This is my interpretation of the Via Dinarica White Trail. I started in the village of Razdrto in Slovenia in the late summer and reached my goal in the Valbone valley in Albania just before the onset of winter.
Feel free to download and use my Via Dinarica GPX tracks for your own orientation.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that I made some alterations to the official Via Dinarica trail. Some were voluntary forays when I followed my curiosity or recommendations from fellow hikers and local guides. Many were involuntary detours due to, well, if you've ever been on a trail, you know what it's like... impossible terrain, overgrown paths, lack of markings or simply bad weather. I highly recommend comparing my tracks with other Via Dinarica resources and following your own common sense.
If you're up for an adventurous trip, you will love the Via Dinarica (and often curse it on the way, and then love it even more once you're back on track)!
I plan to publish detailed stage descriptions and more pictures continuously.
The Via Dinarica is a long distance hiking trail of roughly 1.300 km across the Dinaric Alps in the western Balkans. It starts in the woods and caves of Slovenia, leads alongside Croatia's coastline and mountains, runs through vast plains and mountain ranges of Bosnia and Herzegovina, winds across Montenegro's peaks and canyons until reaching its end in northern Albania's rough mountains and valleys.
The Dinaric Alps are named after Mount Dinara, a peak of 1,831 m in the center of the mountain range on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's highest mountain is Maja Jezercë with a height of 2.694 m in northern Albania. Both peaks are part of the Via Dinarica.
I don't think so! When I first discovered the Via Dinarica, I was both intrigued and intimidated. And I must admit, even after I decided to hike it, I was unsure whether I would make it to the end. I had never done such a long hiking trail before, and had never dared to do a longer solo hiking trip, had never been to the Balkans and knew close to nothing about language, history or cultural context in this region.
The good news is - spoiler alert - I did it! And it was not only possible, definitely challenging but also a lot of fun! 😊
So if you're - like me - wondering whether it's A) possible and B) worth setting out on this adventure, Balkanize Me is for you. I hope you'll find helpful advice, some insights into planning and experiences from the trail I wish I had known before. And, maybe most importantly, the final spark of encouragement to just try it and find out for yourself. You can do this! ✨
The official Via Dinarica White Trail is 1,261.2 km long. If you check my tracks, you will notice that I didn't hike every single kilometer of the Via Dinarica as it is marked. I fortunately realized early on that it pays off to be kind to myself instead of stubbornly trying to make things work out according to plan. They rarely ever do, and actually, many a plan B turned out SO much better than what I originally had in mind! Plus, I made a habit of learning from fellow hikers and avoiding their mistakes or hardships. I therefore occasionally bypassed, skipped or made up my own version of some trail stages when I didn't like the official route, when it didn't seem to exist or when the weather got too bad to continue. I also intentionally added extra detours in Montenegro and Albania based on recommendations from local guides.
This is my trail summary in kilometers:(These figures do not include the miles to and from trailheads before and after rest days.)
This is how much time I spent on the trail:
I started in Razdrto, Slovenia at the beginning of August in the scorching sun. I reached Valbone Valley, Albania on the last day of October on a freezing but sunny autumn day. At the beginning, finding enough shade and water were top priorities. Later on, I grew increasingly concerned about the coming winter and I did get stuck in a snowy cold weather front in Montenegro at the beginning of October. This forced me to take a long break which I spent by lake Skader close to the coast. The climate is much milder by the seaside - and the trainride there is an adventure of itself (if you're curious, check out Seat 61's report on the Belgrade to Bar railway)! Fortunately, the first snow in the mountains was not the onset of winter yet. So after 10 long long days of waiting, I was able to carry on and complete my journey all the way to Albania.
According to other Via Dinarica resources, it is safe to start as early as May or June if you don't want to get stuck in snow fields in the higher mountains. The heat in August was almost unbearable on some stages. My coping strategy is to start early in the morning, take a long siesta somewhere in the shade and then carry on in the afternoon. This rhythm works well as long as the days are long. Finishing in October is already risky as I experienced myself: The days get shorter and the nights can be freezing cold. But, as one of my trail angels in Stavna by the Montenegrinian-Albanian border shared with me, October is his favorite month for hiking this area. It's off-season, the trees are colorful and, if you're lucky, you experience a true Indian summer. I agree!
