Getting around Kosovo, one option at a time

Kosovo is small, 10,905 km², and you feel it when planning. Almost everything worth seeing is within an hour and a half of Pristina. The question isn’t how long it takes but how you travel, and that depends on what you want to see.

A car, if you want the mountains

The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (ASK) recorded 2,434 km of road in 2024, of which 137.2 km were motorway, 753 km national and 1,495 km regional. In 2011 there were under 40 km of motorway, so the change has been big. By car, Prizren is 84 km from Pristina and Peja 85, by OpenStreetMap routing, and from Peja, Bogë in the heart of Rugova is 29 km on.

Gov.uk sets the conditions. Roads from fair to poor, worse in the countryside and after bad weather, a risk of landslides and flooding, variable fuel quality and advice to avoid driving at night. More in driving in Kosovo and, for hiring, car hire in Kosovo.

The bus, for town to town

This is what most people use. ASK counted 2,616 registered buses in 2024. Pristina’s bus station is in the Kalabria district, 3.5 km from the centre by OpenStreetMap, but no official website publishes timetables or fares I can cite. You buy at the ticket office and ask there. What little is sourced is in Kosovo buses.

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

The train, more curiosity than solution

Kosovo does have a railway, run by Trainkos from Fushë Kosovë, and OpenStreetMap maps lines towards Peja, Mitrovica and Skopje. But ASK counted 87,781 passengers in all of 2025, about 7,300 a month, against 4.5 million at the airport. With no timetable I could read on the operator’s site, it’s not something I’d plan days around. There’s more in trains in Kosovo.

Taxis, in town

Gov.uk says taxis are readily available in Pristina, that registered firms are the safest option with regulated fares, and that they’re booked by phone or through local apps. International ride-hailing apps aren’t available, and taxis that approach you in the street are often unofficial and can overcharge. My tips are in taxis in Kosovo.

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

Off the main roads

One gov.uk warning is worth keeping in mind if you leave the tarmac. There are still mines and unexploded munitions from 1999, mostly on the Albanian border, near the Dulje Pass in central Kosovo and up in the mountains shared with Albania and Montenegro. The cleared roads and tracks are safe, so in those parts don’t wander off them, and anything odd on the ground is for the police or KFOR to deal with, not you.

What I’d choose

If the trip is Pristina and Prizren, the bus. If you want Rugova, the monasteries at Dečani and Peć or the high mountains, a car without question, and sleep in Peja or Prizren rather than driving back to the capital each night. Either way, I’d stay off the roads after dark.

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