Where to go
Destinations
Five places that together tell the story of Kosovo, none more than a couple of hours apart.
The capital
Prishtina
Prishtina wears its youth openly. This is a city of students and startups, of concrete modernism and a café on every corner. Mornings begin slowly over a macchiato, and by night the pedestrian boulevard fills with a crowd that seems to know one another. Start at the extraordinary National Library, wander to the NEWBORN monument, and let the side streets pull you into galleries and grill houses.
- The National Library, one of Europe's most striking buildings
- The NEWBORN monument and Mother Teresa Boulevard
- A café culture that rivals anywhere in the Balkans
Ottoman old town
Prizren
If you visit one city, make it Prizren. The Bistrica river runs through its heart, crossed by an Ottoman stone bridge, with the old town rising in tiled roofs and minarets on either side. Climb to the fortress for the view at sunset, lose an afternoon in the Sinan Pasha mosque and the hammams, and stay for the League of Prizren, where modern Albania was born.
- The fortress above the old town at golden hour
- The Ottoman stone bridge and Sinan Pasha mosque
- Kosovo's cultural capital, home to the Dokufest film festival
Gateway to the mountains
Peja
Peja sits at the foot of the Accursed Mountains, where the Rugova Gorge cuts a dramatic path into the peaks. It is the natural base for hiking, via ferrata and the Peaks of the Balkans trail. In town, the Patriarchate of Peja, a UNESCO-listed monastery, has kept its frescoes for seven centuries, and the old bazaar still serves some of the country's best trout.
- The Rugova Gorge and its via ferrata routes
- The Patriarchate of Peja, a UNESCO World Heritage site
- A trailhead for the Peaks of the Balkans
The old bazaar
Gjakova
The Grand Bazaar of Gjakova is one of the oldest and longest in the region, a low run of wooden workshops where coppersmiths, saddlers and jewellers still keep their trades. Burned and rebuilt through its history, it has been restored beam by beam. Come for the craft, the clock tower and the old stone bridge, and stay for a slow lunch in the shade.
- The Grand Bazaar and its working craft workshops
- The clock tower and the old Ura e Terzive bridge
- A living picture of traditional Kosovo
Sharr Mountains
Brezovica
High in the Sharr Mountains, Brezovica is Kosovo's mountain playground. In winter it is a low-key, affordable ski resort with long runs and reliable snow. In summer the same slopes become meadows of wildflowers, laced with hiking trails and grazing horses, all within the protected Sharr National Park.
- Affordable skiing and snowboarding in winter
- Alpine hiking and wildflower meadows in summer
- Inside the Sharr Mountains National Park