The Via Dinarica White Trail was designed from north to south. There is no reason not to do it the other way round and I've met some hikers who have done it. I personally recommend to hike from Slovenia to Albania though. In my opinion, the Slovenian part of the trail is quite a gentle start in regards to both the elevation profile and the natural sights. They are beautiful but fairly unspectacular. There is more of a climax when hiking southbound both in terms of higher peaks, lower valleys and in the diversity of nature in general. Every country holds its own natural spectacles though and I wouldn't want to miss any episode.
Quite a few hikers I have met or talked to have started in the South with the Peaks of the Balkans trail before heading onto the Via Dinarica. This is a 192 km hiking trail in the Prokletje mountains winding across the borders of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. The final part of the Via Dinarica intersects with the Peaks of the Balkans and you can continue staight onto this trail if you hike southbound. It is a gorgeous area and the trail is very well maintained. I think I would have done it too, had it not been so cold.
If you want to hike the whole Via Dinarica, you will need a tent. I loved the flexibility of not having to plan ahead or book anything in advance and there is an abundance of wild campsites on almost every stage of the trail. Plus, you will cross many villages and towns on the trail. Even in small villages, you will find the occasional guesthouse or restaurant which offers rooms. The "sobe" sign is what you'll want to look out for. There is absolutely no need to plan accomodation beforehand if you only need a room occasionally. Locals have always been extremely helpful in finding accomodation when needed. This was true for the entire trail.
I paid between 5 and 35 € per overnight stay. This usually includes breakfast (in Montenegro and Albania most places charge extra for hot drinks). If you spend rest days in more touristic places (like Senj, Mostar, Sarajevo, even Žabljak), they are naturally more expensive.
I will write more about finding safe campsites and dealing with uncomfortable situations and share some advice for long distance hiking newbies like myself at some point. Especially for the ladies out there. Let me only state this: Caution and foresight are good companions - and yes, fear will accompany you, too - but it is absolutely possible to do this by yourself. You will get used to the sounds of the forest, you will grow increasingly comfortable with the wilderness and sooner or later you will become an expert in finding safe campsites and calming yourself in situations which seem scary. I adjusted and honed my strategies the further I went, you will find and develop your own.
Euros are always helpful and accepted almost everywhere.
I never carried more than 300 € at a time but almost ran out of cash three times. Not surprisingly, since ATMs are scarce in the mountains... Which is not a big deal if you have your tent and some food supply. There were weeks when I hardly spent any money. But if the weather gets colder or you are - like me - from time to time craving a nice, hot shower and are looking forward to a comfortable rest day, cash - or a working credit card - are essential. Mapy.cz allows you to search for ATMs in the offline mode which is mostly up to date and proved very helpful (especially when I did not have mobile data or access to WIFI).
To all Europeans out there: I learned the hard way that our debit cards (EC cards) only work in EU countries. I didn't realize that until I was well into Bosnia and Herzegovina, was about to run out of cash and could not remember my credit card PIN (I almost never use it - spot the German...). Paypal also required an extra verification outside the EU, which left me without alternative. So, this advice might seem like a no-brainer, but: Do remember to take a credit card (including the PIN) as well as a debit card. I was glad I had given my mum an authorization to handle my bank affairs so she could order an express new PIN. It arrived just in time on my second day in Mostar where I had spent two beautiful rest days - and did not want to get stuck due to lack of cash and inability to cancel my debts with the landlord…
There are many opportunities to restock your supplies on the way. At the beginning, in Slovenia and until the Velebit area in Croatia, you will not go a day or two without passing a village or town with a shop, a restaurant or at least a kiosk.
It is wise to restock your supplies for 10-12 days in Senj (off the official trail), as there are no shopping opportunities whatsoever anywhere close to the trail in the Velebit area. You will come across some catered huts or restaurants, though. Use every opportunity to buy a meal! I ran out of snacks (luckily not food in general) but was still quite desperate to reach Gračac. After Gračac the trail leads through more populated areas and it is much easier to access shopping or other infrastructure.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are small supermarkets here and there, except between Jablanica and Tjentište. There are some kiosks by Boračko Jezero, but again, you will find many restaurants or catered bed and breakfasts in Ravna, Rujište and Lukomir.
In Montenegro, your supplies need to last until Žabljak. This is quite a touristic hub and an excellent place to do grocery shopping. After this, Mojkovac is the next town with a supermarket. Again, there are guesthouses with excellent food on the way. In Albania you can buy food in Gusinje, Vusanje and there is a tiny kiosk in Theth before you eventually reach Valbone.
