Thethi

Thethi is a village surrounded by Thethi National Park, up on Albanian Alps, in Northeastern Albania, in Shkodra District.

A lot of tourists visit the mountain peaks of Thethi, Boga, Razma and Vermoshi, where they enjoy the dense forests, clear springs and limestone caves.

Understand

Thethi is a scenic village that became a tourist resort and one of the most preferred places for alpinism in Albania. Together with Razma, it composes the most frequented center in the North Albania. They function during all the year. Thethi village is surrounded by a mountain range, which offers a peculiar beauty along the sun set. The highest peaks are: Rodohina Mountain 2596 m; Harapi Mountain 2216 m; Populka Mountaun 2600 m and Alia Mountain 2400 m.

Visitor information

42.3953519.7741731 Thethi National Park Information Center, Rruga Fushe, 4009 (Besides Thethi bridge at Qender-Theth), ☏ +355 69 364 7063. This is the official information center opened by the Albanian Protected Areas Agency (AKZM), and administered by the Shkoder County Protected Areas Administration (ADZM Shkoder ].
Thethi Park InfoPoint, Entrance of Theth, SH21, ☏ +355 67 359 2191, +357 96 683 353, info@thethipark.com. This little and improvised Tourist Info Point at the entrance of the village can help finding a guesthouse, provide rentals, local guides, and two way radios. Contact Jimmy (Gezim).

Landscape

Thethi has a surface of 2,630 hectares (6,500 acres), where high mountains, woods and meadows dominate. It has a strategic geographic position, because through Peja Pass it gets connected with Peja and the other Kosovo regions, and through Valbona it is connected with Tropoja. Thethi is connected to Boga and Kelmendi through many valleys and footpaths.

Flora and fauna

There is rich vegetation in the forests, like beech trees (which dominate the area), the black pine, the maple wood, the ash nut, the cornel bush, the walnut, and the hazel tree. The vegetation of this area has great economic, medical, touristic and monumental values. Thethi is considered as a natural zoological garden. The park is home to wild goats, and the largest lynx population in Albania. Additionally, large mammals like brown bears and gray wolves also inhabit these mountains and forests, although they’re rarely seen. There are also roebuck, boars, and small animals like: rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, etc. Thethi is also a preferred place for wild birds, especially golden eagles, falcons, partridges, etc.

Water resources

The Shala and Kapresa rivers are rich of speckled trout. In the icy lake of Terthora, rich in various kinds of fashion, alpine triton is found.

Waterfall of Thethi is the most beautiful place of the north alpine land. The scenery is amazing especially when there is a lot of sun, as the clear drops of water dismantle the rays of sun, forming the rainbow.

Get in

By plane

42.03609720.4158581 Kukes International Airport (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Kukësit Zayed-Flatrat e Veriut, IATA:KFZ^IATA), ICAO: LAKU) is an international airport 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south of the city of Kukës. 2 airlines operate service to Kukes, with direct flights from some European cities.

Air Albania, the national carrier operates service from Basel and Zurich.
Wizz Air (from Basel, Memmingen, Karlsruhe and Vienna).

By car

To reach Thethi National park, you have to go to Koplik first, which a town near Shkodra. From Koplik to Thethi Village (SH21) is around 58 km (1.5-2h). The road has asphalt entirely now as the last section of the SH21 from Qafa e Thorës (Thore pass) to Theth village has been paved in 2021. Nevertheless, it is extremely winding, narrow and runs along a deep ravine. This track used to get very muddy and slippery after rain making it challenging to get through. Now the Thethi can be accessed by 2 wheel drive cars, even buses drive up. The road is closed from November to April. Do not travel this road in severe weather conditions. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice. It has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards, and driving under these conditions, can be extremely challenging.

By bus

Buses leave from Cafe Rusi in Shkodra at 07:30. The ride from Shkodra to Theth takes 4 hours.

By taxi

A taxi in Shkodra will charge you around €100.

Fees and permits

There are no fees to be paid and you do not need permission to enter the zone. However, you need permission for hunting. You can get permission at the Regional Directorate of Forests, which is located in center of Shkodra city.

Get around

Map of Thethi

The roads in the village has not been paved so driving around should be done with care.

All places in the village can be reached by a short walk.

See

42.3856419.782531 Lock-in Tower. An artifact of the bloodfeud tradition. (updated Jul 2021)
42.377419.795232 Grunas Waterfall and Canyon. (updated Jul 2021)
42.3873419.785233 Thethi Ethnographic Museum.
42.394619.77564 Theth National Park, Rruga Nikgjonaj, Nr.18 (70 km from Shkodra). (updated Jul 2021)

42.38938419.781715 Thethi Catholic Church.
42.3643119.74626 Blue Eye Waterfall (Syri i kaltër) (at Nderlysa). (updated Jul 2021)
42.382919.78567 Black River bed flow. (updated Jul 2021)

Do

Hiking

There are 8 hikes starting in Theth. Three of them are marked "red and white".
The favourite hike is from Theth to Valbona (and vice versa). Theth (742 m)- Valbona Pass (1814 m) - Rragam - Valbona. It takes 6–8 hours. The difficulty is T2. The trek is well marked "red and white". Only the start of the hike (a few hundred meters from Theth center) is difficult to find. To find it, you may ask a local guide.
Helpful guidebook: Wanderführer Nordalbanien Thethi und Kelmend by von Barbara Hausmann, Christian Zindel

Buy

Jezerca Mini Market (From the bridge, turn left, after 100m it is on the right on the compound of the Jezerca Restaurant). (updated Oct 2021)

Eat

The guesthouses prepare lunch packages for the hike.
42.381319.78481 Villa Gjecaj Restaurant, Rruga Nikgjonaj, ☏ +355 67 204 6333. Mini Restaurant with traditional food and vegetarian food. (updated Jul 2021)

Drink

Sleep

It's the best to use one of the many guesthouses. People show a lot of hospitality, they speak foreign languages and will tell you remarkable stories and legends of the region. The rooms are usually very clean and comfortable.

42.387519.78421 Bujtina Polia, Fushe Logu i Kishes 1 The Church Square. (updated Jul 2021)
42.397719.76592 Thethi Paradise, Rruga Gjecaj. The Thethi Paradise hotel is surrounded by the mountains of Theth National Park , its the only spot you can see all over Theth National Park. Thethi Paradise features accommodation, a restaurant with a continental breakfast, a garden, a bar, a terrace and a complimentary WiFi is available. Its a traditional hotel with 9 wooden houses and with 6 new traditional stone houses full luxury. All units have a patio and/or a balcony with river or garden view. Mountains view is offered in all units. (updated Jul 2021)

Camping

Camping is pretty easy. It's the best if you camp in summer and near a house, as you will have fast access to medicine or other stuff in case you have any problems.

Backcountry

Lodging

42.38847719.7807933 Bujtina Polia (Polia Guesthouse), Rruga Fushe 27, ☏ +355 67 526 7526. (updated Jul 2019)
42.38702719.7801084 Guesthouse Marashi, Theth National Park, ☏ +355 69 960 8570. (updated Jul 2019)
42.38612319.7818335 Shpella Guesthouse Thethi, Nikgjonaj, ☏ +355 69 488 8531, shpella.family@googlemail.com. (updated Jul 2019)
Carku Guesthouse. This is a traditional Albanian guest house. €20.

Go next

This park travel guide to Thethi is a usable article. It has information about the park, for getting in, about a few attractions, and about accommodations in the park. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.