The largest city and the capital of Kosovo is Pristina (since 1947) with a total population of more than 500,000. Pristina is the cultural, economical, and administrative center of the country with a long history on its locality. Archeological discoveries date back as long ago as the Neolithic ages. Pristina’s southern district Ulpiana is believed to have been the center of the Illyrian province of Dardania and one of its most splendid cities with beginnings in the 2nd century BC. Up until World War II, Pristina simply appeared as an oriental town before becoming the capital city. The old and narrow cobble stone streets along with houses made of mud bricks were replaced with wide streets, attractive tall buildings, and new modern complexes. Pristina is the main high education center for the country of Kosovo while it is home to the Academy of Arts and Sciences a place where the country’s intellectual minds gather. As you walk along the streets of the city during the summer, you will find yourself among many bars, shops, and other hangout centers having fun and blistering healthy laughter and joyful locals. Finally, the city of Pristina is known to have delicious food, friendly people, fun venues, an astonishing nightlife, and an overall great lifestyle. .
Prizren is a charming Balkan town which gives the impression of flowing along the banks of a shallow stretch of Bistrica river which slices it in half. In addition nestled in between towering green mountains and a city constructed over many centuries with a mixture of architectures but clearly dominated by the ottoman influence Prizren is definitely one of the most attractive twons of Kosovo. Furthermore with many summertime festivals and the prettiest city centre of the country which have given it the nickname Kosovo’s ‘cultural capital’ Prizren has what it takes to make an interesting destination for leisure and business travellers. This old city with its young population is a great place to visit, be it on a quick stopover en route from Pristina or Skopje to the Albanian coast, or on a longer trip taking in the beautiful mountainous surroundings. Prizren’s delightful city centre is the best-preserved and most picturesque in Kosovo, with a good collection of religious and profane buildings and quaint residential quarters, all within close range of each other. The city’s long tradition of religious and ethnic tolerance is apparent in the close proximity of Catholic and Orthodox churches, mosques and tekkes, many of them hundreds of years old. A full day will allow you to see many of the sights reviewed here.
The relatively large city of Gjakova, a straightforward 30- minute drive northwest of Prizren, has its roots way back in the Dardanian period of history. Known in previous times as Patkova, Reka and Altin, the name Gjakova (Đakovica in Serbian) first appeared in historical Ottoman records in 1485. During the 17th century the city went through a period of rapid development, with many mosques, hans, tekkes and a beautiful hamam being constructed during this time. Pride of place in the centre of the city was the Çarshia e Madhe, or Grand Bazaar, a large marketplace attracting traders from all over the region that was seriously damaged during the 1999 war but that’s now almost completely renovated. Unlike most of the other destinations outside of Prizren, Gjakova has enough to see and do to warrant an overnight stay.
Peja is located in Western Kosova, but most of the people say it’s the “true” Kosova. It is surrounded by mountains, the highest peak is Gjeravica peaking at 2.656m. Peja is the second largest city. This region is rich in cultural and heritage endowed with fantastic scenery from Rugova Gorge to the Mirusha Falls. Western Kosovo has traditionally been a wealthy area with a strong sense of local pride shared by everyone coming from “Dukagjini region ”. Located at the foot of the impressive mountain range Bjeshket e Nemuna the city has been ruled by different dominating powers throughout history, giving it a diverse cultural character. The Orthodox influence has resulted in the construction of impressive religious sites and monasteries. Peja used to be a trade city more of thread and wool, even the name Peje came from Penjë which means thread. Despite all the natural and cultural beauty Peja is also the city with beautiful people largely regarded as the home to the most beautiful girls in Kosovo.
It’s a town in western Kosovo, famous for historical roads between Peja and Gjakova, part of Dukagjin region. By its religious views Decan is known for the orthodox Monastery and unique Kulla`s (Old stone houses). The territory of this town covers 180 km², and has more than 42 villages and around 50000 citizens . The temperature during the summer rises till 40˚C ,during the winter till – 20 ˚C with a lot of snow. Decan is affirmed as a tourist and recreation center. The whole space around Decan, it’s surrounded by beautiful and big mountains. The nature, mountains and the lakes are very attractive for the tourists. Forests, multiple pastures, rich fauna, fresh mountain air due Albanian Alps have enabled Decan to be promoted as tourism and recreation center. You can call this town a place of Chestnuts, because most of the territory where the mountains are grows a lot of chestnuts. Intensive construction of hotels, educational center, infrastructure, roads and other buildings has changed the view of Decan.
