Journey to Valbona is the brainchild of Catherine Bohne, an American who came to stay for a week. Three years later, she’s still here, thanks to the charming (and tolerant!)  mountain people who were kind enough to adopt her.  In addition to her admittedly subjective opinion, the content of the site and the services offered are the product of working closely with the people of Valbona.  The goal is always to empower the people of Valbona, to secure their continued success and prosperity.

Please feel free to contact Catherine, in any of these ways:

tel: 355 (0)67 30 14 638

Email: catherine@journeytovalbona.com

Skype: journeytovalbona

Please be aware that part of the charm of Northern Albania is arguably its remoteness. This same remoteness can make communication challenging, to say the least. The Valbona Valley has no landlines, no reliable internet, and a mailing address which amounts to “23 kilometers down the road, thataway, from Bajrum Curri.” While your interest is definitely eagerly awaited, you may not always receive the most rapid response.  Rainstorms knock out the electricity.  Snow closes the road for as much as a month at a time.  Please bear with us. In the end, we will be your best guides to the area, and we’re used to operating on a much shorter time frame than you probably expect.

Here are some of the other people involved in helping to realize your Journey to Valbona: Gezohem qu e njohem!

Alfred Selimaj is the eldest son of this generation of the Selimaj fis (aka: clan), as well as the acting president of the Shoqata e Turismit Valbone (The Association for Valbona Tourism).  He grew up in the Valbona valley and is an experienced mountaineer. On returning to the valley in 2005, it was his vision of Rilindja (rebirth) which gave rise to the burgeoning tourist industry in the valley. He has been building Rilindja for the past seven years.

Naim Selimaj lived for many years in the United Kingdom. He is the historian of the group – don’t let his affable exterior distract you from his peculiarly encyclopedic local knowledge which he’s happy to talk about at length. He is currently the most frequent host of Rilindja Hotel.

Sose Selimaj is Alfred’s mother, and the indefatigable heart and backbone of all things Selimaj.

Eri Selimaj is based in Tirana, where he is studying tourism, economy and literature at university. He also works as a guide and on developing hiking itineraries, as well as beginning to mark and map the local trails.