Paddling the Vjosa, Europe's last wild river

The Vjosa runs for more than 270 kilometers between Greece and Albania, with no dam along its entire course. It's now the last major wild river in Europe, and that idea alone was enough to make us want to paddle it in packrafts, from the Greek mountains all the way to its mouth on the Adriatic Sea. Here's the trip, stage by stage.

From Nice to Metsovo, two days of travel

The journey starts far from the river. From Nice, a first train takes us to Menton, then a second one to Milan, where we stop for one night. The next day, we head to Bari, roughly ten hours by train across Italy from north to south. From Bari, an overnight ferry crosses to Igoumenitsa in Greece, departing around 10pm and arriving early the next morning around 6am.

In Igoumenitsa, it's a short walk to the bus station to check the schedule for Metsovo. A few cafés are already open for breakfast. We leave at 10am for a roughly three hour journey. The bus drops us off on a bend in the road, three kilometers from town, which can catch you off guard when you're carrying gear. Metsovo is a real mountain town, with hotels, restaurants, and a pleasant atmosphere, a good place to spend a night before heading toward Lake Aoos.

From Metsovo to Vovousa, nine hours of walking

Next stop is Lake Aoos, an artificial lake used for hydropower. The road there isn't particularly interesting, but it's a short thirty minute taxi ride away (look up "Aoos Springs Dam" on Google Maps). Behind the dam, the river is barely a trickle, nowhere near enough water to paddle.

That's where the walk through the forest begins, on a trail marked by paint marks on trees and rocks, sometimes hard to spot. Expect 20 to 25 kilometers, with no real technical difficulty, but it's worth starting early to finish the stretch in a single day. In Vovousa, there are two or three small hotels, but we pitched our tent in the church garden after asking the priest, who lives just across the street. The village is small and warm, and dinner at Angelos remains one of the best memories of the trip.

From Vovousa to Aoos Bridge, two and a half days

The put in is right under the bridge in Vovousa. The first obstacle appears barely a hundred meters downstream: a small dam followed by a drop of about two meters, best avoided even with decent water levels. Very quickly, we had to resign ourselves to dragging the kayaks for several kilometers. We were in the middle of a heatwave and the water level was far too low to paddle.

On the first day, we walk about nine kilometers pulling our gear, much longer than expected. Sturdy shoes are essential for walking over rocks, along with gloves and a rope tied to the packraft. A single large dry bag strapped to the kayak is also much better than several backpacks. Mine wasn't waterproof and took on water, getting noticeably heavier as the day went on.

In the evening, we set up camp in the middle of the mountains. It's worth stopping a good hour before nightfall to pick a spot without rushing. The second day looks a lot like the first, with more walking and constant attention to foot placement, some rapids and waterfalls are impassable by water and require carrying the packrafts around them. Late in the day, a tributary finally joins the Aoos and lets us properly paddle. Second night camping out. The third day brings real kayaking, weaving between rocks and trees, still with the same habit of climbing a bit higher to scout ahead. We reach Aoos Bridge in the early afternoon, a large bridge that's impossible to miss, with a technical building right next to it. This is the last point where it's still easy to reach the road or a village before Konitsa.

From Aoos Bridge to Konitsa, about 25 kilometers and fifteen hours

The gorges start here. A few hours of great kayaking follow the bridge, with some committing rapids that call for real experience, once again, stopping to scout is the safest approach. Low water forces us back into portage mode through the gorges, a difficult and sometimes dangerous exercise given how little room there is to get around obstacles. Campsites are scarce, we ended up sleeping on rocks by the river, after checking the weather forecast (getting caught in the gorges during a storm is worth avoiding). We reach Konitsa the next day in the late afternoon, a beautiful mountain town well worth a night or two: good restaurants and a genuinely pleasant village atmosphere.

From Konitsa to Permet, crossing the border

The landscape changes completely. The river winds into long S bends, with banks that are easy to access before and after each turn. Paddling requires less technical skill here, but it's still enjoyable to string several bends together at a good pace, without ever forgetting that a stray branch around a corner can catch you off guard. We stayed at Albturist campsite, just before Permet, easy to reach from the river and cheap. Once across the Albanian border, wild dogs along the riverbanks aren't always the friendliest, worth keeping in mind.

From Permet to Tepelen, about 40 to 45 kilometers in eight hours

Past Permet, the technical difficulties mostly disappear. The river widens, the current slows, and paddling becomes the main effort, almost a different sport at this point. It's worth starting early to avoid the heat and the thermal wind that reliably picks up every early afternoon. We stayed at the Lord Byron guesthouse, reachable by stopping just after the bridge, or closer to the center for those willing to walk uphill a bit.

From Tepelen to the end of the Vjosa, about 55 kilometers then ten kilometers on foot

One useful landmark along the way is the "Welcome to Vjosa River" shop, right on the riverbank. We stayed nearby at Agroturizem Bylis, after a long day of paddling punctuated by friendly dogs and a real sense of crossing the most remote Albanian countryside.

The next day, a short drive brings us closer to the river, near the village of Kashishte, from where the water is easy to reach. We paddle all day and reach the mouth of the Vjosa around 8pm, arriving that late isn't ideal, as the incoming current combined with the wind makes the last kilometers harder. Better to avoid this final stretch in the middle of the afternoon.

Once at the end, there's still about ten kilometers on foot through sand to reach the village of Darezeze, a distance that weighs on you after a day like that. Some fishermen gave us a lift to finish the trip to Epoka campsite, which is used to welcoming kayakers at the end of their descent.

A few practical tips

Sun protection matters a lot during long, fully exposed days of packrafting, and so does topping up water regularly. In Albania, staying alert around dogs near the river is worth keeping in mind. Before heading out on a trip like this, testing your gear in real conditions, somewhere safe, helps you spot in advance what needs improving: clothing, bag type, jacket. Solid, sturdy shoes are essential, and packing food that's easy to reach and eat straight from the kayak saves a lot of unnecessary stops.

It's exactly in adventures like this one, crossing paths with other travelers at the key waypoints (an overnight ferry, a small bus station, a mountain village), that Giota makes sense: sharing a ride instead of doing it alone, and coming home with a bit more than just a transport story.