River
Kayaking
Take another scenic road journey through the remote interior of Albania to Këlcyrë Gorge, for a truly memorable kayaking adventure on Europe’s last wild river. Paddle a beautiful and calm stretch of the Vjosa's turquoise waters before hopping back into the 4WD to head to the town of Permet for lunch, and then relax at the thermal baths in Benja.
Day 4
Rafting the Vjosa River
Rafting
Experience more of the incredible Vjosa River today, newly established as a protected National Park, on a morning rafting adventure – you'll tackle Class 3 rapids through spectacular mountain scenery. Later, you'll drive through mountainous terrain to the town of Corovoda in the verdant Osumi Canyon.
Day 5
Osumi Canyon
Hiking
Enter Osumi Canyon – one of the most spectacular natural attractions in Europe. You’ll either river hike or raft along the River Osum (this depends on the time of year and corresponding water level; please read the FAQ below for more information). There will be plenty of chances to wild swim whilst surrounded by the canyon’s unique ecosystem, which stays lush and green all year round. After lunch in Corovoda, you’ll drive back to Berat.
Day 6
The Cave of Pellumbas
Hiking
Depart beautiful Berat, and begin the journey back to Tirana. En route, you'll stop off to hike a short, steep and scenic trail which will lead you to the mysterious cave of Pellumbas, filled with huge stalagmites and dripping stalactites (be sure to watch out for low-flying bats!). After lunch in one of the local villages, you’ll return to Tirana for your journey home.
Included
Guides
Local, expert, English-speaking guides
Accommodation
4 nights in hotels, 1 night in a guesthouse
Meals
5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 3 dinners
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in between
Equipment
Everything you need for kayaking, rafting and river hike (seasonal)
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Personal expenses
Some meals as described
Travel insurance
Visas where required
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 5
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 6
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Albanian food consists of hearty and healthy dishes of meat and vegetables, much of which is seasonal and sourced locally. Popular dishes include turkey, lamb or goat pershesh, served with a local bread known as kulac, a meat and leek pie made with thin pastry called byrek and freshly caught fish served in a Mediterranean style. Fish dishes are often flavoured with white vinegar and olive oil grown in Southern Albania, and many dishes are served with wine from one of the local vineyards.
Please let us know of any dietary requirements in advance by requesting this on your passenger info form.
What is the accommodation like?
Berat
You'll spend three nights in Berat, staying in twin-share rooms at Hotel Castle Park. Set in a scenic area of woodland, it's located around 1.5 kilometres from the centre of Berat town.
Permet
You'll spend one night in a hotel in the small southern town of Permet, next to the banks of the Vjosa river. Rooms will be on a twin-share basis.
Osumi Canyon
One night is spent in an especially spectacular setting – a guesthouse perched on the edge of Osumi Canyon. Rooms will be twin-share.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge, see Optional Extras for the price. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability).
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Tirana International Airport (TIA)
Arrive any time on Day 1
Ends
Tirana International Airport (TIA)
17:30 on Day 6
Transfers
Arrive at any time on Day 1 and your host will arrange a transfer from Tirana Airport to the hotel in Berat. The transfer time is approx 1.5 hours and if travellers are on flights arriving at similar times, then there may be a short wait in order to group the transfers together.
Pickups can also be made from a location in central Tirana for anyone who has arrived earlier and is staying in the capital - this is usually the Dinamo Stadium near the Grand Park of Tirana. Your host will confirm the pickup time and location with you in advance.
On Day 6 you'll be dropped off at the airport in time to catch any flight leaving after 19:00.
If you are arriving or departing outside those days your host can arrange private airport transfers for an extra cost. See Optional Extras for details.
Travel options
There are regular flights to Tirana from major airports across the UK and Europe.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- All kayaking and rafting equipment
- Wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets for river hike
What do I need to bring?
- Small backpack with rain cover
- Suitable walking shoes for hiking
- An additional pair of trainers that can get wet (for use when rafting, kayaking and if doing the river hike)
- Breathable, light-weight, waterproof clothing
- Swimwear
- Plenty of spare underwear and clothes for getting wet
- Quick drying travel towel
- Wind-stopper jacket
- Sun hat
- Sunglasses
- Suncream
- Refillable water bottle
- Mosquito repellent
- Head torch
- Car sickness tablets (optional)
Optional Private Room Upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Optional Private Room Upgrade
… Per Person
Pre/post trip accommodation in Berat (Double / Twin)
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation in Berat (Double / Twin)
… Per Night
Additional night accommodation in Tirana (Double / Twin)
Payable Before Departure
Additional night accommodation in Tirana (Double / Twin)
… Per Night
Pre/post trip accommodation in Tirana (Single)
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation in Tirana (Single)
…
Pre/post trip accommodation in Berat (Single)
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation in Berat (Single)
… Per Night
Berat to Tirana Airport
Payable Before Departure
Berat to Tirana Airport
…
Between Tirana Airport and the city
Payable Before Departure
Between Tirana Airport and the city
…
The perfect trip for anyone keen to experience the rural wonders of Albania alongside the country's most experienced rafting guides. The weather in October was blissful and there were too many itinerary highlights to name: the mountain picnic, the off-roading, swimming in turquoise rivers... The group and the guides were so much fun, with lots of late nights sipping raki. A really well organised tour. Completely fell in love with the place.
