Raft, Kayak and Hike in Albania

Well done MBA! My third trip with you and each one different but equally amazing. It was well organised and nothing was too much trouble for our leader, Arti. Canyoning and rafting were exhilarating, some great hikes and a relaxing kayak all in stunning scenery. Still buzzing from the river jumps (and still getting over the raki🤣🤣). Can’t wait for the next adventure.

Arti our guide was the best, the group of people was amazing. I loved it so much

This was a really fun trip and a first time for me in Albania as well. I enjoyed the variety of the activities on offer, which included canyoning (my favourite), kayaking and hiking. I also enjoyed the fact that there were different supplementary activities in place such as a visit to the thermal baths and wine tasting after our main activities. This does mean a full day of itinerary but it is worth it for the different experiences. The food is plenty and very tasty, with a range of vegetables and meat dishes that are shared between the group. Many thanks to Arti our guide and our drivers.

Points to note, it can be quite chilly in the evenings in September so bring some warm clothing. Definitely bring water shoes they dry so much more quickly. Make sure you bring some sickness tablets or sit at the front of the minibus as there are some windy mountain roads to navigate through. Have fun!

Had nice and fun time even if the weather was rainy on some days. Getting out of comfort zone and not having social media just fun in nature was very welcomed especially when coming from a big and busy capital. Will book other trip in the future and recommend it to others

We had a wonderful holiday, the guides and all the team on the ground (Albanian rafting) were superb. Beautiful scenery with fun activities

What a great trip. My first with MBA and certainly won’t be the last. Our group had a great dynamic and made the week fly by. Our guides, especially Arti, were fantastic organising everything from food to sorting out any issues we had. They are great at taking photos throughout the activities so you don’t need to risk your phones then sharing them all each day in an iCloud folder.

We would like to thank Much Better Adventures for a great trip to Albania, it was amazing and we managed to see some great areas of beauty, thanks to the great guides. Activities were challenging, but we would not hae changed athing. Our group was of 15 people - made up of differing personalities, but we felt we all gelled and had a great time. Having been on smaller groups in the pst , we could have not hoped for a better experience. Thank you to our group and Much Better Adventures. Maggie and Tracey x

If you like:

Castles and canyons, mountain safaris in jeeps, White water rafting with death defying leaps

Hot thermal baths and freezing cold springs, And a blood red flag adorned with a black eagle’s wings

THEN come to Albania but make sure you come fast, Because there’s always a chance the magic won’t last

Incredible trip, packed with great activities. The guides were excellent and fun, the food and accomodation were amazing and the group dynamic incredible. What a fabulous adventure. Highly recommended.

This was from start to finish an absolute amazing experience, every part of this was amazing, the hotel you are in is literally a castle with amazing rooms, comfy beds and awesome views, the rafting, kayaking and canyon are amazing, beautiful and so natural, make sure if you like jumps you ask about then, there is some epic ones on here The guides Arti and Renato did everything to make the adventure and week one to remember, they wasn't just guide but one of the crew 😀 they are amazing The lads who did the kayaking and rafting was so experienced and you always felt safe with them plus they knew how to have fun 😀 The hotel staff especially fabjan and meshi was young but nothing was to much trouble, they helped ladies with their bags and made sure we was always happy The driver was an absolute boss, didn't get flustered once no matter what happened, I'm a professional driver and that lad is cool as ice and such an amazing driver This adventure is by far one of best things I've done and I have been to 40 odd countries and have an extensive bucket list complete

If you looking for something to do then look no further. 😀

Great activities with amazing tour guides - Arti and Renato were so good, really knowledgeable and helpful. Our activity leaders were great at taking pictures and videos so you'll get plenty of memories to look back on. The hotels were really comfortable, fully air conditioned and very clean, with super accommodating staff on hand to help out. The only thing I would change is making the water-based activities longer as these were only about 3 hours each. My tip for this trip is to buy snacks - the meals are huge but with long gaps between them. Also if you're a vegetarian then the food, whilst really tasty, can be quite repetitive.