Access to clean water was among my top concerns before starting out on my journey. In the end, I carried only 3 water-related items:
I bought the Katadyn Befree water filtration system recommended to me by Sonja and Thomas from Wurzelkocher blog. On previous hikes, I had used another waterbag by SOURCE, which is more practical for refilling water from open streams, but has no filtration system. I'm glad I switched due to reasons I will explain below.
A simple bottle of the type you can find and replace in any kiosk anywhere. The trick is to choose one with an hourglass figure so you can strap it easily to the outside of your backpack and can access it easily (to the Germans out there: Ja! Mineralwasser bottles are my favourites - they have the best shape and cost only 0.15 cents). Plus, once it tears or you want a nice and clean new bottle, you can replace it in almost any kiosk worldwide.
I took around 40 Mikropur Forte tablets. My worst case scenario (right after being attacked by a bear or kidnapped and raped by some random, vicious stranger) was having to drink contaminated water even after treatment with purification tablets. I am SO glad I didn't need a single one! They were essential for my psychological well-being, though. With them, I had a safe emergency plan in my pocket (even if it was an extremely unpleasant one).
Access to clean water varies a lot on the trail, depending on where you're at. You will find many water sources accurately marked on the maps and many helpful comments by other hikers on the individual trail stages in the Via Dinarica App. A quick overview:
And lastly, some of my personal habits related to managing water:
I ALWAYS keep a last sip of water until I reach the next source, even if I'm super thirsty and have already run out of reserves. I luckily didn't have any serious situations concerning water, but this strategy helps me keep my mind sane because I know that even if the next source is dry or contaminated and even if it takes much longer than expected to get a refill and even if the situation keeps getting worse and I start to worry, I will still have a good sip left as a last resort.
This is only a brief exploration on this topic. I gained some insights on the impact of the specific geological conditions on my hiking experience and choice of gear.
The Dinaric Alps are characterized by Karst,
"a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. (...) Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes." (cf. Wikipedia).This was was quite a change to my previous hiking experience in Central and Northern Europe. I'm glad I switched my water bladder - because of this particular geological context, filtering was more important than refilling from open streams.
There are truly only few rivers and lakes on the trail, but - oh my word - are they gorgeous (and cold!). The Karst surface works like a filtration system and if the water comes to the surface from the underground cave system, it is freezing cold, crystal clear and of a beautiful green turquoise color. I had the first, stunning experience of this by the source of the Kupa river. It was a very hot August day and I would have loved to go for a swim and cool down but I barely managed to walk in until my knees!
Also because of the Karst consistency of the terrain, you will come across MANY sinkholes and impressive caves. I must admit I'm not particularly excited about caves (I tend to be slightly claustrophobic and prefer to keep my feet above the ground), but if you're curious, the whole area is a prefect playground for exploring a vast and fascinating underground ecosystem. Early on in Slovenia, the updated trail leads through the Rak valley regional park (Rak Škocjan). In this canyon, you will come across huge natural bridges massive sinkholes and caves - a true natural spectacle!
As you will notice on my gear list, I like to keep things simple. I met two other hikers in the first third of my trip (one hiking north-, one hiking southbound) who were both convinced that it's impossible to get by without a sturdy 4 m rope and a bucket to draw water from wells. I did not carry either of them, was temporarily VERY worried, but got by just fine. While I do think that it makes sense to invest in high quality equipment for some essential gear, it's absolutely impossible to prepare for all the possible emergencies on the way. Improvisation and asking for help will take you a long way. Carrying a simple spare plastic bottle and skipping a meal here and there are two examples of a more pragmatic, minimalist approach which worked very well for me. However, what works for me, doesn't have to work for you. I was lucky to draw from the experience of much shorter previous hiking trips in very different areas - I learn something new wherever I go and always adjust my gear, my everyday routine and small life hacks but most of all my mental strategies in coping with unexpected situations.
My advice on training is simple: Don't even try. Meaning: of course it's helpful to be fit and in good shape, but don't push yourself to an hypothetical ideal physical state before you allow yourself to start. Instead: Just start. Taking the first step is the biggest challenge and hard enough. So, take it easy and go slow at the beginning. Your body will tell you how fast and far it can go. It will also show you its limits with back pain, blisters and stomach ache. It will get used to the weight of your gear, to the rhythm of your hike and will build stamina and endurance with every step.
