kosovo tourist numbers

International tourism, number of arrivals - Kosovo

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Main Facts & Stats

• Number of arrivals in Kosovo during 2018 was +795K from 166 different countries
• Majority of international tourists are from Central Europe, UK and USA
• Accommodation occupancy rate in 2018 averaged 53.90%
• Average guests per day in restaurants during the year 2018 was 232 guests
• Attractions achieved +200K visitors in 2018

What was Kosovo's Visitor Arrivals Growth in Dec 2023?

Kosovo Visitor Arrivals grew 77.1 % in Dec 2023, compared with an increase of 18.3 % in the previous quarter See the table below for more data.

Visitor Arrivals Growth by Country Comparison

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Prishtinë, Kosovë +383 49 124 154 [email protected]

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Located in the heart of the Balkan peninsula with an area of only 10,494 km², although it is a small geographical space with its natural resources and historical and cultural values, Kosovo offers a diversity of landscapes and cultural heritage. Beyond the devastating war that has defined the image of Kosovo for a long time, you have the opportunity to discover rolling hills, green meadows, untouched natural beauty, very rich and diverse heritage including ancient ruins, medieval churches and fortresses, Ottoman houses and Austro-Hungarian buildings. So, be part of the changes to develop your business together with the Kosovo Tourism Union and contribute to the development of the tourism industry of the Republic of Kosovo.

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Frequently Asked Questions?

The purpose of establishing this union is to strengthen and develop the tourism sector. Specifically, the union aims to be a strong voice of the tourism sector in Kosovo in matters related to advocacy, networking, raising human capacities, promoting sustainable tourism and representing companies in this sector. All administrative and organizational actions of the Kosovo Tourism Union will be managed in accordance with LAW NO. 06/L-043 FOR FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. This law defines the rules for the establishment, registration, operation, suspension, extinguishment, prohibition of action and deregistration of non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Kosovo.

The mission of UTK is the strengthening and development of tourism in Kosovo, being an important actor in the promotion and development of sustainable tourism, advocacy, networking, capacity building as well as the representation of companies in this sector at the national and international level.

The vision of UTK is the development of a sustainable tourism in line with the principles of the World Tourism Organization, the policies of the Government of Kosovo as well as the public policies of the EU related to tourism, in order to maximize the sector's contribution to the growth of the export of services, the increase of employment, and the promotion of cooperation between Kosovo and other countries through the exchange of good practices.

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You can join the Kosovo Tourism Union after filling out the form in the link below:

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Adresa : Prishtinë, Kosovë

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9 Valuable Things to Know Before Visiting Kosovo

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Kosovo is a destination that typically draws one of two reactions. People either wonder where Kosovo is and if its safe, or relish the idea of going somewhere that feels off the beaten path. Chances are if you’re reading this you’re in the latter group, but if not, I have a long list of Kosovo posts to try to change your mind. Because the truth is that my time visiting Kosovo was a thoroughly entertaining and rewarding experience, and one that I wish to encourage others to consider.

Rather than just showing you a long list of Kosovo attractions, I thought it’d be more useful to provide practical advice for travelling to this tiny pocket of the Balkans. Because Kosovo is not your everyday destination. Once you know how to navigate its peculiarities, I think that you too will find it a terrific place to visit. Below are some of the most important things I think you should know before travelling to Kosovo.

Table of Contents

1. What Not To Talk About

There’s really no other way to start a discussion on travelling to Kosovo than with a question that always comes up: Is Kosovo a country? To tourists this may seem like an innocent question, but in reality it’s a mighty difficulty subject of conservation. Rather than provide my personal opinion as I’m an outsider to it all, I thought I’d explain why this isn’t a topic you want to bring up lightly while in Kosovo.

Kosovo is what’s known as a partially recognised state or disputed territory.  Once part of Yugoslavia, Kosovo remained under control of Serbia after the country’s breakup in the 1990s. In 2008 Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, an act that had been brewing for decades. Serbia disputes this action and continues to claim Kosovo as a territory. 97 UN states currently recognise Kosovo’s independent status, but as Serbia, Russia and China do not recognise it, Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations.

You can now see why raising this topic while in Kosovo and Serbia may cause problems. Depending on who you talk to, you’ll get very different answers and strongly-held beliefs. Matters like this are always a sensitive subject in any part of the world with an unresolved independence movement. People often don’t appreciate outsiders blindly stirring things up for no reason, so it’s best to be mindful of what you say on this matter.

2. Entry and Getting There

Understanding the contentious nature of Kosovo’s statehood is the only way to make sense of the challenges tied with getting to Kosovo. Because if people can’t agree on who controls the borders then how do travellers know what they have to do to cross them?

Ultimately, there’s two different scenarios that travellers have to be aware of when they visit Kosovo. One is when they plan on entering from Serbia; the other is if they want to travel from the neighbouring countries of Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

That’s because Serbia won’t recognise any entry/exit stamps for Kosovo provided by Kosovo border points. As such, if you enter Kosovo from Albania, travel through to Serbia and then try to leave Serbia, it will look to them like you’ve entered the country illegally. That’s a headache that you really want to avoid.

If your plans for Kosovo include Serbia, it’s best to enter and leave via Serbia because of the way the borders are recognised. For crossing between Kosovo and Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, you can mix and match, as these three all recognise Kosovo as an independent state.

As for actually getting to Kosovo, your options are pretty simple. By land you can either drive or use the intercity buses that connect major cities like Pristina and Prizren with elsewhere in the Balkans. Otherwise you can fly to Pristina, home of the main Kosovo airport.

3. Getting Around Kosovo

The good news is that once you arrive in Kosovo, getting around is a bit less complicated. Kosovo is not a large territory and is roughly the same size as its small neighbour Montenegro. That means you won’t have to travel enormous distances to get about, with most places only an hour or so away.

Getting around with your own car or a rental car is likely the most convenient option, but Kosovo does have a useful bus network. I travelled exclusively via public transport during my time there and found the intercity buses reliable and extremely affordable. With the bus network it’s important to realise that Pristina is its main hub, but you will find other routes, such as Prizren to Peja. Those fine with something more adventurous can also try hitchhiking , which my friend and I had success with in a pinch.

4. An Uncrowded Destination

It probably comes as no surprise that Kosovo is a destination not yet struggling with over-tourism. Compared to so many other more popular Balkan destinations, the tourist numbers for Kosovo are a mere drop in the ocean. Sure, part of that is that Kosovo lacks the beaches of Croatia or Albania, and the ski resorts of Bulgaria. But the low tourist numbers actually make it quite a good choice if you’re worried about sustainability and over-tourism.

The places you’re most likely to spot fellow travellers are the cities of Pristina and Prizren. In fact, Prizren is possibly even more popular than the capital due to its historical character and we actually saw a tour group or two there. It was in Prizren that we realised that most of the other tourists in Kosovo we encountered were from German-speaking countries.

We later learned that Kosovo had featured on a popular German travel series. Before that it was surprising to see the overwhelming majority of other travellers being German, especially fellow hikers doing the Peaks of the Balkans . We even got mistaken for German tourists more than once, only to really confuse people when we said we were from Australia instead.

5. A Little Language Goes A Long Way

My philosophy when visiting anywhere is to make an effort when it comes to learning the local language. Even mastering the most basic phrases shows you recognise where you are and goes a little way towards making up for them having to help you in your language. To me it’s a sign of respect first, that also can be useful when you can use what you’ve learned. 

The two official languages for Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian, but you’re most likely to encounter people speaking Albanian. Serbian seems to only be spoken in parts of Kosovo where there is still an ethnic Serbian population, such as around Mitrovica, and at holy sites like Gracanica Monastery and Visoki Decani Monastery. Otherwise it’s Albanian you’ll hear, which makes it the more useful of the two to learn a little of. As for foreign languages, English and German are the most useful for easily getting about.

A few basic phrases to get you started include Tungjatjeta  which means ‘Hello’; Falemenderit for ‘Thank you’; Ju lutem for ‘Please’; Më falni for “Excuse Me” and Po and Jo  for ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.

6. Safety and Friendly People

Because many people still associate Kosovo with the conflict in 1998-1999 and ethnic violence, one of the most common questions is if Kosovo is safe to visit. This honestly tends to happen a bit throughout the Balkans such as in Bosnia Herzegovina. My guess is that it’s because the news from that period is all people know about the region. Generally speaking, those worries are outdated and don’t reflect the Balkans much at all any more.

So, is Kosovo safe? In my limited experience as a white man, yes. I felt just as safe – if not more so – as anywhere in Europe. I admittedly didn’t experience too much of Kosovo’s nightlife or roam city streets at night. But in terms of everyday safety, it felt no different than what I’m used to.

I will say that I felt there was a really positive attitude to visitors and tourists in general. From random offers for coffee while hiking in the Rugova Valley to overly generous guesthouse hosts, there was certainly a feeling of being welcome in Kosovo.

One note that I should make regarding staying safe in Kosovo has to do with northern Kosovo. Read up on travel to Kosovo and you’ll see warnings for the north around Mitrovica regarding issues in the past of violent incidents. We avoided visiting Mitrovica partly for this reason, but I have since heard fellow travellers say they went without issues. If you want to visit northern Kosovo, do your research and make that judgement call for yourself.

7. An Inviting History to Explore

With a place like Kosovo it’s easy to fixate on recent history as that’s what most international visitors are most familiar with. But look past the last thirty years and you learn that the region around Kosovo has quite a fascinating history to explore if you like that sort of thing. No one would fault you for not knowing the history of Kosovo, but it’s easy enough to learn more.

A great place to start is the Kosovo Museum in Pristina, as it showcases artefacts from classical antiquity. There you can learn about the region once known as Dardania and see items from that era. The museum also highlighted Kosovo’s part during World War I, which I also knew little about.

However it’s Kosovo’s time during the Middle Ages and under Ottoman Rule that has produced some of its most impressive attractions. The four UNESCO Medieval Monuments in Kosovo each highlight the region’s importance to Serbian Orthodoxy. Then you have Prizren with its traditional character and its hilltop fortress that had major strategic value for medieval rulers and the Ottomans.

8. The Most Affordable Place in Europe

Having travelled through a fair share of Europe at this point, I feel confident in saying that Kosovo is the most budget-friendly destination I’ve been. The Balkans are well-known for being the most affordable region in Europe for backpackers and the like. And yet, Kosovo takes to it a whole other level that is more reminiscent of Georgia and southeast Asia.

