Skarpa Location Tour

Day 1 Arrival on Sunday – Skarpa Lodge (1555m)

• Our Driver will meet you at Prishtina International Airport (Kosovo)
• Van driver goes to the Skarpa Lodge 2 times, at around 12 noon and 5pm, where we will get settled into our accommodations and have a little while to set up bikes including a safety briefing. Rest up with our awesome and relaxing Sharr view, we’ve got a few big days of riding ahead!
• 4pm Lunch Served
• 7pm Dinner served

Day 2 Monday (Day 1 “Prevalle” Trail) – Skarpa Lodge Kosovo (1555m)

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 1 “Prevalle” Trail “Oshlak Peak 2212m”) from around 11am to 5 pm (NOTE: It’s a difficult trail for MTB however moderate for E-MTB)
• Van ride towards breathtaking Prevalla (1535m) for 1hr 20min
• It’s a lot of downhill (3317m) and we’ll also be pedaling uphill for several hours 2233m in total, this ride is a great intro of what’s to come this week
• Its one of the wildest places of the Sharr Mountains with a breathtaking scenery, we will start riding through the huge forest with beautiful views of the surrounding hilltops with a few challenging climbs that will take us to Oshlak Peak 2212m, after that it’s going to be a really awesome downhill to 427m, huge indeed!
• We will have our boxed lunch break in a place with a panoramic view through “Big Pine Trail” developed by EU (around 2pm)
• Trails are hugely diverse from rocky singletrack through the forest, to fast double track descents
• Regular stop for picking wild blueberries since the area is very rich with this leading antioxidant super fruit
• At the finished point at 427m we would have already arrived at the north & mountainous part of the Prizren city where we could have a coffee close by
• Van ride back to Skarpa Lodge for 32 minutes where we have dinner at 7pm with an awesome Skarpa 2476m & 2 Lake 2409m Peaks panoramic view!

Distance cycled: Around 47km (app. 6 hours) – 2233m + 3317m–

Day 3 Tuesday (Day 2 “Skarpa” Trail & Prizren city trip) – Restelica Lodge Kosovo (1550m)

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 2 “Skarpa” Trail “Skarpa Peak 2476m”) from around 10am to 5 pm (NOTE: It’s a difficult trail for MTB however moderate for E-MTB)
• We will start from our Skarpa Lodge (1555m so no Van transportation is required) through touristic Rock attraction called Black Rock
• We will start pedaling on a quite long & moderate climb towards Skarpa Peak (2476m) where we go through the marks of the border between Kosovo & North Macedonia, continuing through the highest peaks & edges of the Sharr mountains between two Countries up till Lake Peak (2602m) and The Peak (2459m), Awesome scenery all way long especially at the top of the Sharr edges including the view of two small lakes.
• Regular stop for picking wild blueberries since the area is very rich with this leading antioxidant super fruit
• It’s downhill for quite a while through “The Old Trade Trail” Developed by EU, then we open our boxed lunch breaks in a place with a panoramic view (around 2pm)
• Continued downhill to the touristic attraction called “Prizren View Point” where the old city of Prizren can be seen
• We stop and chill at Prizren Fortress that has seen habitation and use since the Bronze Age (ca. 2000 BC). In late antiquity it was part of the defensive fortification system in western Dardania and was reconstructed in the era of eastern Roman Emperor Justinian.
• We will have dinner to one of the best Restaurants of Prizren & continue the trip with sightseeing’s of Old Stone Bridge, Albanian League of Prizren Museum, Sinan Pasha Mosque 2 Etc, then we continue for a drink or two to some of the awesome bars by the river (first drinks on us)
• Van ride back to Restelica Lodge for around 1 hour

Distance cycled: Around 42km (app. 6 hours) – 2037m + 3143m–

Day 4 Wednesday (Day 3 “Restelice” Trail & Lamb Day) – Restelica Lodge Kosovo (1550m)

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 3 “Restelice” Trail “Grand Rudoka peak 2658m”) from around 10am to 5pm (NOTE: It’s a difficult trail for MTB however moderate for E-MTB)
• Ready for more green, green & more green? Good thing, since it’s on the menu this morning
• We warm up by pedaling through the town of narrow streets completely surrounded by extreme high & panoramic mountains of Restelice village (1500m)
• This ride is really awesome ride since we are going to climb to Kosovo’s highest peak Grand Rudoka 2658m, it is not scary at all since the climb is really gradual!
• As we push on through this awesome and a bit different landscape through the non rocky trails, this total greenly panoramic views will haunt us!
• We will have our boxed lunch break at our friends Shepherd’s hut where we can see his place around or have an organic tea, taste their cheese and feel like real Nomads
• Regular stop for picking wild blueberries since the area is very rich with this leading antioxidant super fruit
• Once we arrive at “Grand Rudoka” the fun continues through a moderate downhill with a short break at touristic attraction called Shutman Lake which is of a glacier origin, whoever is awesome enough to swim in this clear water can do so!
• We finish our ride while going downhill straight to our Lodge
• At around 6pm, we will be cooking all together a whole lamb from our friends Shepherd’s hut (on us included) with old school grill on Lodge’s garden, the lamb is all organic from 2000m+ and of course its from the place we already visited on our lunch break LOL

