To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect of Pristina. I didn’t expect too much of it, because I’ve never heard anybody telling stories about it.
When we first drove into the city, I wasn’t too impressed. It was in January, so it was cold and gray and there was a lot of construction going on. Hmm, okay let’s not jump to any conclusions too soon. It might be a lot nicer than it looks. We are staying here for 2 months!!
Our first ‘weekend’ we went out and explored a bit more! The surroundings of our apartment are filled with trash, stray dogs and construction, but surely it has to be different in other parts of the city? Fortunately it is, and we did find some nicer places in the city.
Pristina, in our opinion, is not the most colorful city, but maybe that also has something to do with the fact that it’s winter. The ‘city center’ definitely looks a lot better. There is a nice walkway filled with shops and restaurants.
Places to go in Pristina
As I told you in one of my other posts, I like scrolling through Google Maps and looking for nice places to go, like coffee places, vegetarian restaurants, shops or landmarks.
We did find some nice places, such as a really nice local place for good coffee and cake, a lovely vegetarian/vegan restaurant, a local taverna, a pool café and a good place for lunch. I have no doubt there were many other nice places, but we are non-smokers and almost everywhere you go, people are smoking inside. So we avoided these places, and that did limit us a lot in where we could go.
People
In the beginning the people seemed a bit standoffish, but became very friendly as soon as they got to know you a bit better. Not everyone speaks English, but most of them do. Especially in most restaurants and bars.
Transportation
The best way to get around is walking or by taxi. You can use a taxi app. This works similar to Uber. And of course they have buses as well. The traffic is crazy though, and it’s really important to watch where you’re walking, because they don’t like to stop for pedestrians.
Prices
Food and drinks are very cheap! Groceries (most of them are imported)are expensive. We also had a hard time finding good quality (and variety of) vegetables and fruit.
Is it worth going?
That is very personal, because it depends on what you’re looking for in a city. All and all Pristina is not a bad city to go to, but it’s not as exciting as other places we’ve been. Maybe when the construction clears up, and in Summer, it looks different. I don’t think we’ll be back.
Have you ever been to Pristina and what was your experience? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
HLD by Renee 