5-Day Peaks of the Balkans Guided Tour

Europe

Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:

less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)

valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

A passport with 6 months remaining validity at the end of your stay is generally required, and you should have at least 2 blank pages for each country that you visit.

For other nationalities, please refer to your own Government website for the latest information.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct travel documents including vaccinations and health certificates (see Health & Vaccinations below), and visas for your holiday. Please ensure that you check the FCDO for the latest advice for each country visited before travel.

For this holiday we require a scanned copy of the main pages of your passport. Please email this to the office when your holiday is guaranteed to run.

Vaccinations:

You should be up to date with the routine vaccinations recommended by your government for overseas travel.

You must also contact your doctor or travel clinic to check if there are specific vaccinations or other preventive measures that you need for the area you are visiting, in good time before you are due to depart.

On holidays to more remote areas you should also have a dental check-up.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct travel documents including vaccinations and health certificates.

Please check the FCDO and Travel Health Pro. For all of your intended destinations for up-to-date advice.

Severe Allergies:

If you have a severe allergy please inform the Travida Outdoor office before you travel. We will do all we can to help, but we cannot guarantee an allergy free environment on TO trips.

The unit of currency in Albania is the Lek.
For North Macedonia is Denar.
For Kosovo is Euro

The currency for part or all of this holiday is the Euro.

It makes a lot of sense to spend time before coming on a trekking holiday getting some additional exercise. Regular walking in hill or back country is the best preparation whilst running and swimming are also good for developing better cardiovascular fitness and stamina. It makes sense to have some long days in the mountains walking in the boots you will be using on the holiday.

Daytime temperatures in the lower valleys will vary between 15ºC and 30ºC at the times of year we operate this trip. The weather in summer is generally excellent - with hot days, clear skies and little rain. Note that temperatures do drop in the evenings in the mountains by several degrees. High up, we will encounter cooler conditions and stormy weather cannot be ruled out at any time of year in this wild mountainous region.

TO do not encourage the use of single use plastic items. We are ensuring that our agents all over the region are working together to reduce the problem and educate those around them. We are leading by example in our TO office by reducing our plastic use.

It is an essential condition of joining a holiday with Travida Outdoor that you have a valid travel insurance policy to cover the cost of medical treatment and to protect the value of your holiday in the event of cancellation. When taking out insurance please ensure the policy you choose covers you for the activities and altitude included in your itinerary.

The following checklist should help you with your packing. As a general rule, you should always try to keep the weight of your equipment to a minimum.

You must bring the following items:

-Hiking boots
-Socks
-Trekking trousers
-Waterproof overtrousers
-Underwear
-Baselayer shirts (1 short sleeve, 1 long sleeve)
-Light fleece shirt or mid-layer
-Warm fleece jacket or jumper
-Waterproof jacket
-T-shirts or casual shirts
-Lightweight thermal gloves
-Sunhat
-Warm hat
-Sunglasses
-Daypack 30 litres
-Headtorch and spare batteries
-Sun protection (including for lips)

-Water bottles 1 Litre (x2) (we encourage re-filling water bottles rather than single use plastic)

-Water purification tablets (Water is provided, but very often this is from local wells or mountain streams and is not chlorinated. If you are concerned about drinking untreated water, we suggest you bring a supply of water treatment tablets.)

-Washbag and toiletries
-Travel towel
-Antibacterial hand wash
-Small padlock (to lock your trek bag)

-Name and address label for your trek bag (for Customs when the bags travel across borders by vehicles unaccompanied by their owners)

-Basic First Aid Kit including Insect repellent (DEET); antiseptic cream; throat lozenges; diarrhoea treatment (Diocalm or Immodium); painkillers; plasters and blister treatment; and re-hydration salts (Dioralite). Glucose sweets and vitamin tablets are a useful addition.

The following items are optional:
-Trainers or sandals
-Spare laces
-Shorts
-Travel clothes
-Trekking poles
-Camera
-Pen-knife
-Reusable cloth bag for shopping (to avoid plastic bags)

During this holiday, the group will spend 2 nights in comfortable 3* tourist class hotel in Prizren and Gjakovo.

There will be 2 nights in simple village guesthouse/lodge accommodation with dormitory rooms of between 4 and 6 people per room. It may be necessary for male and female group members to share, depending on the make-up of the group. Each guesthouse is run by a local family and whilst charming, they have basic facilities. However the warm welcome and location more than makes up for the lack of hotel facilities!

If you are travelling by yourself, you will be paired up with another single client of the same sex for the 2 hotel nights. Single rooms are available for a supplementary cost for these 2 nights. If you are planning on extending your holiday additional nights at the group hotel are available on request.

Water from the taps may not be drinkable in all locations on this trip - please check with your guide. We recommend taking water purification tablets and a reusable bottle with a filter such as Water-to-Go, which can both be used to help make safe other water sources. Please note that we do not encourage the purchase of single use plastic bottles.

The food of the Balkan is a real mix of Turkish and European and during this holiday there will be plenty of freshly cooked food using local ingredients. Breakfasts are simple in style, with bread and jam, tea, coffee and sometimes eggs or cheese. Packed lunches are provided (bread, meats, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumber, fruit and biscuits). The simple accommodation on this holiday is deep in the heart of the mountains and the lifestyle is very basic. Therefore “packed lunches” will not be the same as you are used to at home. If you’re someone who enjoys chocolate/sweets/nuts on the trail then please feel free to bring extra snacks from home. What is prepared is freshly cooked and evening meals are based on what local families would have themselves - traditional soups and bread, locally-grown vegetables and salads, dairy produce, rice and meat. Although simple the guesthouses will also provide a vegetarian alternative but please note that cheese, eggs and other dairy produce is used frequently in Balkan dishes. Water is provided, but very often this is from local wells or mountain streams and is not chlorinated. If you are concerned about drinking untreated water, we suggest you bring a supply of water treatment tablets.

Whilst we can cater for vegetarians, albeit sometimes with a more limited choice, we cannot always provide for special diets. Due to the nature of some of the trips that we operate and the countries in which we operate them, it can be very hard (and sometimes impossible) to cater for a wide range of dietary choices and you may have to supplement your meals with food/snacks from home. If you have specific dietary requirements please do speak to our sales team and they will be able to advise you whether or not we will be able to offer your specific choice. Please note that we are unable to provide separate menus and cannot accept liability for any problems arising from special dietary requirements or intolerances.

Approximately 100 euros should be allowed for miscellaneous expenses including drinks and reasonable tips to the support crew. If you intend to buy expensive souvenirs, you should budget accordingly (credit cards can be useful in this respect). Kosovo use the Euro,and the Lek is the currency of Albania. You should obtain Euros for this holiday. By far the easiest way to obtain your travel cash is from ATM’s using a credit card or a debit card. ATM’s are available in the arrivals hall at the airport in Prishtina, and in Prizren town.

For each holiday there is a minimum number of participants required to enable it to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to run'. You can check the trip status for each departure in the ‘Dates and Prices’ table. Other than in exceptional circumstances, we will not cancel a trip once it has achieved this guaranteed to run status so you are free to proceed with your international flight booking and other travel arrangements.