Although not a member of the EU, Kosovo uses the Euro as its currency, which immediately makes life easier for travellers.

Now, you might not notice much difference in things like accommodation from elsewhere in the Balkans. But when it comes to food and things like bus fares, it’s hard to believe the value for money. Intercity bus trips rarely cost more than a few euros and you should have no difficulty finding meals for 5-10€. You’ll have to spoil yourself with a nice restaurant to spend more than that.

9. More To See Than You Realise

The last parting piece of advice I have is that there’s more to see in Kosovo than most people realise. I say this for most places I write about, but it definitely stands true here. Many people just don’t make time for it, either prioritising other countries and/or not knowing what Kosovo has to offer. Most only ever see Pristina and Prizren, but there really is so much more to explore.

If you want to see smaller cities, you can look to Gjakova , Peja and Vushtrri. I can’t recommend the hiking experiences up in Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park highly enough if you don’t mind hills. But there are also smaller spots like the scattered UNESCO sites, the Prishtina Bear Sanctuary and the White Drin Waterfall that are all worth seeking out.

I never knew there were so many places to visit in Kosovo before I went. I’m so glad I allowed the time to explore it in a little more depth and I’m sure you will be too if you do.

Resources for Travel to Kosovo

• Getting There: To find the cheapest and most convenient flights to Kosovo make sure to check Kayak .
• Accommodation: Here you can find hotels, apartments and guesthouses in Kosovo , plus don’t forget Airbnb.
• Tours: There are countless day trips and sightseeing tours available in Kosovo.
• Car Hire: If you want to travel more independently, consider renting a car to drive yourself about.
• Guide Books: Lastly, if you’re after a physical guide to take with you then you can’t beat a Lonely Planet Guide.

What has been your experience when visiting Kosovo? What other advice would you recommend for this Kosovo travel blog post? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Why Not Pin It for Later

David is the author behind the Travelsewhere travel blog and is always on the search for the quieter, less-visited corners of the world.

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Kosovo looks beautiful and, from what we’ve heard from travelers and expats living in America, is a wonderful place to explore. We have some Albanian friends who talk frequently about their visits, and it always makes us want to go! Good advice on getting into/out of Kosovo – didn’t realize it was so tricky. Now we just need to actually get ourselves there! Thanks for the tips!

Regions [ edit ]

Cities [ edit ].

• 42.666667 21.166667 1 Pristina – the capital of Kosovo.
• 42.23 20.74 2 Prizren - the historical and cultural capital of Kosovo. Charming city bustling with various festivals and architecture of different periods.
• 42.65913 20.28828 3 Peja
• 42.3825 20.435556 4 Gjakova
• 42.566667 21.566667 5 Kamenica
• 42.883333 20.866667 6 Mitrovica
• 42.37 21.155 7 Ferizaj
• 42.23194 21.25944 8 Kacanik
• 42.466667 21.466667 9 Gjilani
• 42.911667 21.191667 10 Podujeva
• 42.56667 21.4 11 Novo Brdo
• 42.32139 21.35833 12 Viti

Other destinations [ edit ]

• 42.65829 20.185268 1 Rugova Gorge
• 42.6 21.2 2 Gračanica
• 41.992222 20.706667 3 Brod
• 42.173987 20.962059 4 Prevalla
• 42.399444 20.654722 5 Rahovec — a largely rural region known for vineyards and wine-making
• 42.221944 21.004722 6 Brezovica

Understand [ edit ]

Kosovo was last to go its own way following the break up of former Yugoslavia; it declared independence in February 2008 but Serbia has not recognized it.

By 2019, the Republic of Kosovo was recognized by more than half of the UN member states. The vast majority (92%) of the population is ethnic Albanian. Small minorities include Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, and Gorani. Most Albanians, Bosniaks and Turks, are Muslim, but the Republic of Kosovo is a secular state and all religious groups freely observe their key feasts and celebration dates.

Kosovo is also young in terms of average age of population, with more than 70 percent of its population under the age of 35 (as of 2017).

History [ edit ]

History in Kosovo has been highly politicized and is wrapped up with the histories of its Balkan neighbors.

Control of Kosovo changed hands many times in the medieval period, passing variously from being part of the Bulgarian Empire, Byzantine Empire and the Serbian Empire. From the 15th century Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire for almost 500 years, before the empire collapsed at the beginning of the 20th century. Wars and border disputes continued as Kosovo was annexed into the Kingdom of Serbia, which expanded into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the end of World War I, and changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.

At the end of World War II, and the defeat of the invading Axis powers by socialist partisans, Kosovo became an Autonomous Province in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, led by Josip Broz Tito.

After Tito's death in 1980, and the rise of nationalism throughout Yugoslavia, Kosovo was stripped of its autonomous status at the end of the '80s by the regime of autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic. With Yugoslavia breaking apart, Kosovo's Albanians were stripped of many of their rights during a decade of repression during the 1990s, which ended in the war of 1998-99, as Kosovar Albanians stood up against the Serbian regime to fight for their liberation. A NATO bombing campaign against Serbian military and industrial targets brought the war to an end in June 1999, and led to a period in which Kosovo was administered by the United Nations.

On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, and was quickly recognized by the Western-aligned world powers, including the United States and most member states of the European Union. However Serbia continues to refute Kosovo's independent status. It is also not a member of the United Nations as its independence is not recognized by Russia and China , both of whom have used their veto power on the Security Council to block any UN recognition of Kosovo. Domestically, while ethnic Albanians support Kosovo's independence, most ethnic Serbs do not and still consider Kosovo to be a part of Serbia.

Climate [ edit ]

The climate is continental, with very warm summers and cold and snowy winters.

Religion [ edit ]

Kosovo is a multi-ethnic, secular state whose population practises a diverse selection of religions. The majority Albanian population is mainly Muslim, though with a significant Catholic minority. That said, most ethnic Albanian Muslims do not practice the religion, and view it more as a cultural identity. Kosovo's Bosniak, Gorani and Turkish communities are also predominantly Muslim, while Kosovar Serbs tend to practice Serbian Orthodox Christianity.

Visitor information [ edit ]

• Visit Kosovo

Get in [ edit ]

Citizens of countries such as Albania , Australia , Canada , the European Union , Lebanon , Malaysia , Singapore , South Africa and Turkey do not need a visa, but if you are planning to stay in Kosovo for more than 90 days you should register at the Police Department for the Registration of Foreigners. This is next to the central police station in Pristina. Citizens of other countries that have significantly contributed to the rebuilding of Kosovo probably also do not need visas either, although Kosovo is starting to implement a stricter visa regime. The 90-day rule for the registration of foreigners applies to everybody.

You can enter Kosovo through the northern border with Serbia through Mitrovica or near Pristina . There are bus connections from Belgrade and Nis to Pristina and Prizren and from all the major towns in Serbia to the northern parts. The most used transport route is through North Macedonia and Pristina Airport. Skopje is only one and a half hour from the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina. Travelling from Pristina to any other city of Kosovo does not take longer than an hour and a half. For instance, from Pristina to Prizren by car takes 45 minutes, or to Prizren, Gjakova or Peja by bus takes an hour and a half.

By plane [ edit ]

• Other nearby airports are in Skopje, Nis and Tirana.

By bus [ edit ]

Since most buses will go into Pristina, see according article for more details:

• From Montenegro , you can enter through Rozaje to Peja/Pec (ca. 2 hr).
• From North Macedonia (Skopje), you can take a bus to Pristina (less than 1½ hr).
• There is a border crossing in the Presevo Valley in Serbia .
• There are a couple of companies offering buses from Istanbul , Turkey via Skopje .
• From Albania , you can enter through Prizren on the highway. One way trips from Tirana to Pristina and Prizren cost €15 (as of 2022/23) and take 3-4 hr, with two stops.

By train [ edit ]

There are also trains crossing the Kosovo border. Two daily services connects Kraljevo in Serbia with all towns in northern Kosovo. Connections from Beograd are possible but includes a long stay between train at Kraljevo, thus bringing the journey to more than 12 hours for 399 km. Serbian Railways run a twice daily service from Kraljevo, Serbia to Zvecan (just after Mitrovica). Check their homepage for details.

By car [ edit ]

International Motor Insurance Cards are not accepted. At the border you will need to pay for separate insurance, which will cover you throughout Kosovo for up to two weeks. Costs depend on the vehicle but two weeks' cover is usually under €20. Ensure also that you have your vehicle registration and a power of attorney from the car's owner if it is not yours.

From Serbia during the summer holidays in Germany and Switzerland expect long queues at the border crossing in Merdare (up to 3 hours). You also can enter to the country at Dheu i Bardhe near Bujanoc and at Jarinje near Nis.

From Montenegro, the only legal border crossing is at Rozhaja.

From North Macedonia you can enter near Hani i Elezit in Bllaca or at Bellanice (Stanqiq).

From Albania you can cross at Morine or at Qafa e Prushit near Gjakova.

Get around [ edit ]

The best way to travel intercity in Kosovo is by bus. The buses are relatively cheap and comfortable (for example from Pristina to Peja is €4), with discounts available for students. Payment is usually made on the bus to a representative of the bus company coming around once the journey has started - you may or may not receive a physical ticket, depending on the company. However, tickets for crossing the border can be bought in the bus station in Pristina and with travel agents in Prizren. The latter sometimes gives you the opportunity for a slight discount, in case you know the actual fare (see Gjirafa).

Between some cities you may also have the option of minivans, running from nearby the main bus station. These leave when full and are usually a similar price to the regular buses.

For major regional (but also country crossing) bus connections see Gjirafa for times and prices. It won't cover minibuses though, which also run but mostly between or to and from smaller towns.

The only connections seem to be two daily trains from Pristina to Peja which are a comfortable way to make this journey (€3).

The timetable is available (not working as of 2 April 2023) at the Kosovo Railways website.

Major construction of highways in the 2010s has cut car travel times between major cities significantly, and more highways are being built and improved.

Driving in Kosovo, particularly in cities, can be a little stressful to begin with, and it can be best to go in with the attitude of "expect the unexpected." Pedestrians crossing in front of you unexpectedly, cyclists coming towards you on the wrong side of the road, and potholes appearing out of nowhere are all familiar sights, as are just-in-time overtaking maneuvers and swerving lane-changes, while roundabouts bring with them their own unique customs. You are likely to quickly get used to it, though, and as long as you stay alert - and look out for sudden changes in road surfaces - you should be fine!

