Valbona

Valbona was, like Theth across the pass, governed by the Kanun — the customary law of the northern Albanian highlands — for most of its history. It was one of the last valleys in Europe to remain road-less; until the 1960s, access was foot or mule only. The communist regime built a hydroelectric station at the river's lower reach and a forestry road, which still serves as the main approach today. After 1991 the population shrank as families moved south for work, but the same families now run the guesthouses that have made Valbona a destination — Margjeka, Quku i Valbonës, Rezidenca Vleshaj are the names you'll see most often, and most predate organised tourism by a generation. The Valbona Valley National Park was designated in 1996. In 2017 the surrounding beech forests joined the UNESCO Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe inscription, the same listing that includes Theth National Park.