If you consider doing a long distance hike for the first time, the single most important piece of advice I would give to you is this:
Don't stress yourself. Schedule enough time to see how it goes and react to how your journey unfolds. If you have a strict deadline, bring enough flexibility to adjust you goals in case you proceed slower than expected. You don't know how your plans will work out. I can only guarantee you one thing: SO MANY unexpected things are awaiting you on the trail. Some beautiful, like personal encounters, pristine wildlife and other natural highlights. Some negative, like blisters, diarrhea or other physical trouble. All of it affects your trail and I can only encourage you to start welcoming and enjoying these uncontrollable circumstances from the very beginning. Rushing yourself in order to reach a certain goal will only make yourself miserable and is the best strategy to miss out on many surprises on the way. Instead, prepare yourself to enjoy the beauty of the unexpected - this is my definition of trail magic.
Thanks to my very priviledged European passport, border crossings were no problem and I didn't prepare anything in advance.
The crossing from Slovenia to Croatia was at Prezid. My friend Sarah was still with me on that episode. We started in the morning from the Snežnik mountain hut (Koča Draga Karolina na Velikem Snežniku - a gorgeous, rustic place) all the way down to the border crossing at Prezid. The last kilometers are quite boring gravel roads though the forest and we got a lift from a lovely Slovenian-French couple who were wondering what we were doing out there... The border crossing is quite small and the gates close during the night, around 8 p.m. The crossing is quite unspectacular, we had to show our passports and provide Covid documents (vaccination was THE big issue back then) and could simply walk across. The town of Prezid is quite small and cozy, too. We found a campsite just outside the village and started early on the next morning. I am glad we were well rested because on that next episode, the trails are initially lovely and then extremely horrible. It will get better afterwards, so don't lose hope if you find yourself there.
The second border between Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina was the opposite of the first. The official checkpoint closest to the trail is the Kamensko border crossing and right on a motorway. It is very unpleasant and the last stretch is outright scary because you literally have to walk on the motorway, by the lorry lane. However, in the end, it was not as horrible as anticipated because all the traffic is slowing down anyways. Still, I was frightened and very cautious. This border crossing is open 24/7, but because of the traffic situation, you can only cross it by daylight. It was very busy but I could simply bypass the long queue of cars and trucks and handed the guy at the booth my papers. There are virtually no other pedestrians there and I felt like an alien. The situation felt so weird that it became funny and the border officers were also amused by this random young lady with her backpack in the midst of only cars (they were all male, of course)...
A quick sidenote on this: As a solo travelling woman, you tend to be quite an attraction. You will get used to it and, many times, being female makes things a lot easier, as this experience shows. It happened only a few kilometers down the road: The petrol station in Kazaginac is run by a lovely, lovely family who often see Via Dinarica hikers. One of the daughters sold me a Bosnian SIM card and walked me through the process of setting it up, the other daughter invited me for a coffee and when the mum joined our get together, she offered me to sleep in their home. I declined because I really wanted to camp on the beach by the Busko jezero. This is in fact a beautiful place, but still, I was very moved by this warm welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hospitality I experienced was mind-blowing throughout the whole trail. This was particularly true for Bosnia: there was not a single day without an invitation to have a coffee (or Rakija), share a meal or sleep in the house or garden of someone I had just met. I often had coffee or was invited to meals by elderly ladies, men or couples who apparently felt it was their parental duty to care for me. I once asked two ladies who had invited me to join their afternoon coffee break in their front garden whether they often saw hikers walking past. One of them replied: "Yes, three days ago there was a young man with his backback. But we didn't invite him to join us..." and all of us chuckled. Female solidarity is universal phenomenon. As are parental feelings - if you're like me in your 30s or younger, I have a feeling you might experience this as well.There is a more direct, inofficial border crossing, too, which is actually quite a famous pilgrimage path (The Our Lady of Sinj route), but I have read and heard from other hikers who ran into trouble with the Bosnian border police, so I didn't want to risk anything.
Next up, another three weeks later came the crossing from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Montenegro. This one is a semi-official border crossing in the Sutjeska National Park. The border is right behind mount Maglić (or before, depending which trail you choose).