Parking can be a challenge, particularly in Prishtina and major cities, but there are plenty of informal car parks (at €1-2 for the day), where your vehicle should be safe. Lots of locals choose to park up at the side of the road, on pavements, or wherever there are a few square meters, although the police have begun to remove illegally parked vehicles in some areas.

Road signs and place names usually appear in both Albanian and Serbian, although it is not uncommon for the minority language to be scratched out – a useful indication of the majority population of the area you're in.

By taxi [ edit ]

It is best to use registered taxis as they have fixed prices and are metered. Registered taxis are clearly marked with a company name and phone number printed on the vehicle. Unregistered taxis are usually cars with a yellow taxi sign affixed to the roof, they are safe, but the price is entirely at the driver's discretion. For more information on taxi companies see the pages for individual cities.

By ride sharing [ edit ]

Udhë is trying to establish something like BlaBlaCar for Kosovo. The offers are sparse, but using it might grow its popularity. At least between Pristina and Prizren, there are several offers.

By thumb [ edit ]

Hitchhiking is not as easy as it is in Albania—locals rarely do it and since COVID sentiments have been impacted negatively. But considering most Kosovars are a young bunch of folk with many speaking English or even German, their curiosity should do the trick.

As always, consider the regular advices for Hitchhiking and watch out for any Scams .

Talk [ edit ]

Most people in Kosovo speak Albanian , while in Serb-majority areas, such as the north, Serbian is spoken - both are official languages and appear on road signs, etc.

Young people, particularly in the major cities such as Pristina and Prizren, are likely to understand English, whereas the older generation are more likely to understand German .

Turkish can be useful, and the Turkish minority which is concentrated mainly in Prizren speaks both Turkish and Albanian.

See [ edit ]

• 42.524036 20.600299 1 Mirusha Waterfalls ( Ujëvarat e Mirushës ) ( Located between Prishtina and Gjakova, on the way to Kline. Take the Prishtina-Gjakova bus and ask to be dropped off at Ujëvarat e Mirushës then walk ~3 km inland ). It has a nice and interesting hike and even climb across metal bars along a cascade of 16 waterfalls and visible stone strata, with a new and nice bridge at the "end" after which you can continue in summer when the water is low, using the wires to hold on tight. On the way back stop at the restaurant near the road for fish and relaxation. Or if you are a keen hiker/climber continue the trail from the rest area up the mountain, which will lead onto a regular trail down again meeting with dirt road after 1 km or so. Free . ( updated Dec 2022 )
• 42.738049 20.305781 2 Waterfall of the Drini River ( Radavc ) ( Located north of Peja behind the Berdynaj village ). During the summer, this place is fantastic, and the road to the river is an amazing, narrow road with wires on one side and the river on the other; this is a great part of Kosovo. ( updated Jun 2017 )
• 42.661256 20.265298 3 The Pec Patriarchy ( The Peć patriarchy lies 2 km to the northwest of the Peja (Pec) city center. ). This location was the seat of the Patriarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church for about 200 years of its history and for many Serbs is considered to be of extreme national importance. It is a beautiful monastery with many spectacular paintings. If you go, dress conservatively. ( updated Jun 2017 )
• 42.700138 20.144463 4 Rugova Gorge ( to the northwest of Peja, it can be found by following the same road that leads to the Pec Patriarchy, just drive further ). The canyon has extremely steep walls reaching possibly up to 300 meters. ( updated Jun 2017 )
• 42.38071 20.42691 5 Gjakova Old Bazaar . A very beautiful old "shopping center" from 17th century. It was burned down during the war in 1999 and has been reconstructed. Also in the center of the bazaar is located an old mosque that was built in the 15th century. It is one of the rarest of its kind. An architectural and cultural complex, with a length of 1 km, including a space of about 35,000m 2 , it holds a large number of crafts-work shops. free .  
• 42.891256 20.866002 6 The Mitrovica Bridge . An interesting symbol of the division of the population in Kosovo. This bridge is the dividing line between Serbs and Albanians in Mitrovica. It will almost always be safe to approach the bridge and look at it. ( updated Jun 2017 )
• 42.181962 21.031866 7 Brezovica Ski Centre . Old infrastructure but great slopes, located in Southern Kosova. Go there from Prizren or from Prishtina through Ferizaj. ( updated Jun 2017 )

• 42.615156 21.417214 8 Novobrda ( Artana ), 16000 Novobërda , ☏ +383 44 465 471 , [email protected] . In Latin documents written as Novus Mons, Nova Monte in some documents by Republic of Ragusa, and in Saxon miners' documents as Nyeuberghe was mentioned in the historical documents as early as 1326. Novo Brdo was a metropolis at the time, with a huge medieval fortress built on the top of an extinct volcano cone, the remains of which can be visited today, and residential sections sprawling all around. In the outer wall of the fortress, a large cross is visible, built into the stones. The castle, or fortress, was thought at one point to have dated back to the Byzantine Empire. First of June 1455 Novo Berda was sieged by Ottoman Empire for the second time where the last Despot in Fortress was Lekë Shpani (Alessio Span) Albanian, son of Pjeter Spani from Principality of Drishti (Drivast) Albania. ( updated Jun 2017 )
• 42.595875 21.175117 9 Ulpiana ( from Prishtina, head towards Gracanica, make a right downtown towards Ulpiana ). One of the oldest cities in the Balkan peninsula, is 20–30 minutes away from Pristina towards Gjilan. It was re-constructed by Emperor Justinian I. ( updated Jun 2017 )

Medieval monuments [ edit ]

A UNESCO World Heritage listing consisting of four religious edifices:

• Gračanica Monastery near Prishtina – One of the most beautiful examples of Serbian medieval (14th c.) ecclesiastical architecture. This monastery was built by the Serbian king Milutin in the Serbo-Byzantine style, reportedly its shape being inspired by a cloud. It is noted for its frescoes, and being the only medieval Serbian monastery found in an urban setting complete with an old school and archives.
• Decani Monastery in western Kosovo – One of the most important monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. It is famous for its elegant and peculiar architecture. As an orthodox monastery from the 13th century, it successfully mixes western and eastern church building elements to form a particular hybrid style only known on the territory of old Serbia. This monastery is particularly noted for some of the world's finest medieval frescoes adorning its walls.
• Monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć in Peja , northwestern Kosovo.
• Our Lady of Ljeviš – in Prizren , southern Kosovo.

Do [ edit ]

Though Kosovo is not yet well known for its tourism, this is changing rapidly and definitely has something to offer for every type of traveller. Surrounded by high mountains and still coming into its statehood, Kosovo is easily accessible in many aspects and one of the cheapest European destinations to travel. With cross-border hiking trails like the Via Dinarica and Peaks of the Balkans bringing an influx of new visitors to Kosovo that can be traversed in a day, but can take years to fully absorb, now is the perfect time to discover the potential of this once-unknown region. Exploring Kosovo's rural areas you will find a land rich in stunning scenery, cultural heritage and exceptional hospitality. Visitors can enjoy hiking over the jagged Sharri, Pashtrik and the Accursed Mountains, ski pristine and less-trodden slopes in Brezovica, appreciate the well-preserved Ottoman architecture of Prizren, sample raki or homemade wine around Rahovec, visit a traditional stone Kulla in Junik or Drenoc, dive into the coffee-drinking culture in one of Prishtina’s many wonderful cafés, or explore both Islam and Orthodox Christianity at beautiful monasteries and mosques (sometimes found side by side) around Kosovo. As a place full of lively cafés and wide-ranging restaurants, a thriving outdoor adventure scene, the warmest locals you can imagine and some of the cheapest prices across a vast region, Kosovo definitely deserves the attention not only of the intrepid, but of anyone looking to avoid the regular tourist traps.

• GuideKS ( Kosovo Tourist Guides Association ), [email protected] , ☏ +38349372639 , [email protected] . umbrella organization of tourist guides in Kosovo. They will put you in touch with a local guide suitable for your activity. ( updated May 2022 )

In general, Kosovo offers various activity-based tourism:

• Winter sports
• Paraglading

Buy [ edit ]

Money [ edit ].

Kosovo uses the euro , like several other European countries . One euro is divided into 100 cents. The official symbol for the euro is €, and its ISO code is EUR. There is no official symbol for the cent.

All banknotes and coins of this common currency are legal tender within all the countries, except that low-denomination coins (one and two cent) are phased out in some of them. The banknotes look the same across countries, while coins have a standard common design on the reverse, expressing the value, and a national country-specific design on the obverse. The obverse is also used for different designs of commemorative coins. The design of the obverse does not affect the coin's acceptability.

ATM generally charge €5 for any money withdrawal. The exception is Credins Bank , which however is only available in Prishtina, Prizren and Ferizaj.

Credit cards are not widely accepted.

Money exchange is available in most cities and larger towns.

In Serbian-majority municipalities [ edit ]

The Serbian dinar is used in the Serbian-majority municipalities in Kosovo. Exchange offices are found almost everywhere. Note that in these locations while euros are accepted generally, all prices are listed in dinars.

In Albanian-majority municipalities [ edit ]

The Albanian lek is used in the Albanian-majority municipalities in Kosovo. Exchange offices are found almost everywhere. Note that in these locations while euros are accepted generally, all prices are listed in leks.

Shopping [ edit ]

Souvenirs [ edit ].

There are many options: From fine handcrafted Filigree silver to traditional Albanian wool hats (a plis ) and musical instruments (the stringed ciftelia ). Local food and drink specialties to take home could include honey, raki , a high strength alcohol distilled from fruit, ajvar , a pepper based spread or feferona , spicy local peppers.

Tipping [ edit ]

In Kosovo generally tipping is not expected from locals, but as it is done by foreigners, it is welcome. In more upmarket venues it might be more likely for tipping to be expected. In taxis you can tip to the nearest euro or half euro.

Eat [ edit ]

Best restaurants to eat at are those that are located in the villages near by big cities; they tend to have the best meat dishes and the best sea food. Trout, seabass and salmon fish are very common and popular and are kept fresh in their pools and are nearly always fried when you order. Prices are pretty average and, for some countries' nationals, cheap.

Lots of great burek (baked pastry stuffed with cheese, meat or spinach). Try the drinkable yogurt (Ayran) — it's superb. Lots of kebabs and other Ottoman Turkish style food.

As far as you are in an Albanian territory, you could try Albanian food as well. Fli, a very good pastry, can be found in different traditional restaurants.

