The Ferizaj region, from the plain up to the Sharr ski slopes

Come into Kosovo from Skopje and this is the first region you reach. Nearly everyone drives through it with their eyes on Pristina or Prizren. I get it, but I think something’s missed, because the skiable side of the Sharr is here, along with a 16th-century fortress sitting right in the middle of a town.

Five municipalities between the plain and the border

The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (ASK) uses seven regions in its tourism tables without publishing which municipalities sit in each. According to OpenStreetMap, the Ferizaj region has five, Ferizaj, Hani i Elezit, Kaçanik, Shtërpcë and Shtime. Together they had 180,583 people in the 2024 census, and over half live in Ferizaj municipality (109,255), the third most populous in Kosovo.

The trends inside the region diverge sharply. Ferizaj is almost unchanged since 2011 and Shtërpcë rises from 6,949 to 10,771, while Kaçanik, Shtime and Hani i Elezit all shrink. I have no source that explains the differences, so I’m leaving them as figures.

The mountains, in Shtërpcë and Kaçanik

The region’s real prize for a traveller lies to the south, in the Sharr massif. The park directorate puts 15,210 of the 39,000 ha set by the 1986 law in Shtërpcë and another 1,560 in Kaçanik, 43% of the park in all. Its natural values paper places the park’s largest glacial lake, Livadhishte, at 2,173 m in Shtërpcë, and proposes reserves such as the Gryka gorge, with a yew wood, and Prrocka e Durlës.

Kaçanik has Luboten, at 2,499 m, one of the two proposed reserves the park describes on limestone, and the Dubrava pastures, which the park marks for day trips. For the park as a whole, see Sharr National Park.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Brezovica before prices climb.

Brezovica and the skiing

Brezovica, in Shtërpcë, is why many people look this region up. In the park’s own words it’s the one tourist hub inside its boundary that is set up and actually running, and the gallery photo shows one of its chairlifts. What doesn’t exist is an official operator website with prices, open runs or season dates, so I won’t give you any of those. I go into it on the village page and in the skiing guide.

Heritage with a record

The region has little listed heritage next to Prizren, but what it has is varied. The Ministry of Culture database (DTK) lists five archaeological sites in Ferizaj municipality, ranging from Neolithic Varosh to a late antique church site at Nikadin. In Kaçanik there’s Kaçanik fortress, 16th century, and the late antique fort at Llanishtë. In Hani i Elezit, the 19th-century Bravë quarter at Puset e Nikës. And in Shtime, the Fejzullahu family kulla at Zotaj.

The 2008 Special Protective Zones law also covers the monastery of St Uroš at Nerodime, in Ferizaj municipality, and five churches in Shtërpcë, at Shtërpcë itself, Biti e Poshtme, Gotovushë and Biti e Epërme.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Brezovica and choose by the reviews.

Getting around the region

OpenStreetMap shows a railway through Ferizaj, Kaçanik and Hani i Elezit to the border with North Macedonia, with stations at all three. Timetables and fares would come from the operator, Trainkos, whose site gave me nothing legible. By road, the Hani i Elezit border crossing, which OpenStreetMap marks in the town itself, sits on the road from Skopje. British travel advice flags long waits at the North Macedonian border during the summer and over festivals. A European green card won’t cover you in Kosovo either, so if you’re driving in, even in a car hired in North Macedonia, you’ll need to buy local third-party cover at the border, in euros and ideally in cash. If you fly into Skopje and head north by car or taxi, this is the crossing you’ll use.

One safety note applies here. One safety note applies here. Old landmines remain a risk around the Dulje Pass in central Kosovo, according to the FCDO, which tells visitors to stick to main roads.

Tourism in numbers

ASK counted 41,808 overnight guests in the region in 2025, 20,539 of them from abroad, and 83,071 overnight stays. Capacity stood at 58 establishments, 742 rooms and 1,434 beds. Set against the Prizren region, that’s less than half the beds, which fits a region people mostly pass through. I’d sleep at Brezovica if you’ve come for the mountains and in Ferizaj if you’re just breaking the drive to Skopje.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Brezovica before prices climb.