Lake Radoniq, the great reservoir of the west

Radoniq does not feature on many sightseeing lists, and I am not going to sell it as something it is not. It is a large reservoir with mountains behind it that supplies water to half the region. But if you are driving from Gjakova to Deçan it is worth a detour, because it is Kosovo’s second lake and the landscape repays the stop.

A reservoir named after a village

Visit Kosovo, the official tourism portal, in the version archive.org kept in 2022, describes it as an artificial lake in Gjakova municipality created in the 1980s. According to that text it took the name of the village that disappeared when it was built. That fits the census, since ASK records the settlement of Radoniq with no residents in both 2011 and 2024.

ASK, the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, gives it 5.96 km². In its list of main lakes only Gazivoda, in the north, with 9.1 km² inside Kosovo, is larger; Batllava (3.27 km²) and Badoc (2.57 km²) come after it. The government portal says 5.62 km², and I go with the statistics office.

Water for half the region

Radoniq’s real importance is not tourism. According to the same portal it supplies water to some 214,000 people in Gjakova, Rahovec and their villages, irrigates 10,500 hectares, and its dam holds 113 million cubic metres, enough to keep supplies going all year.

That has a practical consequence. I found no official rules on swimming, fishing or boating, and since this is the area’s drinking-water reservoir, I would ask locally what is and is not permitted before getting in.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Gjakova for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

How to see it

On OpenStreetMap the lake sits north of Gjakova, by the settlements of Rakoc and Radoniq. With a car of your own, I would fit it into the drive to Deçan, Junik or Visoki Dečani Monastery, all in the Gjakova region. I have no official source for specific viewpoints or access points, so I will not make them up; check the map before you set off, respect any closed access and keep to marked tracks around the shore. Driving a rental? Your green card is useless in Kosovo, so local cover bought at the border is compulsory.

Kosovo’s other reservoirs

Radoniq is no exception, as almost all of the territory’s large lakes are man-made. According to the same portal, Batllava was built in the 1970s in Podujeva municipality to supply Pristina; Badovc is another drinking-water reservoir about 5 km from the capital, fed by the Gračanica river; and Gazivoda, in the north, was formed by damming the Ibar and covers 11.9 km², of which 9.2 lie within Kosovo.

If you are interested in the other reservoirs and Rugova’s mountain lakes, I compare them in Kosovo’s lakes.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Lake Radoniq on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Gjakova for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.