At the bakery, you can buy a fantastic loaf of bread for under €1.

The grocery stores have a plentiful supply of Western food.

Drink [ edit ]

Beer brewed in Peja and named after the city of its origin can be found across Kosovo. Peja Premium is a slightly stronger beer from the same brewery but less widely available. Other local beers include Grembeer and Prishtina.

Kosovo was known for wine production with vineyards in its southwest in the Rahovec-Suhareka region, with Stonecastle one of the larger wine producers. Even though the Albanians are predominantly of Muslim heritage, attitudes to drinking are quite liberal.

Raki is another alcoholic beverage popular in Kosovo. It is made from local fruits (most commonly from grape, plum, pear and quince).

Non-alcoholic:

Yogurt/ayran is a common local drink and is often consumed with pastries. Boza is a malt drink from fermented maize (corn) and wheat and often drank with cakes and pastries.

Local company Frutomania produce 100% natural juices, alongside traditional fruit drinks like limonata (from lemons) and boronica (from blueberries).

Sleep [ edit ]

Accommodation in Kosovo can be expensive in hotels, but in Pristina, Prizren, Peja and Gjakova in particular, cheap accommodation (hostels or apartments) are very easy to find.

Accommodation options:

• Small hotels (motels)
• Two- and three-star hotels (more common)
• Three five-star hotels in Pristina.

Guesthouses are also dotted around throughout Kosovo, offering inexpensive alternatives.

Stay safe [ edit ]

People in general are friendly and hospitable to tourists and you generally do not need to worry about crime. Since the end of the war, more than 200,000 international workers from over the world have worked in Kosovo and local people are used to foreigners.

Don't let the politics stop you from visiting; tensions have risen now and then since the turn of century, but nearly all have been in the divided city of Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo. There is an international 5,000-person NATO peacekeeping force (a reinforcement was sent in June 2023).

Like in much of the Balkans, land mines were heavily used during the Yugoslav wars. Mines were a major problem in Kosovo in the first four years after the war; now they are generally left in remote areas and there are clear signs advising not to enter a certain space. Most of the mined areas are places where conflict took place (rural Central Kosovo and the Kosovo–Albania border region). Before hiking and camping, ask in order to make sure it's not an area that may still have mines. Most hiking and camping takes place in areas where the war did not occur, like the Sharr mountains, where there is a ski and camping resort.

As with the region as a whole, homophobia is fairly widespread and public displays of affection are almost non-existent.

Stay healthy [ edit ]

It is possible for foreigners to obtain treatment at the public hospital in Pristina (staff from your accommodation may come in handy as translators). However, the state of the hospital is far from ideal: the toilets have no soap, infusions are hanging from improvised stands. Kosovo has no public health insurance system and you will be required to pay your bill in cash. A visit to the doctor and a few pills from the pharmacy will cost you around €20. If you know what you need you may visit the pharmacy directly as no prescription is needed.

Tap water in most cities is safe and drinkable.

Connect [ edit ]

You can buy a local SIM card for €3, with the two major carriers being Vala and Ipko. You must provide an ID (passport) and register.

Many mobile providers in the Balkans provide free roaming across Balkan countries. So, in case you are planning to cross the border, ask on how to use the local SIM card in other Balkan countries. For instance, a One.al SIM card from Albania works flawlessly in North Macedonia and Kosovo with a regular Albanian package.

Most bars, cafes and restaurants have free Wi-Fi connection that customers can use.

Go next [ edit ]

Kosovo has easy access to destinations in neighboring countries such as Skopje in North Macedonia, Northeastern Albania and North Montenegrin Mountains .

There are direct bus links to major cities in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Albania, Turkey, North Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.

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Enlargement countries - tourism statistics

Data extracted in May 2023.

Planned article update: May 2024.

There were more than 1.9 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across Western Balkans and Türkiye in 2021, with 1.7 million in Türkiye alone. In comparison, there were 12.1 million in the EU.

The number of hotel bed places grew in all Western Balkans and Türkiye from 2011 to 2021, (available data).

In 2021 almost 30.9m tourists arrived at hotels in Western Balkans and Türkiye, 26% less than 41.6 million arrivals in 2019 (Serbia not included), still 2.2 times more than 2020, due to Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions.

Arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments, 2020 and 2021 (arrivals per thousand inhabitants)

• Country codes: TR = Türkiye; AL = Albania; BA = Bosnia and Herzegovina; MK = North Macedonia; RS = Serbia; ME = Montenegro; XK = Kosovo*
• * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence
• Note: countries are ranked based on 2021 data.
• EU: arrivals of non-residents: 2020: estimate. Population: 2020 and 2021: estimates.
• Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo: arrivals of non-residents : data supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authorities.
• Albania: Arrivals of non-residents: 2020 and 2021: estimates.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: population: 2018 data instead of 2020 and 2021. 2020 and 2021: provisional.
• Montenegro: 2021: not available. Arrivals of non-residents: 2017 data instead of 2020.
• Kosovo: arrivals of non-residents: 2021: provisional. Population: 2020 data instead of 2021. 2020 and 2021: estimates.
• Source: Eurostat (online data code: tour_occ_arnat and demo_gind) and Eurostat data collection

This article is part of an online publication and provides information on a range of tourism statistics for the for the Western Balkans and Türkiye and compares this with the corresponding data for the European Union (EU) . Within this region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Türkiye are candidate countries, while Kosovo* has the status of potential candidate.

Data for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, granted candidate status or European perspective by the European Council in June 2022, are not included in this article ; Statistics Explained articles on the European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries are available here .

This article highlights recent developments concerning the capacity of the tourism sector in these countries, in terms of the number of bed places available in hotels and similar accommodation establishments, the number of arrivals of non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments and the number of trips made by outbound tourists . It also provides data on different aspects of employment in the tourism sector, more specifically within the ‘ Accommodation ’ sub-sector.

Tourism plays an important role because of its economic and employment potential, as well as its social and environmental implications. Tourism statistics are not only used to monitor tourism policies but also regional and sustainable development policies.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Full article

Tourism infrastructure.

There were more than 1.9 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the Western Balkans and Türkiye in 2021; 89 % of these were in Türkiye

The number of bed places available in hotels and similar tourist accommodation establishments provides one measure of a country’s capacity to attract tourists . In this context, it should be noted that official tourism statistics include business travellers as tourists, alongside individuals travelling for pleasure or other reasons. In 2021, the tourism sector in Western Balkans and Türkiye offered a combined total of more than 1.9 million bed places. By comparison, there were 12.1 million bed places in hotels and similar establishments across the EU in 2021. In Türkiye alone, there were 1.7 million bed places available, 89.0 % of the total among these countries. The second largest capacity was found in Albania with 85 000 bed places, corresponding to 4.5 % of the total, and the third highest found in Serbia (53 000; 2.8 %). The capacity of bed places was relatively at the similar level in Bosnia and Herzegovina (33 000) and North Macedonia (24 000), with Kosovo* at around half of this level (12 000).

The number of hotel bed places offered increased in all the Western Balkans and Türkiye in the decade from 2011 to 2021; no 2021 data available for Montenegro.

Throughout the decade from 2011 to 2021, Türkiye was by far the largest supplier of tourism capacity, in terms of the number of bed places available in hotels and similar accommodation, among the WBT countries. However, Türkiye is also a much larger country than the others. As can be seen in Figure 1, in 2021 the tourism sector was much more important in Montenegro (59.5 bed places per thousand inhabitants) and Albania (30.2) than in Türkiye (19.9), when the capacity in bed places in hotels are measured relative to the population size. Measured like this, the tourism sector also had higher importance in the EU (27.1) than in Türkiye. All these countries, as in the EU, can offer tourism in mountain regions as well as in coastal regions with beaches, in addition to sites of historical and cultural interest, thus offering a wide range of tourism types. The relative capacity of bed places was at a lower level in North Macedonia (12.5), Bosnia and Herzegovina (both 9.5), Serbia (both 7.7), as well as Kosovo (6.6).

By 2021, compared to 2011, the number of bed places relative to the population size had increased in all of the Western Balkans and Türkiye with Montenegro the only exception with a decrease by 9 % from 65.7 bed places per thousand inhabitants in 2011 to 59.5 in 2019 (no later data available).

In contrast, the bed place capacity in Albania increased by almost 5 times or 362 % from 6.5 in 2011 to 30.2 in 2021. Thus, from having almost the lowest capacity of bed places relative to the population in 2011, Albania had the second highest capacity among these countries (both relative to the population and in absolute numbers) in 2021. In addition to an increased interest in Albania as a tourist destination, this apparent increase reflected efforts by the government to formalise the economy and stimulate the tourist accommodation sector. A value added tax reform in November 2017 reduced the VAT rate applicable to tourist accommodation services from the standard 20 % VAT rate to 6 %. However, in order to benefit from the reduced rate, the tourist accommodation services had to be registered in separate companies without other economic activities. The threshold for compulsory VAT registration was also lowered from ALL 5 million to ALL 2 million turnover per calendar year. As a result, many bed places not previously captured by the statistics were registered from 2018, creating a break in the time series.

In comparison, the relative capacity in the EU increased by 5 % from 25.8 to 27.1 over the same period.

Figure 2 shows that the number of bed places in the Western Balkans and Türkiye followed quite different development paths throughout the decade 2011-2021. North Macedonia was the only country to experience an increase in the number of bed places for each year of this period. All the other countries experienced years in which the number of bed places declined, particularly in the early years of this period.

In Montenegro, an initial sharp fall by -15.0 points from 2011 to 2012, was followed by the period 2016 to 2019, when the bed places index fluctuated, with year-on-year changes ranging between -0.4 points (2018) and +2 (2017) compared to 2011; in 2019 (latest year available) the bed places index increase was at 1.7 from previous years.

The number of bed places offered specially decreased compared with the previous year in both 2012 and 2013 in Albania; the same applied Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012, and Kosovo in 2018 (data only available from 2016 onwards). A striking feature is the sharp drop in the number of bed places offered in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2019 to 2020, by -29 points, which may reflect the first effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on accommodation capacity. In 2011 Albania had the second lowest number of tourist accommodation bed places among the WBT countries relative to its population size. Thus, relative moderate year-on-year changes in the number of bed places resulted in relatively large year-on-year swings in the index based on the 2011 number. In 2012, the index fell by -16 points and -26 points in 2013, before rising again by 16 points in 2014. Following a break in data availability in 2016-2017, the November 2017 tourism accommodation-specific VAT tax reform had a profound effect on the registration of tourist accommodation bed places, implying a sharp break in the index time series. The index value jumped from 79 in 2015 to 411 in 2019, which is 5.5 times higher. The index value continued to grow rapidly, up 21.0 points from 2019 to 2020 and a further 15 points from 2020 to 2021. These index values (411 in 2019; 432 in 2020; and 447 in 2021) are too high to be presented in Figure 2.