A truly great holiday , it’s well organised with plenty to do each day, the guides are great , Arti and Renato made the trip so much fun. Thoroughly recommend

A deep dive into the past and present of an amazing country.

Super trip with like minded people. Really enjoyed how packed it was using all available time to make the most of it. Albania is spectacular and I’ll be coming back!

Absolutely fantastic trip. Fun activities that were not too difficult but still challenging. Beautiful country with great views. Hotels and food were good. Our guide Arti was top notch, communicated well and was helpful every step of the way.

The highlight of the trip was river hiking in the Osumi canyon. Incredible scenery and so much fun to float along the water, jump from cliffs and stand under waterfalls. The accommodation was very nice. We had an excellent guide with us all the time. He was fun, spoke good English and was very helpful. The days were fully packed with activities. We visited so many cool places and nature was so beautiful. The only disappointing thing was the food. I asked in advance if they could offer vegan food but all I got the whole trip was basically side dishes.The others got meat and many different kinds of cheeses for every meal. I got greens and rice. No beans, lentils, nuts or tofu. Usually Bürek is vegan as long as it doesn't contain cheese, which it did in most meals we got unfortunately. If you are vegan I would recommend bringing protein bars or something. I have told the organizers and I hope they will get better in the future.

I had a great time in Albania , the trip was well organised and our guide Arti was exceptionally helpful.

Had the most wonderful week away with two palls from Hull. We met five others adventurers from the uk. Albania is a beautiful country and the people we met where just great, couldn’t do enough for us, Arti and his team looked after us and they did a sterling job. I would go back in a heartbeat and I would certainly recommend much better adventures

Arti is the best guide ever, beautiful places, fine food, exciting stories, nice people, delicious beer, always something going on.

This is a great trip for seeing the beauty of Albania and meeting some locals while doing some fun activities that only require a reasonable fitness level. The other reviewers have covered all the key points already so you know what a you are getting. My only advice would be to arrive the day before to give yourself time to look around Tirana, exchange currency etc, as I arrived from chilly UK wearing jeans to 32 degree heat and was taken straight on a 1.5 hour bus ride and tour of the castle without pause to get changed. Lesson learned!

A well organised and fun activities packed trip. The Albanian nature is absolutely stunning and food’s delicious. Arti and his team worked very hard to make sure all of us were well looked after, thank you.

This was a fab trip! Albania is a stunning country and the people very welcoming. The trip packed so much in to a short time, don't expect any down time! The river walk was my highlight, so glad we did that particularly as we visited during a heat wave. Arti the guide adapted the hike on the first day to around 9km as the heat was too much, which we all appreciated! A few of us also went off the itinerary so that we could watch the football in Berat City which was no problem at all. I would recommend this trip :)

Albania was far more stunning than I thought it would be. The mountains are amazing. The trip was very well put together and the team here (Arti was our guide) were amazing. The little touches were great, some of the lunch spots were incredible and I would have never found them without being on a trip like this. The Vineyard tour was also particularly good.

The activities are for all abilities - the best part of them was the constantly beautiful scenery.

There is a fair amount of driving on this trip, which at times became uncomfortable. But driving around is normally a part of seeking certain river conditions wherever you go!

Overall I’d really recommend this trip!

Arti our guide was amazing and so nice. He was accommodating to our group with all of our strange requests and great to talk to. The hiking was good but recommend bringing your own poles as they had limited sets. Definitely bring a hat and sunscreen. The cave was fascinating and the waterfalls beautiful. We had fun with the white water rafting and the kayaking but wanted more time on the river. The days on the river seemed easy compared to our first long hike. Many of us were working out or running the mornings. I would recommend scheduling one day where we had a morning to explore the town as I never got a chance to get souvenirs or visit local shops (support local!). There was a lot of time on the bus which was uncomfortable for some people but I got reading done. Alma at our first hotel was delightful. I so appreciate her tailoring meals to my limited diet. We had cucumbers, cheese and tomatoes every morning which were fresh and delicious, but really wanted something different half way through the trip. The stories the river guides told us about the area and the river were a nice touch. Mosquitoes are real, bring your spray. The 'thermal mineral pools' should really just be 'mineral pools' no thermal included:)

This was a very well organised trip with non stop fun and adventures in Albania. Excellent accomodation, food, scenery and company. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone with a sense of adventure and fun.

