Kosovo

A guide to outdoor adventures in Kosovo

Stand anywhere in Kosovo and you will feel the pull of the mountains. This small, diamond-shaped country is almost completely surrounded by majestic peaks, making it perhaps one of Europe’s most surprising adventure sports destinations. Whether you prefer to take in the scenery while gripping the handlebars of a bike, or while zipping through the air high above a canyon or galloping through a lush mountain clearing, there’s plenty to offer even the most daring outdoors enthusiasts.

In spite of the growing variety of ways to experience Kosovo’s natural beauty, the promotion efforts of its adventure industry have been largely of the word-of-mouth variety until recently. While those in the know might be happy to keep the unspoiled magic of Kosovo’s countryside a secret, we just had to share. Consider this your guide to thrill-seeking in Europe’s youngest country.

Bridget Nurre Jennions

Lonely Planet Writer

The Via Dinarica hiking trail: a cultural corridor across the Balkans

Waves of fog battled patches of blue sky as the Via Dinarica hiking trail inclined sharply to the junction between Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo. At the 2210m peak, punctuated by a stone tri-border marker, the morning sun won and shone a spotlight on the Albanian shepherd village of Dobërdol below. The residents – now tiny in the distance – were tending their flocks on an apron of pastureland framed by mountain summits.

As the path reached the ridgeline and then descended into Kosovo, the settlement receded from view. The symbolism, however, was still apparent: a trek on this new trans-Balkans route in southeastern Europe can link cultures and enable cross-border discovery in a way politics have failed to do for centuries.

Alex Crevar

Lonely Planet Writer

Peaks of the Balkans: how to plan a cross-border trek

Descending through the forest from the Albania–Montenegro border pass, an unassailable stillness pervades, punctuated only by the sound of cowbells rising from the valley below. Sheep come into view, dozens of white specks grazing high pastures filled with young grass and wildflowers, all in the protective shadow of jagged granite uplift.

Smoke rises from makeshift metal chimneys jutting from the rooftops of simple wooden shacks and stone homes. Shepherds arrived for the summer with their animals only a week ago, on the heels of the last of the melting snowpack. They will be here for only three months until the seasons change and paths are again blocked with snow.