Option one
Georgia
What makes it different
- A living medieval landscape. Stone defensive towers in inhabited villages, and Ushguli among the highest permanently settled places in Europe. Neither of the others has a cultural layer like it.
- The biggest mountains by a wide margin. Peaks above 16,000 ft, higher than anything in the Alps. The Dolomites top out around 11,000 ft and the Balkans around 8,800 ft.
- Closest difficulty twin to your AV1 — almost identical distance and climbing over the same five running days, on ground with no overlap whatsoever.
- Day 4 is bigger than anything you ran. Mazeri to Mestia over the Guli Pass at 9,760 ft — 13.7 miles with +6,230 ft, and a shortened 8.7-mile option if the group needs it. Day 3 is a deliberate acclimatisation day.
Guided group: two guides on the trail at a stated 4:1 guest-to-guide ratio, one at the front and one sweeping. Their trip guide doesn’t print a cap; their schedule page says 10, while the sister Albania trip states 12 — worth confirming which applies. Nearly 90% of their guests travel solo.
Lodging: Hotel Glarros in Tbilisi at either end, family-run guesthouses through Svaneti (two nights in Mazeri, then Mestia, Adishi and Ushguli), finishing at a spa hotel in Tskaltubo. Full board, luggage by 4WD, WiFi at every guesthouse.
Option two
Albania · Montenegro · Kosovo
What makes it different
- The most runnable surface on the shortlist. Flowing singletrack and grassy ridges rather than the Dolomites' rock and scree — the mileage feels easier than the numbers read.
- Three countries in a week. Border permits, a Bosniak shepherd village, a UNESCO-listed valley and wild berries on the trail in July.
- Deep valley swings, not a high plateau. You drop to Theth at 2,430 ft and climb to 7,760 ft, repeatedly. The Dolomites hold you in a narrow band up high; this is a sawtooth.
- Genuinely empty. It books last-minute where the Dolomites need six months. Neither the Caucasus nor the Dolomites match it for solitude at this price.
Guided group: a scheduled departure of 8–14 runners, minimum 8 for it to run, at Runcation’s 8:1 guide ratio — so one to two guides, a mix of certified local mountain leaders and a US-based trail guide.
Lodging: five nights in traditional family-run guesthouses plus one hotel. Village kitchens and shepherds' settlements rather than rifugio dining rooms, with all meals and the three-country border permits included and bags moved for you.
Option three
Alta Via 2
Dolomites · not yet a trip
Where it stands
- Entirely new ground. The Puez plateau, the Sella, the Viel del Pan glacier balcony above the Marmolada, and the lunar Pale di San Martino. Nothing repeated from your AV1.
- The same hut-to-hut rhythm. Dolomite rifugi the whole way, so it’s espresso and pastries every few hours rather than a day’s food on your back — the format that made the AV1 work.
- Dario, your AV1 guide, thinks Runcation could build it. He said so directly, and noted that guides in the Dolomites give Runcation priority over the other agencies. He offered to help put it together.
- Structured their way, it lands close to home. Six running days rather than five gives roughly 11.9 miles and 3,280 ft a day — almost exactly your AV1’s rhythm, on a route 20% longer overall.
How it would probably work: six running days across eight, rifugio nights with bags moved ahead and full board — the same format as the AV1. The route totals are firm; the daily split shown here is an estimate of how it would be structured, not a published itinerary. Price and group size would follow Runcation’s usual model.
Option four
Dolomites · Runcation
Why it isn’t just a repeat
- Different people. Around half of every departure books solo, so the cohort is new even though the route isn’t — and the cohort was the part you rated most.
- You’d run it better. No navigation load, no unknowns, and you know where you held back. The days you found long the first time are the ones you’d enjoy.
- You keep the rifugio week. The same huts, the same espresso and pastries every few hours, bags moved ahead each morning — the one thing the guesthouse trips on this page can’t give you.
- “Every time is like the first time.” Nine years leading these tours, and the views still take Dario’s breath away.
Guided group: 8–14 runners at an 8:1 ratio, minimum 8 to run — the cohort size you’re after, with International Mountain Leaders and local guides.
Lodging: a 4-star hotel on night one, then five straight nights in rifugi with half board and bags moved ahead. No single supplement.