I would consider myself quite a rogue traveller by nature. I have always found it fascinating to see and experience places that others tend to neglect. So naturally, when a Balkan excursion through North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania was suggested – I leapt at the idea!
Sections of this article:
Arriving in Kosovo:
To enter Kosovo, we purchased bus tickets from Skopje to Pristina at the bus terminal for around 8 euros the day before we wanted to travel. The price appeared to vary depending on the company and time of travel. The lady spoke no English, but we managed to communicate fine using a mix of amusing hand gestures and our phones!
We entered Kosovo through the Elez Han border crossing via the minibus we took from Skopje bus station to Pristina.
The border staff spoke good English and were extremely friendly; they even had to be reminded to stamp our passports because they were so keen on chatting with us!
The drive from Skopje to Pristina takes just under 2 hours on the minibus, and in my opinion, it is perhaps one of the most scenic in Europe, with rolling mountains and winding valleys on all sides – it was absolutely breathtaking!
Where we stayed in Pristina:
We stayed at Hotel Pejton (which cost us £22.50pp per night for a twin room), where we had breakfast included.
The accommodation was relatively basic, but we encountered nothing unexpected and were very pleased considering the cost.
The hotel staff were friendly and welcoming, providing us with a plethora of information about the city and potential day trips.
What to see in Pristina:
. Gracanica Monastery
. Mother Teresa Cathedral
. Bill Clinton Statue (located on Bill Clinton Boulevard!)
. Newborn Monument
. Mother Teresa Square – Sheshi Zahir Pajaziti (there are plenty of ice cream and creperie stands to enjoy in this vibrant part of town!)
Renaissance Restaurant:
. Visiting the Renaissance Restaurant is also an absolute must for those travelling through Pristina. Do not let the unassuming entrance to this beautiful restaurant deter you from visiting (yes, the garage door is really the entrance)! For just 18 euros per person, you receive a three-course set menu and bottomless wine! We were recommended to visit by a friend, and it proved to be a fantastic experience – I could not recommend it highly enough! (Just remember to wear something a little more “smart casual” if you have it in the locker).
Location:
KF Ballkani Europa Conference League qualifier:
Part-way through our adventure, we found out that KF Ballkani was due to play FC Skopje in a much-anticipated Europa Conference League qualifier. This would have been the first time a Kosovan team had qualified for the tournament – and as avid football followers – we desperately tried to get tickets. They were priced at just 3 euros, so we went on a wild goose chase around Pristina to the locations announced sporadically by the KF Ballkani Twitter page. Sadly for us, it seemed like the entirety of Pristina was trying to get a hold of these precious tickets and after an hour of surging around in the massive crowds and being pressed against the railings of the national stadium – we conceded to watch the game at a nearby bar.
Day trip to Pristina Bear Sanctuary:
The following day, we organised a taxi through our hotel (which cost around 25 euros, as Uber is unavailable in Kosovo) to take us to Pristina Bear Sanctuary. On the scenic drive, we passed through several Serbian-majority towns with HUNDREDS of Serbian flags, and every piece of visible text was suddenly in Cyrillic. It was a firm reminder of the instability of the region. The drive took around 35 minutes, and admission was just 2.50 euros for adults. The sanctuary is located in a scenic mountain range, where a trail (approximately 1.5km long) allows you to explore the enclosures of the 20 rescued bears that live here. I would thoroughly recommend visiting if you have time! When we needed transport back to Pristina, we asked the receptionist if she could order us a taxi and agreed on the same price we paid on the way out. The price was agreed with ease, and funnily enough, we had the same taxi driver take us back to the city.
Day trip to Mitrovica:
We also coordinated a day trip to the city of Mitrovica. On the morning we planned to go, we purchased return tickets (a couple of euros each way) for the bus to Mitrovica. These ran hourly in both directions and were relatively comfortable coaches – the journey took just under one hour. We ventured to the infamous bridge separating the north and south sides of the city, receiving some puzzled looks from the neutral Italian forces who were manning the road blockades. We sat and had a lovely meal by the river in Restaurant Ura before grabbing an ice cream on the way back to the bus station before heading back into Pristina.
Bus journey from Pristina to Tirana (via Prizren):
As some of you will be aware, Prizren is iconic for its famed fortress that sits on the hillside overlooking the city – a must-see for those visiting the region. However, due to the sporadic nature of this side quest, we did not have anywhere to store our luggage. So what did we do? Well, a very hot and sweaty James carried his 15 kg backpack all the way to the top of Prizren fortress – a path that weaves and winds through the hilltop communities. The locals appeared very amused by this, and in hindsight, perhaps we should’ve looked for somewhere to drop the bag for a couple of hours… But we were on a tight schedule! The DAILY bus from Prizren to Tirana left around 17:00, and we still didn’t even have a ticket…
We stopped for a bite to eat in town before darting back to the bus terminal to source some onward tickets to Tirana.
As we stumbled into the bus station we had a slightly horrific realisation… everything was closed! It was 15:30 on a Sunday, and there wasn’t a ticket salesman in sight. We ventured into an off-licence kiosk located inside the station and found a small boy working at the till (no older than 7 years old) who spoke broken English. He led us to his Dad (who was having a coffee in the back) who sold us two pieces of paper (possibly the most informal tickets I have ever seen) that said, “Tirana, 17:00”. They pointed outside to the bus stances, so we went back out and we waited. And waited. And waited. The silence was deafening. I was half expecting some tumbleweed to blow across the stances as we sat clutching our “Tirana: 17:00” ticket. As we approached 5 pm, a small minivan spurted into the bus station with a cardboard sign saying Tirana! We couldn’t believe our luck! Even luckier, the ticket was somehow valid!!
The minibus took us about 20 minutes outside Prizren before randomly pulling into the side of the motorway. We were not alone on the bus, but still very confused – as the driver frantically gestured for everyone to get off. The other passengers disembarked, and reluctantly, so did we. We waited by the side of the road for 10 minutes while our driver had a cigarette and several phone calls.
All of a sudden, a coach pulled into our layby, and our luggage began being unloaded from the minibus and tossed into the underbelly of the coach. The word “Tirana” was shouted a few times, and we followed the crowd onto this new vehicle. The coach was very comfy, with air conditioning and padded seats, and sure enough, took us to Tirana bus station.
There is no official border crossing between Kosovo and Albania because of the geopolitical situation – so you do not get a passport stamp here or even need to disembark the coach. There was some light security and police presence at the “border”, but they didn’t hold us up for a second, and we were firmly on our way to Tirana…
Where to buy a Kosovo flag patch:
I love collecting things. I decided a long time ago that I would attempt to collect a sew-on patch from each new country to put on the bags that I travel with.
I found my Kosovan flag sew-on patch from a vendor around the Mother Teresa Square, which cost me around 2 euros! Some countries have been particularly difficult to find, but Kosovo is a very proud place and you should have little problem locating one here. Saying that, I’m pretty sure I found more vendors selling Albanian patches than Kosovan…
From my experience, Kosovo was a stunning and welcoming region filled with kind-hearted and curious people, I could not recommend visiting highly enough!