The number of bed places in hotel accommodation remained relatively stable in Serbia (index: 2012 = 100.0) throughout the decade 2012-2021, with the index value moving within the range 110 (2013) to 105 (2021). The most substantial changes were a rise by 10 points from 2012 to 2013, which was countered by less essential falls by -3 points in the following year and by -2 points between 2014 and 2018.

In Türkiye, the index of bed places offered (2013 = 100.0) recorded small increases between 2013 and 2014 by 8 points, followed by a steep increase by 58 points between 2014 and 2016. Continued by substantial increase by 26 points in 2017, the index rose again by 5 points in 2018 and continued to increase at a more moderate pace until 2019 showing bigger rises between 2019 and 2020 - by 8 points and 2020 and 2021 - by 12 points.

The index on bed places for Bosnia and Herzegovina fell by -12 points from 2011 to 2012. In the following years, the offer of tourist accommodation bed places grew steadily, with year-on-year rises each year, with two-digit increases in 2013 (11 points), 2016 (14 points) and 2017 (11 points). However, from 2019 to 2020, a sharp drop was recorded in the index (-30 points), possibly reflecting the first effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the supply of tourist accommodation. It was followed by rather substantial rise between 2020 and 2021 by 19 points.

For Kosovo, data on the number of bed places available in tourist accommodation establishments are available from 2016 onwards. These were the lowest numbers recorded in WBT countries in 2016-2021. As a result, relatively moderate changes in the absolute number of bed places were reflected in major swings in the index, which is based on 2016 for Kosovo (2016 = 100.0). The index was at the same level in 2017 and then fell year-on-year by about 3 points from 2017 to 2018, before rising by 8 points the following year. Then the level flatlined and remained unchanged in 2020 before rising by almost 3 points in 2021.

The number of tourist accommodation bed places offered in the EU grew slowly throughout the period 2011 to 2019, with the index value increasing by between 0.3 points (2016) and 1.6 points (2019) year-on-year. However, from 2019 to 2020, the index fell by -3.8 points; again, this could be a sign of a negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism. However, it started to recover and showed a moderate rise by 2.0 points in 2021.

Non-resident arrivals

Almost 30.9 million non-residents arrived at hotels and similar establishments in Western Balkans and Türkiye in 2021, up by 2.2 times or 123 % compared to the year before and down by 28 % compared to pre pandemic 2019 (Serbia was not accounted)

In 2021, there were 30.9 million arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments across the Western Balkans and Türkiye (see Table 2). This represented a fall by 28 % compared to 2019, when there were 41.6 million arrivals but also a rise by 123 % compared to 2020, when strict restrictions on travel and tourism were introduced in most countries due to the Covid-19. Between 2020 and 2021 all the Western Balkans and Türkiye recorded a sharp increase in the number of non-resident tourists arriving at hotels and similar establishments; all countries except of Serbia recorded more than 100% rise. Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded the highest increases of -156 %, with North Macedonia (148 %) experienced also almost 150% rise. Both Albania and Türkiye, which have by far the largest tourism sectors among these countries, experienced a slightly lower increases in arrivals of non-residents, by 133 % and 123 %, respectively. Albeit slightly less, a trend of growth of the number of arrivals by 113 % in Kosovo and 98 % in Serbia happened between 2020 and 2021.

The number of arrivals of non-residents had been growing steadily in Türkiye, from 14.2 million arrivals in 2016 to 38.8 million in 2019, followed by a fell to 12.8 million in 2020, before rising up to 28.5 million in 2021. This corresponded to 92.3 % to all arrivals of non-residents in the Western Balkans and Türkiye in 2021. Serbia recorded a fall from 1.1 million arrivals in 2016 to 392 000 in 2020 and then rose to 776 000 in 2021. Bosnia and Herzegovina reported a similar trend, from 1.1 million in 2019 to 189 000 in 2020 and reached 485 000 in 2021. There is no recent data for Montenegro, the number of non-residents’ arrivals had been growing from year to year from 524 million in 2011 to 795 000 in 2017. Albania recorded 656 000 arrivals in 2021 (down from 736 000 in 2019 and up from 281 000 in 2020), North Macedonia 284 000 (down from 725 000 in 2019 and up from 115 000 in 2020) and Kosovo 181 000 (up from both periods: 177 000 in 2019 and 85 000 in 2020).

In comparison, there was a total of 112 million arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments in the EU in 2021; 2,8 times down from 316 million in 2019 and almost 35% more than 83 million (2020 data).

Figure 3 compares the number of arrivals of non-residents at hotels and similar establishments relative to the number of (resident) inhabitants between 2011 and 2021. In order to better reflect the extraordinary effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism in 2020, Figure 3 also includes 2020 data for direct comparison. Relative to the population, the tourism sector had the highest importance in Türkiye, which previously recorded a dramatic fall from 2019 to 2020, from 285 to 153, respectively; but absolutely recovered in 2021 with 342 arrivals per thousand inhabitants, a value 20% higher than in 2011. The arrivals of non-residents also strongly increased in Albania from 2020 to 2021 (from 99 to 231 – no data for 2011), in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2011 to 2021 (from 101 to 139), in Serbia (from 98 to 113) and in Kosovo (from 17 to 101). North Macedonia was the only country where the number of non-resident arrivals per thousand inhabitants was lower in 2021 (137) than it had been in 2011 (146), but was still rather higher than in 2020 (55). Montenegro showed 1279 arrivals per thousand inhabitants in 2017 (latest data available), an increase of 51% compared to 2011.

In the EU, there were 251 arrivals of non-residents per thousand inhabitants in 2021 up from 186 in 2020. In 2011, the EU had welcomed 509 arrivals of non-residents per thousand inhabitants 2 times more than in 2021.

The index based on 2011 data on the number of arrivals of non-resident at hotels and similar, presented in Figure 4, shows the development in the Western Balkans and Türkiye from 2011 to 2021. Generally, the trend was upwards year-on-year, with only some instances of decline compared to the previous year.

The sharp falls in arrivals from 2019 to 2020, a direct effect of the Covid-19 pandemic through the restrictions imposed on travelling and on accommodation of tourists and other travellers, can be clearly seen for all WBT countries, with large drops for all. Particularly stark falls can be seen for North Macedonia (-84 %) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (-83 %). There were also dramatic falls in tourist arrivals, although not quite as sharp, in Türkiye (-67 %), Albania (-62 %) and Kosovo (-52 %). However, it should be noted that the number of arrivals in Kosovo already fell in 2019; thus, there may have been additional factors contributing to the sharp decline for Kosovo.

Outbound tourism

Tourists and other travellers from Türkiye made 2.7 million outbound trips in 2021

Table 3 presents the most recent available data on the outward flow of tourists travelling abroad from the Western Balkans and Türkiye and from the EU. Data are not available for the potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Among the five candidate countries, the highest number of outbound tourist trips was recorded for Türkiye, the most populous of these countries, with 2.7 million in 2021. There were 846 000 outbound trips made by tourists from Serbia (2018 data), 291 000 from Albania (2020 data) and 261 000 from North Macedonia.

Considering the share of the population that went on outbound tourism trips shows a quite different picture. The highest share of the population going abroad on tourism trip among the data available was recorded in of North Macedonia with 18.2 % in 2019 and 13.4 % in 2021 of the population going on such trips. At lower level was Albania, with 36.2 % in 2019 and 10.3% in 2020. The population Serbia (12.1 %; 2018 data) and Türkiye (11.7 % in 2019 and 3.3% in 2021) also went abroad to a lower degree.

The EU was the destination for around two thirds of the outbound trips made by the inhabitants of most of these countries. Tourists from Serbia travelled to an EU Member States on 69 % (2018 data) of their outbound trips; in Albania this share was 47 %(2020 data) and in North Macedonia 41 %. Data on where the trips were going, whether to the EU or to other parts of the world, are not available for Türkiye. There are no data available for Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro and Kosovo.

EU tourists made 134 million non-domestic trips in 2021; 81 % of these trips, or 109.3 million trips, went to other EU Member States. Note that EU data for this indicator are estimates and only refer to persons aged 15 years or older.

Employment in the tourism sector

In Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye, there were fewer self-employed persons in accommodation and food services than in the general economy. In the EU, the opposite was the case.

The tourism sector is an important source of employment in many regions, also within the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Figure 5 shows the different categories of persons employed (employees; self-employed persons; contributing family workers) in the overall economy and compares this with a key section of the tourism sector: accommodation and food services activities (NACE Rev. 2 Section I). This section comprises accommodation (NACE Rev. 2 division I.55), covering hotels and similar establishments as well as other holiday and short-stay accommodation and camping grounds and recreational vehicle parks, and food services activities (NACE Rev. 2 division I.56), covering restaurants and mobile food services, event catering and other food services, as well as serving of beverages.

Data on the characteristics of the persons employed in the tourism sector are available for the EU and EU Member States as well as for the candidate countries Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye through the Labour force survey (LFS) .

In all four countries for which data are available, the rates of self-employed persons and of contributing family members are lower in accommodation and food services than in the general economy.

Türkiye had the highest share of self-employed persons in accommodation and food services among these countries. However, the share of 19.3 % was lower than in Türkiye’s general economy (21.0 %; 2020 data, the latest available). This is the same for contributing family members; the share in accommodation and food services of 5.0 % in 2020 was the highest among these four candidate countries, but lower than the share of 9.2 % in the economy as a whole. It should be noted that data on contributing family members in accommodation and food services are available only for North Macedonia and Türkiye, but not for Montenegro and Serbia.

The second highest rate of self-employed persons in accommodation and food services was recorded in Montenegro, with 17.1 % in 2020 (no 2021 data), 2.0  percentage points (pp) lower than in the general economy (19.1 %). Data on contributing family members are not available for accommodation and food services, but stood at 2.4 % in the economy as a whole (2020 data).

North Macedonia had a level of self-employed persons in accommodation and food services of 12.7 % (2020 data); in comparison, this rates stood at 13.9 % in the general economy of North Macedonia. In North Macedonia, 2.4 % of the persons employed in accommodation and foodservices were contributing family members, compared to 4.3 % in the economy as a whole (2020 data).