The trip was incredibly varied with some great activities and a jam-packed agenda. The activity level should be easy as other than some steep climbs, there isn’t anything particularly physical.
The hosts were brilliant at taking lots of photos of everyone, which was brilliant and meant people didn’t need to worry themselves about it.
The food was good - traditional so a little tricky for fussy eaters or non-meat eaters.
Slightly more relaxation time would’ve been nice, but the agenda was very well thought through.
A lot of driving time - I’m not sure if there are other hotels that could be slightly better placed? Felt like a lot of time was spent in cars - often longer than the activity itself.
Everyone was helpful and welcoming. We were lucky in having a really good group.
The wine tour was an unexpected delight and the river hiking was by far the best experience.
This is a fantastic trip to a wonderful country. Scenery is breathtaking and the range of activities is perfect. Our group was amazing and we all gelled incredibly well. So much thanks to our leader, Arti, and all his local hosts. Albania is a beautiful place of natural wonder with hospitality, welcome and food to match. Great trip!
An exceptional Albanian experience with a great mix of activity and leisure. The passionate hosts are experienced and well-resourced and showcased their country with pride. Highly recommended.
This was the most AMAZING trip!! Albania is so beautiful, made perfect by our time spent with Arti and the Rafting Company. Alma and her family are incredible hosts, the kayaking and rafting was more beautiful than the pictures let on. I want to do it all again!
This was an amazing experience. I had no idea that this part of Albania was going to be so scenic and the water activities so much fun. Many thanks to Arti, Elfa, and the crew for making it possible.
Really enjoyed this trip! It was awesome. Arti and the crew were very good, kept us safe at all points. I’d bring a small water bottle with you at all times with a carabiner so you can keep yourself hydrated during the water activities. The river hike is more like coasteering so don’t be put off if you’re all hiked out or worried about the heat. We were there in July and it was very warm. All the hotels are lovely, air conditioned and comfortable . Especially the one you’re in for the penultimate night. Albania is a beautiful country and we had so much fun.
Excellent trip, I felt I certainly "got my moneys worth".
A good variety of activities, with a stunning backdrop of mountains, valleys and rivers. The trip was well organised from start to finish, our group guide Arti was knowledgeable and relaxed, ensuring we had the best possible experience. The accommodation was good and food was plentiful. I travelled solo, but was fortunate to meet an excellent group of people to share the trip with. I highly recommend this trip and look forward to booking my next Much Better Adventures experience soon.
Absolutely incredible. This country and its people deserve the tourism boom they’re currently in. Unbelievable scenery straight out of a movie, great activities and very nice people all throughout the trip. Really took us outside of our comfort zone while keeping it safe. Will be coming back!
Albania is a fantastic country, well worth exploring, with this trip offering a fantastic blend of hiking, a city tour in Berat, kayaking, rafting, river hiking (which we likened to easy canyoning) and a winery visit. I would however advise you to consider what time of year you visit - our trip was mid-July and it was nearing 40 degrees, which makes the water activities incredibly welcome, but the hikes in the middle part of the day much more challenging due to the heat.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 135kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
No previous experience is needed, however a moderate level of fitness is required along with the ability to swim.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
The best months for hiking in Albania are February to June, and September to November, when the weather is warm and sunny, reaching temperatures of around 30 degrees. July and August can be hotter, however, this is usually broken up by cool coastal breezes.
For departures between the months of March to June, you'll go rafting within the canyon as the typical water levels at this time of year allow a safe environment in which to use rafts. For departures between the months of July to October, you'll go river hiking. This involves hiking along the river bed within the canyon, jumping into pools along the way. A wetsuit, helmet and lifejacket are provided for this activity, but you'll need your own pair of trainers with a good grip – ones that you don't mind getting soaked through!
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Tips are not included in the trip cost. These are entirely at your discretion and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information [here] (https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/) and also talking to a travel nurse.
For current advice about travelling in Albania, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
Pay In Installments
You can choose to pay for this trip in as many installments as you like, with no interest or fees.
Full Financial Protection
Your money is safe. Every booking is fully financially protected.
