The Vjosa River Route: Your 7.6 km Rafting Path

This is the real path of Europe’s last free-flowing river. The line below is the actual 7.6 km we paddle, plotted point by point from the put-in above Përmet to the take-out downstream. Tap the map to explore it.

What the run is like

The Vjosa here is Class II–III: lively enough that you will get wet and have to paddle, gentle enough that it suits complete beginners and families. There are calm stretches between the rapids where the canyon opens up and you can look around, and a few faster sections where the guide will call the strokes.

The whole trip takes two to three hours from the moment you arrive, including the safety briefing, kitting up, and the drive back to base at the end. Time on the water is roughly ninety minutes to two hours depending on the flow.

Where it starts and finishes

We meet at our base in Përmet, hand out wetsuits, buoyancy aids, helmets and paddles, and run the safety briefing there. From the base we drive upstream together to the put-in. You finish downstream, closer to town, and we bring you back to the base for a hot shower and a change of clothes.

What the river is

The Vjosa runs 272 km from the Pindus mountains in Greece to the Adriatic without a single dam on its main stem. In March 2023 it became the Vjosa Wild River National Park, the first national park in Europe created specifically to protect a wild river. That is the water you are paddling: not a reservoir release, not a managed channel, just the river doing what it has always done.

Before you come

• Wear swimwear under your clothes. We provide everything else.
• Bring shoes that can get wet and stay on your feet. No flip-flops.
• Leave valuables at the base. There is a secure place for them.
• If you cannot swim, tell us when you book. It is not a problem, but the guide should know.