Overview
From €39 per person · 7 hours · departs from Shkoder or Tirana
Valbona One-Way Trip with Komani Lake Boat: 7 hours from Tirana or Shkoder to Valbona, self-guided: the minibus transfers and the Komani Lake boat are arranged for you and you will have real time assistance if needed.
Tour facts
Highlights
- About two hours on Lake Koman, Koman to Fierza
- The Drin held back by the 115 m Koman dam, built between 1979 and 1988
- Vertical canyon walls that get compared with the Scandinavian fjords
- Fierza, the landing for Bajram Curri and the Valbona valley
- Valbonë village at about 1,000 m, around thirty stone houses
A one-way run from Tirana or Shkodër to Valbona, with the Lake Koman boat in the middle of it. Seven hours, and it ends with the drop-off in Valbona.
The first leg is by road to the boat terminal at Koman: about two and a half hours from Tirana, an hour and a half from Shkodër. Lake Koman is not a natural lake. It is the Drin held back by the Koman dam, 115 m high, built between 1979 and 1988 by the hydroelectric station near the village of Koman. The reservoir lies at 170 m above sea level and is about 400 m wide, and its vertical canyons are sometimes compared with the Scandinavian fjords. The boat takes about two hours.
It lands at Fierza, the landing for Bajram Curri and the Valbona valley. From there it is roughly an hour and a half by road, past Bajram Curri and through Dragobi, up into the valley. Valbonë village sits at about 1,000 m and has around thirty houses, most of them traditional stone dwellings of two or three storeys with wooden roofs. The Valbona river, clear off the alpine springs, runs through the valley below them.
Nearly all of the seven hours is seated: a van, then a boat, then a van again.
The route
Pickup at listed locations
3 hours from Tirana or 1.5 hours from Shkoder
Board the ship as instructed from us and enjoy a 2.5 hour scenic trip on Komani Lake
1 hour transfer to reach Valbona
Drop off, end of service
What's included
- All Transfers with Comfortable Van/Minibus
- Boat Ticket/Trip on Komani Lake
- Real time assistance
Not included
- Accommodation in Valbona
- Meals
Good to know
Photos from this tour
Questions travelers ask
Where is the pickup?
At Gazheli Petrol in Tirana or in front of the Rozafa hotel in Shkodër; Koman is about two and a half hours from Tirana and an hour and a half from Shkodër.
How long is the boat?
About two hours on Lake Koman from Koman to Fierza, then an hour and a half by van through Bajram Curri and Dragobi up to Valbona.
Is a guide on board?
No. This is a self-guided transfer with real-time assistance by phone: you board the boat as instructed and the van is waiting at Fierza.
Where am I dropped off?
At your hotel or guesthouse in Valbona; tell us the name when you book.
When does the boat run?
The season on Lake Koman is May to October; the ferry does not run in winter.
Photo credits
- Komani Lake, Tropoje view from tour boat by Egjoni98 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- River that flows by Migjen Fazliu · CC BY-SA 4.0
