Photo: Lonely Planet
A new tourist trail stretching nearly 500 kilometers will connect Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia, according to Lonely Planet.
A new multi-level hiking route, the High Skardus Trail, has opened in the Balkans for hiking enthusiasts. The 495-kilometer trail covers the cross-border triangle between Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.
The road begins in western Macedonia, passes near Lake Ohrid, one of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes, and leads to the 274-meter-high Mount Korab on the Macedonian-Albanian border. The route ends near Lake Prespa in southeastern Albania.
The High Skardus Trail has several connecting trails and access points to settlements. This allows hikers to choose their own distance, duration, and difficulty level. The longest section, 150 km, is in Albanian territory. It passes through the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park, known as a habitat for brown bears, wolves, foxes, and roe deer.
Experienced hikers estimate that the entire new High Skardus Trail can be completed in 20 days. The best time to hike this trail is from June to September.
The newly opened route will complement the popular circular hiking trail "Peaks of the Balkan Way," which runs through the rugged mountains of southern Montenegro, northern Albania, and eastern Kosovo, as well as the Via Dinarica hiking trail, which crosses Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia, linking peaks along the Dinaric Alps and the Šar mountain range.
Source: news.turizm.ru