Brezovica is a unique ski resort located on the northwest part of Sharr Mountain at an altitude of 900 - 2,520 meters. Favourable climate conditions make this region suitable for tourism, sport and recreation during the whole year. The ski resort possess 14 pistes, five chair lifts and five ski lifts, connected with 16 km of ski slopes of the average length 3 km. Currently, only 2 chair lifts and 1 ski lift are functioning. The most well known hotels in Brezovica are: Hotel Narcis, Hotel Molika, Hotel Breza, Shtepija e Gurit and Woodland Hotel. In addition, there are also rentable private houses where you can accommodate yourself. The Guardian suggests Brezovica to British people Authoritative British newspaper The Guardian suggests to her readers to choose the Balkans for their winter holidays and skiing. Among the several destinations in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, it also prefers Brezovica in Kosovo. "Brezovica is one of the best mountains in the Balkans. Even has a page in Facebook with 30,000 fans", the paper writes. In the article because of good prices and the appropriate places for skiing are preferred also Kopaonik in Serbia, Popovka Shapka in Macedonia, and Kolashini in Montenegro.
Mirusha Waterfalls is a chain of waterfalls found in the Mirusha River, situated on the south of the Gremnik Mountains; on the way to Gjakova at an altitude of 572 meters. Its distance from the capital city is approximately one hour. Mirusha River engraved a 10 km long canyon and created 13 river lakes with 12 waterfalls between them. The waterfall with the biggest height is the one between the sixth and seventh lake, and it is 22 meters high. Those waterfalls between the lakes, together with the stunning landscape, and rocks and caves around the waterfalls, form an overwhelming sight and present a special tourism attraction. Although the water temperature is usually quite cold, throughout summer when the temperature is high, swimming there can be incredibly pleasant.
Rugova Valley is located in the heart of Dukagjini, in north-western Kosovo. It covers an area of 32.000 hectares. Its highest peak is Coursed Mountain, with an altitude of 2560 meters. Among several characteristics that distinguish this valley, following are the most important ones -Bistrica River, which passes throughout 12 kilometers of the valley -Waterfalls that fall from a height of 30 meters -Two lakes at an altitude of 1 800 meters above sea level and -A number of caves Rugova Valley is considered as an ideal place to spend a day or a couple of days, when you need to relax and get away from the daily routine and dynamic life in the city. It is a quiet preserved and unexplored region, and this offers a unique entertainment opportunity for the lovers of eco and rural tourism.
Sharr Mountains is a mountain range that lies in the south-east part of Kosova. They cover a territory of 60 km long and lie at an average altitude of 16-20 km. The Sharr Mountain consists of three main zones: The zone of Luboten and Brezovica, The central zone of Prizren, and The zone of Opoja and Gora. The most attractive peaks of the Sharr-Mountains are: Luboten , Bistra Peak, Black Peak, Kobilica Peak, Peak of Von Korff, Zallina Peak, Tërepeznica Peak, Great Vraca and Small Vraca. The highest peak is Luboteni Peak, which reaches an altitude of 2553 meters, and is believed to mean “Beautiful view” (originating from the French words: “le bo ten”). The great ski and hiking terrains, picturesque landscape, and several mountain lakes make this part of Kosova one of the most beautiful and attractive places for visitors.
Sharri Mountains (Albanian: Malet e Sharrit), formerly known as the Shar Dagh (Ottoman Turkish), is a mountain range in the Balkans that extends from southern Kosovo and the northwest of the Republic of Macedonia to north-eastern Albania.The List of some mountain peaks in Kosovo with over 2,000 m (6,562 ft) in height: Peak Mountain Height 9m); Rudoka Sharr Mountains 2658; Gjeravica Albanian Alps 2656; Maja e Liqenit Sharr Mountains 2604; Gusan Albanian Alps 2539; Guri i kuq Albanian Alps 2522; Luboten Sharr Mountains 2498; Ruselia Albanian Alps 2366 Rrasa e Zogut Junik Mountains 2305; beleg Albanian Alps, Mokna 2102.
Kosovo is home to five large lakes. The largest of these is Gazivoda Lake which is found in the north-western part of Kosovo in the municipality of Zubin Potok. These are five of the largest lakes in Kosovo: Gazivoda Lake 9.2km2 ; Radoniqi Lake 5.96km2 ; Batllava Lake 3.27km2 ; Badovci Lake 2.57km2 ; Fierza Lake 2.16km2 ; Other, smaller lakes are to be found in Kosovo as well. These three lakes are located in the west and are all fed by tributaries of the South Morava: Prilepnica Lake; Livoc Lake; Robovac Lake; Many smaller beautiful lakes are found on the mountains of Albanian Alps: Liqenati; Lake Drelaj; Heart Lake;