Distance cycled: Around 48km (app. 6 hours) – 2510m + 2511m–

Day 5 Thursday (Day 4 “Accursed Mountains” Trail) – Valbona Lodge Albania

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 4 “Accursed Mountains” Trail “Dog Peak peak 2405m”) from around 11am to 6pm (NOTE: It’s a difficult trail for MTB however moderate for E-MTB)
• At the earliest convenience we drive (2hr 40min) from Sharr mount to accursed mountains straight to the Beleg Valley
• We enjoy the amazing views of the accursed mountains that according to the local legend “A woman cursed the mountains while she and her children trekked through them on a scorching-hot day and couldn’t find any water” Well one thing is for sure, water is not our issue lol! And there are actually quite some small very clean rivers around
• We’ll head over an epic route that we recently discovered, Our guests rate this as one of the most beautiful mountain place they’ve ever seen
• From Belle lodge we will drive our van towards beautiful Kozhnjer and reaching breathtaking Beleg Valley (Where we start pedaling from) with so many pines around
• We reach the Dog Peak through an gradual off-road & you’ll feel like you’ve just arrived on the moon, then it is pretty much a huge downhill towards Roshkodol Valley
• We will have our boxed lunch break in a place with a panoramic view and where the air itself is definitely something else! (Around 2pm)
• After reaching a scenic route up to Milishevc Valley we will stop for a short break and see the panoramic circle we achieved while mountain biking
• Again, another great downhill with views that you will never forget, it is so beautiful & wild with millions of pines that one would never want to leave!
• After arrival at the Belle resort we continue enjoying the views while having a great dinner outside, this views will never be boring, at least from us LOL! (Around 7pm)
• We will drive our Van from Belle Resort to Valbona (Albania) for around 1hr 45 minutes and pass the border.

Distance cycled: Around 40km (app. 5 hours) – 884m + 2961m–

Day 6 Friday (Day 5 “Valbona & Theth” Trail) – Theth Lodge Albania

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 5 “Valbona & Theth” Trail) from around 10am to 6pm (NOTE: It’s a difficult trail for MTB however moderate for E-MTB)
• We start from Valbone with its surrounding areas with mountainous terrain, alpine landscapes, glacial springs, deep depressions, various rock formations, waterfalls and the Valbona Valley with its dense coniferous and deciduous forest.
• Once we go downhill through an asphalt road and some gravel ones for around 27km we stop for a brake and mount our bikes for a high altitude drive to around 1200m
• Valbona National Park in Tropoja is listed by the prestigious American magazine “Forbes” among the 5 stunning natural beauties of the Western Balkans to visit. Just saying!
• From 1200m our ride will be quite long, for around 45km (mainly downhill) to one and only Theth running though the shade of pine trees and offering spectacular panoramas of the surrounding
• A mixture of trails, gravel and asphalt through the plateau, criss-crossed by hundreds of drystone walls with bleached-white limestone rocks strewn in every direction
• We will have our boxed lunch break in a place with a panoramic view, however it is a secret though, you will surely get impressed!
• As we get close we will feel our legs, will ride through unusual & beautiful Theth Church built in 1892 where from its inheritance the inhabitants have been Roman Catholics
• It’s a huge downhill for around 3974m descent, yeah that is true, so get ready to have some real fun and make a historic downhill ride
• 7pm Dinner served

Distance cycled: Around 72km (app. 7 hours) – 2700m + 3974m–

Day 7 Saturday – (Day 6 “Blue Eye & The Beach” Trail) – Skarpa Lodge Kosovo (1540m)

• Breakfast at 8am
• MTB/E-MTB (Day 6 “Blue Eye & The Beach” Trail) from around 10am to 6pm (NOTE: It’s a moderate level trail)
• Today we’ll start pedaling from the heart of the breathtaking Theth towards touristic attraction “Blue Eye”, for reasons that will become obvious.
• The Albanian Alps are one of the most impressive and notable topographic features of Albania. Being the southernmost continuation of the Dinaric Alps, it forms a section of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt, which extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Himalaya Mountains.
• The Blue Eye of Kaprre, part of Thethi National Park, is a well (Black Well) with a surface of about 100 m2 and about 4-5 m deep, which is formed by the Black River flow that descends from the upper Kaprrea. Located between rocky and green slopes, with its depth this well takes on the colors of blue and emerald depending on the season, forming a fascinating landscape for all visitors.
• Once we get enough of the Blue Eye or a possible swim for any of us, will hop in a van towards the sea & as always mountains for around 1hr 40 minutes
• This is going to be more of a chill ride since we don’t want to get exhausted on are last day right? And how about some swim on a virgin beach & touristic attraction “Thrown Sands”
• We will have our boxed lunch break in a place with a panoramic view, this time is not going to be a secret, well at least we are going to eat with Sea view!
• The ride (mostly gravel) will be around the mountain “Mali I Rrencit” & by the sea where from the top this time its not going to be all greenly but blue indeed!
• A possible view of the very old ruins of the Catholic Church called Saint Magdalena, we will have a longer break and a definite dive in for a swim along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
• 7pm Dinner at the Mrizi I Zanave Agroturizem, if you google it you’ll easily find that’s its one of the best BIO restaurants in Albania, all food made from its farm close by.
• From the restaurant we will head back to Kosovo through the highway and straight to Skarpa Lodge for around 2h 45 minutes so we be closer to our Airport in Prishtina for Sunday

Distance cycled: Around 48km (app. 6 hours) – 1846m + 1973m–

Day 8 Sunday (Farewell)

• Breakfast at 8am
• The driver will pick you up around 11am and drive you back to the Prishtina International Airport