It was closely followed by Serbia with 12.6 % in 2021 while the general economy rate was at 17.0 %. Data on contributing family members are not available for accommodation and food services, but accounted 6.0 % in the economy as a whole.

In contrast, in the EU there was a higher rate of self-employed persons and a higher rate of contributing family members in accommodation and food services than in the general economy. In 2021, 17.8 % of the employed in accommodation and food services in the EU were self-employed, while 1.4 % were family members. In the general economy in the EU, these rates stood at 13.8 % and 0.7 %, respectively.

The tourism sector is often characterised by high seasonality, with the level of employment varying over the year. This may lead to a relatively high share of temporary employment contracts (also known as fixed-term contracts or limited contracts) for the persons employed in this sector. From the LFS, data are available on this aspect for the accommodation sector for Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye, as well as for the EU.

In Türkiye and North Macedonia (both 2020 data), only a small minority of the persons employed in the accommodation sector has a temporary (limited) employment contract. In both cases, the share of temporary contracts was close to the overall shares in the economy. In Türkiye, the share with a temporary contract was 11.6 %, compared to 10.8 % in the economy as a whole, while in North Macedonia the shares were 16.7 % in the accommodation sector and 17.8 % in the general economy.

In contrast, in Serbia the share of the employed with only a temporary contract was nearing one third (30.3 %) in the accommodation sector in 2021. This was substantially higher than in the economy as a whole, where the share of temporary contracts was 7.4 pp less at 22.9 %. However, the largest difference in the prevalence of temporary contracts were recorded in Montenegro, where 41.1 % of the employed in the accommodation sector had only a limited employment contract in 2020, 10.5 pp higher than in the general economy (30.6 %).

In the EU, almost one quarter (23.9 %) of the employees in the accommodation sector had a temporary employment contract in 2021. In comparison, only 14.1 % of the employed in the general economy had to cope with a temporary employment contract, a difference of 9.8 pp.

In the tourism sector, there is in many cases a quite high turnover of the persons employed, reflected in a relatively large share of persons employed that have stayed less than two years in their current job with the same employer and within the same NACE Rev. 2 economic activity. There may be different reasons for this, including the salary level, the extent of limited contracts, the seasonality of the work, or job security in cases of external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Figure 7 presents data on the tenure, i.e. the length of time an employee has been with the same employer, in the accommodation sector and compares this to the corresponding data for the whole economy.

Türkiye stands out among these countries, with 43.1 % of the persons employed in the accommodation sector having spent less than 2 years at their current work place (2020 data). However, this is a general feature of the Turkish economy; 39.4 % of persons employed had stayed less than 2 years in their current job, a difference of just 3.7 pp.

The difference between the accommodation sector and the general economy was much more profound in Serbia and Montenegro. In both countries, almost a third of the persons employed in the accommodation sector had less than 2 years tenure with their current employer, considerably higher than the average in their respective economies: while a tenure of less than 2 years concerned 32.9 % of the employees in the accommodation sector in Serbia in 2021, this share was 25.3 % in the general economy, a difference of 7.6 pp; in Montenegro, the difference was even larger; the rate in the accommodation sector (32.1 %; 2020 data) was 11.0 pp higher than in the economy as a whole (21.1 %).

In North Macedonia, there was little difference between the accommodation sector and the general economy: while 23.4 % of the employed had stayed less than 2 years with their current employer in general, it was 23.1 in the accommodation sector (2020 data).

In 2021, nearly one third (31.5 %) of the employed in the accommodation sector in the EU had worked less than 2 years in the same activity for the same employer, while this was case for almost one quarter (23.0 %) of the employed in general.

Source data for tables and graphs

Data sources

The enlargement countries are expected to increase the volume and quality of their data progressively, and to transmit these data to Eurostat and the wider ESS in the context of the EU accession process. The final objective of the EU in relation to official statistics is to obtain harmonised, high-quality data that conforms to both European and international standards. More details on the statistical aspects of the accession process can be found in the article Enlargement policy and statistical cooperation .

The enlargement countries are not at the same level of development and are progressing towards an efficient and modern statistical system at different speeds. In a number of areas, candidate countries (and sometimes also potential candidates) are in a position to provide harmonised data in accordance with the EU acquis with respect to methodology, classifications and procedures for data collection and the principles of official statistics as laid down in the European statistics Code of Practice . In these cases, the candidate countries (and potential candidates) concerned report their data to Eurostat following the same procedures and under the same quality criteria as the EU Member States and the EFTA countries. Data from the enlargement countries that meet these quality requirements are published along with data for EU Member States and EFTA countries.

In addition, the enlargement countries provide data for a wide range of indicators for which they do not yet fully adhere to the quality requirements specified in the EU acquis and the methodology, classifications and procedures for data collection specified in the relevant Regulations, Directives and other legal documents. These data are collected on an annual basis through a questionnaire sent by Eurostat to the candidate countries or potential candidates. A network of contacts has been established for updating these questionnaires, generally within the national statistical offices, but potentially including representatives of other data-producing organisations (for example, central banks or government ministries). This annual exercise also offers an opportunity to provide methodological recommendations to the enlargement countries. Data collected through this specific data collection from the candidate countries or potential candidates are signified as ‘"national data"’ in the tables and figures of this article.

Tourism, in a statistical context, refers to the activity of visitors taking a trip to a destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year. It can be for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal reasons other than to be employed in the place visited. A tourist is a visitor that stays overnight (at least one night).

Within the EU, a system of tourism statistics was established through Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism. This legal basis required EU Member States to provide a regular set of comparable tourism statistics. The Directive was amended in 2004 and 2006 , before being repealed in 2011 when the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 concerning European statistics on tourism. The 2011 Regulation on tourism statistics was amended in 2013 , in 2019 and again in 2020 ; the current consolidated version of Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 incorporate all these amendments.

Information concerning the current statistical legislation on tourism can be found here .

Tourism statistics in the EU consist of two main components: on the one hand, statistics relating to capacity and occupancy ( supply-side tourism statistics ); on the other, statistics relating to tourism demand . In most EU Member States, the former are collected via surveys filled in by accommodation establishments, while the latter are mainly collected via traveller surveys at border crossings or through household surveys. Statistics on tourism demand refer to tourist participation, in other words, trips of at least one overnight stay during the reference period.

Although the Western Balkans and Türkiye produce some of these statistics on tourism capacity, occupancy and tourism demand and provide these to Eurostat, tourism data availability is still quite limited compared to that of the EU Member States.

Within the European Statistical System, statistics on the capacity of collective tourist accommodation include the number of establishments, the number of bedrooms and the number of bed places. These statistics are available by establishment type or by region and are compiled annually. Statistics on the occupancy of collective tourist accommodation refer to the number of arrivals (at accommodation establishments) and the number of nights spent by residents and non-residents, by establishment type or region; annual and monthly statistical series are available. In addition, statistics on the use of bedrooms and bed places ( occupancy rates ) are compiled.

Statistics on tourism demand in the EU are collected in relation to the number of tourism trips made (and the number of nights spent on those trips). The data are also analysed by the socio-demographic characteristics of the tourist.

Data from a range of other official sources may be used to study tourism. These statistics include:

• structural business statistics (SBS) and short-term business statistics (STS) which may be used to provide additional information on tourism flows and on the economic performance of certain tourism-related sectors;
• data on employment in the tourism accommodation sector from the labour force survey (LFS) , analysed by working time (full/part-time), working status, age, level of education, sex, permanency and seniority of work with the same employer (annual and quarterly data);
• data on personal travel receipts and expenditure from the balance of payments ;
• transport statistics (for example, air passenger transport).

Tables in this article use the following notation:

As explained at the beginning of this section, data specified as ‘"national data"’ in the footnotes of the tables and figures of this article have been collected through the specific annual questionnaires sent to the enlargement countries, covering indicators for which they do not yet fully adhere to the quality requirements specified in the EU acquis.

Tourism has the potential to contribute towards employment and economic growth, as well as to the development of rural, coastal, peripheral or less-developed areas. Infrastructure created for tourism purposes contributes to local development, while jobs that are created or maintained can help counteract industrial or rural decline. Sustainable tourism involves the preservation and enhancement of cultural and natural heritage, ranging from the arts to local gastronomy or the preservation of biodiversity .

While basic principles and institutional frameworks for producing statistics are already in place, the Western Balkans and Türkiye are expected to increase progressively the volume and quality of their data and to transmit these data to Eurostat in the context of the EU enlargement process. EU standards in the field of statistics require the existence of a statistical infrastructure based on principles such as professional independence, impartiality, relevance, confidentiality of individual data and easy access to official statistics; they cover methodology, classifications and standards for production.

Eurostat has the responsibility to ensure that statistical production of the Western Balkans and Türkiye complies with the EU acquis in the field of statistics. To do so, Eurostat supports the national statistical offices and other producers of official statistics through a range of initiatives, such as pilot surveys, training courses, traineeships, study visits, workshops and seminars, and participation in meetings within the European Statistical System (ESS) . The ultimate goal is the provision of harmonised, high-quality data that conforms to European and international standards.

Additional information on statistical cooperation with the enlargement countries is provided here .

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• Methodological manual for tourism statistics — version 3.1 — 2014 edition
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• Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC
• A renewed EU tourism policy: towards a stronger partnership for European tourism (Communication from the European Commission COM(2006) 134 final, March 2006)
• Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism (Communication from the European Commission COM(2007) 621 final, October 2007)

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How to travel to Kosovo in 2024

By Joan Torres 7 Comments Last updated on April 12, 2024

This travel guide to Kosovo contains everything you need to know to visit one of the youngest countries in the world , including safety, moving around, top experiences, best time to visit, historical context, and more.

Only independent since 2008, Kosovo is a partially recognized country that split from Serbia, putting an end to many years of an unfortunate conflict.

This landlocked country was part of our 2-month road trip across the Balkans, and it was one of our favorite parts.

Along with Transnistria , and perhaps Belarus , Kosovo might be the least visited country in Europe, home to a pretty authentic and untouched culture that chaotically combines their love for rakija (local liquor) with the large presence of mosques, a gorgeous Ottoman architecture and a strong coffee culture, not forgetting occasional Serbian villages filled with Orthodox churches.