You can either climb quite a steep path straight up from the entrance of the National Park to the peak, or walk around it first, into a beautiful valley with the heart shaped lake Trnovačko Jezero and ascend to the peak while climbing out of the valley and accessing the peak from behind. I chose this second path because I knew I wouldn't do the detour of climbing down into the valley and back up again and didn't want to miss the lake. Plus, the ascent is manageable but no walk in the park, especially with a 13kg backpack... I actually camped by the lake, which was gorgeous, but freezing cold (silly me thought it's not necessary to rent the hut the rangers had offered to me for 5 or 10 €...).The park rangers there are two brothers (of the seemingly grumpy but actually very caring and friendly type) who take turns in caring for the hut, sell some drinks and check travellers identities. I think I didn't even show my passport, but they keep a record of the number and nationality of people entering the park and charge a super low entrance fee. So this was the border crossing - no signposts, no checkpoint, no stamps in the passport. After that, the proper Montenegrinian territory begins and the next town is Mratinje. I expected an actual town and was disappointed, it is rather a looooong street winding up into the end of the valley, where I came from, with many houses to either side. I stayed at the Mratinje smještaj, a private guest house (no reservation needed) which was highly recommended to me and was so glad to have a warm bed after the previous freezing night. The food was all home grown and delicious, nevertheless I caught a really bad stomach ache - I think from there - which accompanied me for a whole week. I would still go there again. The host, Peter, gave me a lift to the Piva dam and hydro power plant the next morning, which would have been roughly a 6km hike on pure asphalt roads, including some tunnels without lights. I can imagine more pleasant and safe journeys and was very grateful to accept his offer.
The border crossing from Montenegro to Albania is pure green border in the amazing Komovi mountain range. No checkpoints, nothing, I didn't even meet a single person the whole day. It was quite late in October, though, so already off season and very cold. I think in summer, this area is a lot more frequented. This border is really in a mountainous area, and the trail down into Vermosh valley where the Albanian territory starts ends somewhere and the actual crossing is bushwhacking downhill through the woods. Not super enjoyable, but by that time you will already have mastered much worse and more exhausing trails, so don't worry. The first sign of life in Albania were pigs roaming the streets of the Vermosh village. I hardly met any people and, again, stayed in the Peraj guesthouse that had been recommended to me (again, no advance reservation needed). I almost walked past it, but it's the only one around. Again, lovely food, nice beds, but it was freezing cold outside and there was only a fire in the dining room, so I slept with several blankets.
After that, you actually cross once back into Montenegro and back into Albania shortly after. I was slightly worried to leave Albania via an official border crossing as I didn't have any stamps in my passport, but this was no problem at all. The officer at the checkpoint just before Lijevi Grnčar was curious to hear where I'm from and in offering me some cookies. He was by far more interested in telling me about his cousin who lives close to Hamburg than in checking my papers thoroughly. I didn't even show my vaccination certificate. The checkpoint is similar to the one in Prezid: tiny, very rural, on a small street with hardly any traffic.
Shortly after, you enter Albanian territory again. You will leave the town of Vusanje to enter the gorgeous Prokletje National Park and from here it's all woods, mountains and valleys again. Green border, no checkpoint. On the Albanian Side you enter Theth National Park (Parku Kombëtar Thethi). Given my solitude in the days before, I was surprised to meet quite a few hikers there. I think in the main season there might be park rangers around. However, it is absolutely fine and common to cross the border on the hiking path and no one ever inquired any documentation from me.
I left Albania with a bus towards the north and the subsequent border crossings were all on major motorways with serious checkpoints and border control. I was never questioned about a missing stamp, so I can recommend my approach and wouldn't worry too much about green border crossings!
I owe the name for this page to a comment to Samer, one of my trail angels, a local hiking guide and mountain lover from Sarajevo. We met on a very memorable day well into my trip in the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
His team is operating the mountain hut Dom Vrela where I stopped briefly after a night in the stunning spaceship disguised as a bivouac shelter by Mount Vito. I had hardly met any other hikers on the trail since my departure from Jablanica several days before and the two previous hiking days had been gorgeous, but extremely exhausting. Dom Vrela was such a welcome break and helped me recharge not only my physical but also my social energy levels. I shared stories from my trail, the many beautiful encounters and overwhelming hospitality I experienced - as well as the many frustrating detours I had found myself on. Samer took some time to explain one of my most recent involuntary deviations to me, shared excellent advice on tour alternatives in Montenegro and offered me a lift back to the trailhead thus sparing me from a good 3 km of nasty asphalt roads. On the way, he told me that he meets many travelers who come to the Balkans for the first time in their life. Many return: once, and again, and again. "We say: They have been balkanized", he smiled. At that point I realized that, without noticing I, too, had been balkanized by this exasperating and exhilarating trail. I have a feeling that if you decide to set your foot on it, this is exactly what might happen to you!