Why this ride
Sustained elevation change, linked bends and open summit views. It also links naturally to Vjosa Valley and Gramoz Mountains.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Korce-Permet SH75
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 122 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 59
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Verify surface, fuel and current construction before publication. Specific flag: surface review; weather.
Seasonal context
May-Oct
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Korçë
Korçë stands on a high plain in south-eastern Albania, about eight hundred and fifty metres above the sea, with bare mountains on every side. The air is cooler and drier here than on the coast, the winters are hard, and the town has a different feel from the rest of the country: tree-lined boulevards, old two-storey houses with iron balconies, and a sense of refinement that older Albanians still call the Paris of Albania, only partly joking. It was an important commercial and cultural centre in the late Ottoman period, and merchants who grew rich abroad built handsome homes here.
Read the complete Korçë write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Korçë sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Ersekë.
2. Ersekë
Ersekë is a high town in the south-east of Albania, close to the Greek border, on the slopes of Mount Gramoz and the Grammos range. At around a thousand metres, it is among the highest towns in the country, and the winters are hard, with snow on the roads and woodsmoke in the air. The town spreads along a ridge above a wide valley, and from the upper streets you can see pine-covered mountains stretching away into Greece. It is a place where the border has always mattered, and families here have links on both sides.
Read the complete Ersekë write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ersekë comes up 26 km in. Next is Leskovik.
3. Leskovik
Leskovik is a small town in the south of Albania, perched on a mountain terrace in the valley of the Vjosa's tributaries, not far from the Greek frontier. At about a thousand metres, it feels remote, and the streets are quiet and the stone houses weathered. The setting is dramatic, with forested slopes rising behind the town and the valley opening to the south toward Greece. In the evenings the sky is clear, with the Milky Way sharp above the rooftops, and the air smells of woodsmoke and mountain herbs.
Read the complete Leskovik write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least 54 km in you reach Leskovik. Next is Përmet.
4. Përmet
Përmet lies on the banks of the Vjosa, which many geographers call the last great wild river of Europe, and the water here is a startling blue-green, cold and fast over pale stones. The town sits in a wide basin surrounded by mountains, with the Dhëmbel and Nemërçka ranges standing around it, and in the middle of the valley a huge limestone rock rises above the river. Përmet is known in Albania as the town of roses and of raki, and its gjirokastër-style stone houses in the old quarter give a feel of the Ottoman-era south.
Read the complete Përmet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Përmet, late in the day.