Intrepid travelers wishing to get off the beaten track – outside of Pristina and Prizren – will be able to have local experiences rarely seen in Europe, like when we went to the remote, barely visited southern corner that belongs to the Dragash region, composed of green, rolling hills dotted with tiny villages, where we were blessed with unprecedented European hospitality, like if we were traveling in the Middle East .

We enjoyed this tiny country like nowhere else in the continent, and this guide will tell you everything about traveling to Kosovo.

Check more guides to unrecognized countries .

In this Kosovo travel guide you find:

Table of Contents

• Current situation
• Historical context
•   Who recognizes Kosovo?
• Travel insurance
• Recommended books
• Best time to visit
• Top experiences
• Budget & money
• The culture
• Kosovo cuisine
• Where to stay
• Getting around
• More Information

Get travel insurance for traveling in Kosovo I recommend IATI Insurance , budget plans and good for multi-country backpacking. Get an exclusive 5% discount if purchasing via this link

🪪 How to get a visa for Kosovo

A visa is not needed for traveling to Kosovo.

Upon arrival, you’ll just get a friendly stamp which is valid for 3 months.

If you like collecting stamps, note that they don’t always stamp it, but you need to specifically ask for it.

📰 Need to know before traveling to Kosovo: the current situation

Note that this is a brief summary that only aims at giving you a minimum perspective.

Why does Kosovo want to become independent?

Kosovo is a country, or region, mainly composed of Serbs – who are Christian Orthodox – and Albanians – who are Muslims.

The first thing you need to know, however, is that the nation of Kosovo doesn’t exist.

Kosovar has been a nationality since 2008, but it’s not really a nation. It’s a region where Albanians and Serbs co-exist, both being Kosovars.

To make it extremely simple, the reason why the Kosovo became an independent state was because the Muslim Albanians didn’t want to be part of Serbia.

Why does Serbia claim Kosovo?

Until the 15th century and, for the last 250 years, Kosovo had been part of Serbia.

Not only that, but it was their spiritual homeland, home to the holiest churches and monasteries for the Serbian Orthodox.

In 1455, however, the Ottoman Empire took over today’s region of Kosovo, where they ruled for nearly 500 years.

The Ottoman Empire officially collapsed in 1912, when Serbia claimed both the moral and ethnic right to Kosovo.

After WWI, Kosovo was annexed to Serbia and Yugoslavia was founded.

The wake of Kosovar nationalism and independence

However, five centuries of Ottoman rule had shifted Kosovo’s demographics, the vast majority now being Muslim Albanians, so a period of Serbian colonization began under the recently formed Yugoslavia.

The following decades were characterized by several different episodes of repression against the Albanian population.

Albanian nationalism kept growing until the 1990s, when things escalated into an armed conflict that eventually turned into the Kosovo war of 1998-99 , a war that came with a death toll of 12,000 people. 

The war, however, didn’t solve Kosovo’s status and in fact, tensions and occasional clashes between Serbs and Albanians kept increasing. For example, the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) took advantage of the Serbian military withdrawal by burning Serbian churches and even arbitrarily killing Serbs.

Given all those tensions, the resolution of Kosovo couldn’t wait any longer and that’s why eventually, the UN came up with a plan and an agreement that would eventually allow Kosovo to become an independent state in 2008.

Who recognizes Kosovo?

Kosovo is one of the 9 unrecognized countries today found across the world, along with Western Sahara, South Ossetia, Abkhazia , Nagorno Karabakh, Transnistria , Northern Cyprus, Somaliland and Taiwan.

As of today, Kosovo is recognized by 97 out of 193 UN countries .

The USA, Australia, Canada, and most countries in the EU do recognize Kosovo, except for Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovakia.

Russia doesn’t recognize Kosovo either due to their strong ties with Serbia.

🚑 Travel insurance for Kosovo

Remember that for travel insurance that covers travel in Kosovo, you must select Serbia .

For this, I strongly recommend IATI Insurance :

• Multi-country coverage and up to 1-year trips
• Covers senior citizens too.
• 5% discount for being a readers of this blog

📚 Recommended books for traveling in Kosovo

Kosovo travel guide by bradt.

Super complete and updated, this is the most comprehensive travel guide to Kosovo available for sale, packed with practical information, tips and itineraries.

Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know

An easy-to-read history book, in which Tim Judah tries to answer all the conflict-related questions any traveler visiting Kosovo should ask. However, the book is written from a pro-Albanian stand point, and it often omits the atrocities committed by Albanians in the 90s.

⛅ Best time to visit Kosovo

Like most countries in Europe, Kosovo is a year-round destination but obviously, some seasons are better than others.

Read: Useful tips and how to travel to Ukraine

Traveling to Kosovo during spring and autumn

The best time to travel to Kosovo is during these seasons, when the weather is pleasant, but the main attractions aren’t overrun by crowds of tourists.

Traveling to Kosovo in summer

While this might seem the ideal season to visit the country, the truth is that it’s the high season for the Kosovo diaspora – Kosovar nationals living abroad – who like to spend the holidays in their homeland.

Note that the Kosovo diaspora is nearly 50% of the total population.

Traveling to Kosovo in winter

Winters are cold in Kosovo, with many areas covered in snow but if you don’t mind the freezing weather, it could also be a great time to visit the country.

🛫 How to travel to Kosovo

Traveling to kosovo by air.

Pristina (PRN) has an international airport with connections to many European cities, especially those in countries with a large diaspora population, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Norway.

Common stopovers to Pristina are Vienna, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Munich, or Istanbul.

Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, EasyJet, Wizzair, Pegasus or Turkish Airlines, among many others, are the most common airlines.

Traveling to Kosovo by land border

Your trip to Kosovo might also include neighboring Balkan countries, so you will be likely to either enter or exit through one of its many borders.

We actually traveled to Kosovo via Albania and left via North Macedonia.

Currently, Kosovo shares a border with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and North Macedonia.

All of them are easy, and pretty straightforward to cross, except for Serbia.

Traveling to Kosovo from Serbia

The border is open, anyone can cross, but be aware that tensions between both countries still exist.

Occasionally, if crossing by bus, you’ll be escorted by a car from the Serbian Army for the first few kilometers of no man’s land but, other than that, you should be fine.

Serbia doesn’t recognize the international borders of Kosovo so, in the eyes of Serbia, if you enter Kosovo from either Montenegro, Albania or North Macedonia, you’d be entering Serbia illegally.

If that was the case, your entry to Serbia will be denied.

However, if you travel to Kosovo from Serbia and then decide to come back, you’ll be allowed to enter.

⚠️ Is it safe to travel to Kosovo?

Despite a relatively recent conflict, Kosovo is a safe country to travel.

There’s little petty crime compared to other European countries and, while tensions between Serbs and Albanians keep occurring – as happened in 2022 – it shouldn’t really affect your travels.

NATO Presence

Kosovo isn’t a member of NATO, but there’s a large NATO presence across Kosovo.

You are likely to see their tanks and armored vehicles, especially when you visit Serbian Heritage sites, like Dečani Monastery.

🛖 Top experiences in Kosovo

Anyone traveling to Kosovo shouldn’t miss:

Visiting the most low-key capital in Europe, Pristina

Years of war and conflict left an impoverished country with little money to invest in monuments and make things pretty.

Something that really surprised me about Pristina is that the buildings from the city’s downtown, like the ones located in the main square, could easily be the buildings from the suburbs of a secondary city near Madrid, very low key.

However, among all that decadence, there are little oases composed of chic cafés serving the best coffee I had outside of Italy.

Understanding the Serbian population by visiting a Serbian village

Anyone visiting Kosovo should add one or two Serbian-majority places in the itinerary, since Serbs have been living here for tens of generations, and they are also part of the unfortunate recent history.

Checking out some pretty gorgeous Ottoman architecture, like in Prizren and Djakova

The Turks ruled over Kosovo for 500 years, leaving behind a very tangible cultural heritage, including some epic architecture.

Exploring the rolling hills and villages of the barely visited region of Dragash

We really liked this area, and not only because it was pretty, but also because we had the best local experience in the entire Balkan Peninsula, people who would randomly invite us to their house to have tea, like in Pakistan.

Discovering a traditional Albanian city in Peja

Peja is a big city by Kosovar standards and we liked it because it was a really authentic Albanian city with little foreign influence, unlike Pristina, where one can already feel some cosmopolitanism.

💰 Budget and money

Surprisingly, the official currency in Kosovo is the euro (€).

They adopted it unilaterally without permission from the EU back in 2012.

Everything is quoted in €, you can’t use other currencies. Banks give € too.

In a majority-Serbian village, however, I saw that prices were quoted in Serbian Dinars, but € were accepted too.

ATMs and credit cards

In Pristina, you can pay by debit card in many restaurants and hotels but it’s always convenient to have some extra cash just in case.

Outside of the capital, you might be able to pay by card in certain fancier hotels but do bring cash for the rest.

How much does it cost to travel in Kosovo?

Kosovo is by far, the cheapest country in the world that uses the €.

Outside of the capital, sometimes we paid 40 cents for a magnificent espresso. In a fancy coffee house in the capital, you’ll pay up to 1€.

Eating out is surprisingly cheap too. In the most touristic street of Prizren, we paid 14€ (2 people) for a 2-meal course and 3 beers.

In local eateries, expect to pay no more than 3€ or 4€ for a meal.

Regarding accommodation, you can easily find a budget dorm for less than 10€, while a double room in a simple guest house will cost 20€ or 25€.

Buses are cheap too; the bus from Pristina to Prizren costs around 5€.

🕌 Kosovo: the country, culture, and people

As mentioned in the beginning, Kosovo is a region composed of Albanians and Serbians.

Serbs are Christian Orthodox and speak Serbian, while Albanians are Muslims and speak Albanian.

Both languages are official and road signs tend to be bilingual.

There are other minorities too. For example, in Restelica, we had the chance to meet Gorani people, a Muslim Slavic group. While this might not sound very exciting to you, you should know that being Slavic and Muslim at the same time isn’t very common.

As mentioned in the beginning, the Kosovar nation doesn’t really exist so instead, most Kosovar Albanians have a strong Albanian identity, visible in the large number of Albanian flags that abound across the country.