This was a fantastic trip, and a brilliant introduction to Albania, with so many things packed into the 6 days. As well as the headline activities - kayaking, rafting and hiking - we did a walking tour of the 13th century hill-top castle in Berat, explored a gigantic cave with bats, stalactites and stalagmites on the outskirts of Tirana, spent a morning relaxing at the Benja thermal baths, enjoyed a wine tasting at a family-run Albanian vineyard and went inside massive tunnels dug into the sides of Osumi Canyon during the communist period. We definitely got our money’s worth!

While there was a lot of driving, as previous reviews mention, all these extra stops along the way broke it up and made it manageable. It was also amazing how many of these places we had entirely to ourselves - I would definitely recommend visiting Albania now before it gets fully onto the tourist track.

The guides for the water activities were calm, professional and clearly very experienced - I always felt safe, even when my kayak got stuck in the middle of a rapid! They told me what I needed to do and waded across the rapid to help me out. They also made sure to take lots of pictures of us so we didn’t need to take our phones.

A few pieces of advice - I would pay more attention to the most recent reviews, as the trip itinerary has been refined quite a bit over the last couple of years. Make sure to bring a head torch for the cave visit. And bring proper water shoes - I just wore old trainers, but they never fully dried between activities and got rather smelly.

All in all, I can’t wait to go back to Albania - I’m eyeing up the Southern Coastal Trail trip for next year!

Albania is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever been to and the people were so warm and welcoming, it really made the trip special. The whole team involved in this trip were fantastic but a special mention has to go to our guide Arti and Alma, nothing was too much trouble. The whole trip was really well planned and packed with activities. The food at Castle Park and the restaurants Arti took us to was amazing; you definitely won't go hungry. I would encourage anyone to book this trip, you won't be disappointed.

Wow, what a trip! Albania is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in the world. Arti gave us the best tour and kept us in check and on time throughout. We experienced so much in a short span of time - from rafting in Osumi canyon to kayaking near Permet and exploring caves near Tirana. None of it would have been possible without Arti! I already miss Alma's breakfasts and selection of jams at the Castle Park Hotel - our home away from home ♡ Thank you to Alma and Zamo for having us, it was a special time spent with a big Albanian family.

Trip was brilliant, even better than I had expected, with lots of awesome surprises along the way. Scenery in Albania is epic and untouched, people were lovely and food was great (though a lot of it). Big thanks to Arti as our guide, made it all super easy.

What an incredible trip! Wow....Albania is just beautiful and I encourage everyone to go. I will definitely be going back and this trip was a graat introduction to the country. In terms of the itinerary, you do pack a lot in but there is also some downtime as well.... For example... You go wine tasting and relax in the thermal baths.... So Its not all super active. After reading some reviews.... I was worried about spending alot of time in the van but it was fine and quite relaxing. The scenery is stunning and you get to see parts of the country that you otherwise wouldn't. It was nice to only start at 9am (10am some days) as we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast together. All of the food was incredible... Especially the breakfasts at castle park. The fried dough balls, jams and honey and walnut cake were just stunning 🤤 you will definitely not go hungry on this trip! The lady who owns it was so kind and friendly... We all felt very welcome there. The hotel in permet (you stay one night here) was clean and modern but lacked character and the breakfast there wasnt so good. But that is just a minor complaint and we were totally spoiled at castle park. Arti was a great guide and all of the rafting and kayaking crew were great. The hiking wasn't as long or as difficult as I expected... So don't be put off. In terms of tips I would say change a small amount of money at the airport when you land into LEK but then sort the rest in tirana or beret as the rate isn't good at the airport. I also recommend staying a night or two in tirana to explore... It's a great city and worth checking out. Finally got take some water shoes with you. Get it booked... You won't regret it! ☺️