Do Serbians and Albanians still hate each other? From a military standpoint, the tension is pretty obvious but, what about the people?Is there ethnic segregation? Well, first of all, you need to know that today, only 10% of the Kosovar population are Serbs, and they tend to live in separate areas, like in Serbian villages. The only place where there’s actual tension is in the city of Mitrovica, a big city half Serbian, half Albanian. Due to the increasing tension, the city is being guarded by the carabinieri (the Italian police). Like in all worldwide ethnic conflicts, hate will always exist, it will never go away – think about Israel and Palestine – but today, most of the current hate is concentrated among extremists and people with a lower level of education. If you talk to any well-educated person in either Pristina or Prizren, you’ll realize that most people wish to put an end to such pointless disputes.

🍲 Cuisine in Kosovo

The food in Kosovo is similar to that in Albania but you don’t find as many Greek and Mediterranean flavors, so no olive oil, for example.

Instead, I found Kosovar food to have a higher Turkish influence, and more meat-based than neighboring Albanian.

The staple food in Kosovo are grilled kebabs, generally eaten in local eateries named qebaptore , and something you must try for a local experience.

Do go to a qebaptore for breakfast, and you are likely to find many locals.

Other typical Kosovar dishes include:

Suxhuk: a spicy sausage, usually eaten cold. It’s sold everywhere.

Tavë Kosi: baked lamb with yogurt. If you eat this in the right place, it’s incredibly delicious

Sarma: rolled cabbage leaves, typically eaten in all former Ottoman countries, but each country has its own local twist

Byrek: pastry layers filled with minced meat, spinach or cheese. This is also a staple, and sold in all bakeries, usually washed down with ayran (drinkable yogurt with salt)

Alcohol in Kosovo

Despite being a predominantly Muslim country, Kosovo is mostly secular, where you can buy beer anywhere, and it’s always cheap, never more than 2€ for a bottle.

In fact, something that really surprised me about Kosovo is the large quantity of beer ads popping up everywhere.

Peja is by far, the most available ordinary lager.

There’s a tiny craft beer scene as well, the most popular brewery being Pivdzan Craft Brewery .

Moreover, like in all the Balkans, rakija is popular too, a local liquor usually homemade containing typically between 40% and 50% of alcohol.

Coffee in Kosovo

Similar to neighboring Albania and, as part of the short Italian colonization, the coffee culture in Kosovo is a strong one. Kosovars make excellent coffee, and slurping an espresso, while talking to their friends, is their way to socialize.

Even in the smallest village, you are likely to find a café serving a really good espresso, or macchiato, and all for no more than 40 50 cents.

🏨 Accommodation: Where to stay in Kosovo

From budget hostels to guest houses and premium hotels, Kosovo is well sorted for accommodation, you won’t have any problem trying to find a hotel.

We spent at least one night in Pristina, Prizren, Djakova, Peja and Restileca.

We did have problems finding accommodation in Restileca (Dragash region) but that’s because there’s no tourist infrastructure, and in the end, someone rented us a room in his house, for like 20€.

Find the best accommodation in Pristina

Find the best accommodation in Prizren

Find the best accommodation in Djakova

Find the best accommodation in Peja

🛺 Transportation: How to get around Kosovo

We hired a car, so we didn’t take any public transportation, but we met several backpackers who were traveling by bus.

There are no trains, but all cities are well-connected by buses, and they are really cheap.

Expect to pay no more than 5€ for the bus journey between Pristina and Prizren.

❗ More Travel Guides to Other Unrecognized Countries

📢 In my Travel Resources Page you can find the list of all the sites and services I use to book hotels, tours, travel insurance and more.

• Travel Guide to Abkhazia
• Transnistria Travel Guide
• Somaliland Travel Guide
• Somaliland Itinerary
• Fear and Loathing in Somaliland

I entered Kosova by bus from Albania and they didn’tstampmy passport. My whole purpose was to be in Kosova for only 3 months in order to be allowed to return to Albania . Now what can I do? I’m in pistren

no worries, you are in their system, the stamp is not proof of anything

Very useful article, Kosovo seems like a very interesting place despite it being a small country. What entices me most about this place is the nature and the coffee.

It is an intersting and informative article. You have some parts that are not correct though like “They adopted it unilaterally without permission from the EU back in 2012.” That is not true because a country cannot use another currency without permission. Also the number of serbs in Kosovo is barely 5% and in the article it says it is 10%. “However, the book is written from a pro-Albanian stand point, and it often omits the atrocities committed by Albanians in the 90s.” – This part is also nonsense because 90% of the victims were albanian and the book talks about all the atrocities that happened during the conflict.

Thank you for giving your opinions

So from what I read here you can either choose to enter Kosovo from either Serbia, or from one of the other borders. But you cant enter via the other country and then enter Serbia, due to the border recognition issues.

I have a potential itinerary where I would enter from Serbia and exit via Macedonia. Would that reverse be possible? I presume so, right? Because only entering Serbia from Kosovo is the issue? Just want to make sure though.

Hi Mohit, I think it should be all right!

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Kosovo Travel Advisory

Travel advisory july 26, 2023, kosovo - level 2: exercise increased caution.

Last Update: Reissued with updates to health information.

Exercise increased caution due to  terrorism .   Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Reconsider Travel To:

• North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan due to  the potential for civil unrest due to ethnic tensions.

Country Summary:  Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in the Balkans region, including Kosovo. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.

Read the  country information page for additional information on travel to Kosovo.

If you decide to travel to Kosovo:

• Avoid demonstrations.
• Stay alert in locations frequented by Westerners.
• Monitor local media for breaking events and adjust your plans based on new information.
• Enroll in the  Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)  to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter .
• Review the  Country Security Report  for Kosovo.
• Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel.
• Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the  Traveler’s Checklist .

North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan – Level 3: Reconsider Travel

Tensions within and between communities in the north of Kosovo remain a source of potential unrest in North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan.

Although recent unrest has been politically-related and does not involve tourists or members of the international community, bystanders can be affected.

The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in the north of Kosovo as U.S. government employee travel to North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan is restricted.

Visit our website for  Travel to High-Risk Areas

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Statistics about Kosovo

• Monthly arrivals in tourist accommodation in Kosovo 2018-2019
• Number of new TB cases and relapses in Kosovo 2022, by age
• New tuberculosis cases and relapses in Kosovo 2012-2022
• Premature deaths related to air pollution in Kosovo 2021, by pollutant
• Annual change in Yugoslavia's GDP 1970-1990
• Life expectancy at birth in Kosovo 2021, by gender
• Value of outstanding microloan portfolio in Europe in 2021, by selected countries
• Drug users in treatment in Kosovo 2016, by primary drug
• Mobile connections in Kosovo 2021, by type
• Most popular political news sources in the Western Balkans 2022
• Leading Google search queries in Kosovo 2022
• Leading YouTube search queries in Kosovo 2022
• Countries in Europe with most incoming remittances, by sending region 2021
• Remittance costs in Europe as of Q3 2023, by country
• Opinion on country direction in the Western Balkans 2022, by country
• Corruption perception index score of Kosovo 2012-2022
• Poverty rate in the Western Balkans 2016-2025
• Poverty rate in the Western Balkans 2014-2020, by country
• Average internet connection speeds in Kosovo 2022
• Onshore wind energy capacity in Kosovo 2010-2018
• Most used devices to access Facebook in Kosovo 2021
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Wander-Lush

Visit Kosovo: The Ultimate Kosovo Travel Guide

• Europe / The Balkans

Someone, somewhere, remembers these two and is glad that guns were silenced and tanks were turned back and hatred was not allowed its reign over this piece of land. Naomi Hamill, How To Be a Kosovan Bride

Europe’s Newest Country

Europe’s youngest nation is wise beyond her years. Take everything you already know about Kosovo and put it to one side – if you come in with an open mind, you’ll end up leaving with a new outlook.

The best thing about travelling in Kosovo is meeting the people, whose warmth – forged in fire as it may be – is completely overwhelming at times. This is a country where you’re often greeted with a comforting hand on the shoulder, where strangers approach you on the street with a genuine curiosity, and bakers beckon you to join them in front of their ovens and taste the fruits of their labour. Kosovar hospitality is just one of the many things that made my two weeks in the country so special. That, and the coffee – baristas here make the best macchiatos on earth.

Kosovo is tiny, but there is no shortage of tourist attractions. The untamed splendour of Rugova Canyon and the Accursed Mountains are worth a mention, but it’s the cities that really make an impression. Pristina , the capital, is a cacophony of cafes, street art, restaurants and creative spaces. Take a selfie at the Newborn Monument , a sculpture that evolves its appearance every year to keep pace with Kosovo’s ongoing metamorphosis.

Prizren , the cultural capital, is a perfect juxtaposition, with its stone bridge, elegant mosque and cobbled old town. There’s Peja , the gateway to nature, and my favourite place in Kosovo, Gjakova , with its sprawling undercover bazaar and artisan workshops. Meanwhile, the divided city of Mitrovica and contested Medieval Monuments in Kosovo are a reminder that ‘country’ is still a contentious word in this part of Europe.

Of the 12 Balkan countries , Kosovo surprised me the most and is the one place I tend to recommend wholeheartedly to anyone who asks.

Kosovo travel essentials

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April-September (great weather, perfect for hiking, still uncrowded).

How long in Kosovo?

2 full days each for Pristina and Prizren; 7-10 days for the highlights.

Daily budget

45-50 USD per person per day (mid-range hotel; local meals; bus fares; museum tickets).

Getting there

Fly into Pristina; bus from any neighbouring country; train from North Macedonia.

Kosovo visa

Visa-free for most passports (stay up to 90 days).

Getting around

Hire a car; use intercity vans, buses or taxis.

Where to stay

Hostels, family-run guesthouses or hotels.

Tours & experiences

City walking tours, transfers and nature experiences.

Explore Kosovo

Discover all the best things to do in Kosovo with my latest travel guides.

Perfect Kosovo Itinerary for 7-10 Days of Travel

10 Captivating Things to Do in Prizren, Kosovo (City Guide & Travel Video)

10 Things to Do in Gjakova, Kosovo’s Loveliest City

12 Things to Do in Pristina: A Culture-Filled, Coffee-Fueled Travel Guide to Kosovo’s Capital City

Where to Go on a Balkan Road Trip: 20 Epic Self-Drive Itineraries

25 Offbeat & Alternative European City Breaks

My kosovo favourites.

Bjeshket e Nemuna National Park (from Peja).

Must-eat meal

Flija (layered pie with a creamy filling) & a macchiato.

local experience

Cafe hopping in Pristina, Kosovo’s coolest city.

best souvenir

Hand-made filigree jewellery from Prizren.

Kosovo says 10 of its police officers detained in Serbia

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Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

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