Pristina Airport sits 15 km south-west of the capital, a short drive from the motorway that runs to Prizren and the Albanian border. Collect your car on arrival and you are twenty minutes from central Pristina, half an hour from Gračanica Monastery and the Marble Cave at Gadime, an hour from Ottoman Prizren and about an hour and a quarter from the Rugova gorge above Peja.
Pristina Airport sits 15 km south-west of the capital, a short drive from the motorway that runs to Prizren and the Albanian border. Collect your car on arrival and you are twenty minutes from central Pristina, half an hour from Gračanica Monastery and the Marble Cave at Gadime, an hour from Ottoman Prizren and about an hour and a quarter from the Rugova gorge above Peja.
Pristina car hire: debit card, not credit card
You can rent without a credit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on your debit card at pick-up and released after return; the amount is on each car before you book.
Already on the road to Prizren
The airport lies west of the city, a short drive from the motorway to Prizren. Head south-west from the terminal and you skip the capital's traffic altogether.
Cheaper than taxis between towns
A taxi from the airport to Prizren or Peja, and another one back at the end of your trip, quickly costs more than several days of car hire. With a car you can also stop wherever you like on the way.
Manual and automatic
Most cars here are manual, with a few automatics in the compact and SUV classes. Filter by gearbox in the search and book early if you need an automatic.
Built for a late landing
Add your flight number at booking and the desk works to the real landing time, not the time on the voucher.
Four easy trips within forty minutes of the terminal, good for a first afternoon or the morning before a flight.
The pedestrian Mother Teresa Boulevard runs through the heart of the city, past cafés, the Skanderbeg statue and the yellow-lettered Newborn monument, unveiled in February 2008 and repainted every year. Park on the edge of the centre and walk.
A Serbian Orthodox monastery built in 1321 under King Milutin, with five domes in banded brick and stone and frescoes that cover its interior. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Medieval Monuments in Kosovo; cover shoulders and knees.
Found in 1966 by a villager digging in his garden, the cave runs for more than a kilometre through marble and limestone. A guided tour covers about 440 m of its chambers, past white stalactites and crystal formations.
On 16 hectares of forest near the village of Mramor, the Four Paws sanctuary gives a home to around twenty bears rescued from cages in private captivity. Paths run along the large wooded enclosures.
The motorway near the airport makes Prizren an easy hour. The west and the mountains take a little longer, but that's where the best driving is.
about 1h
South-west on the motorway to the Ottoman town under the Sharr mountains. Cross the 16th-century stone bridge, look into the domed Sinan Pasha Mosque, then climb the cobbled path to the fortress in about twenty minutes for the view over the roofs.
about 1h15 to Peja
West to Peja and into the Rugova gorge, whose limestone walls begin a few kilometres from the centre. A 650 m zip line crosses the canyon and a via ferrata climbs its walls; the Patriarchate of Peć stands at the gorge's mouth.
about 50 min
A chain of waterfalls and green pools in a limestone canyon in central Kosovo. From the car park it is about half an hour's walk through farmland to the falls; wear shoes that can get wet and come in the morning on summer weekends.
about 1h15
South to the ski resort of Brezovica in the Sharr mountains, about 85 km from the terminal. In winter the slopes are the draw; in summer, trails from the resort climb to high pastures and glacial lakes.
Walk the centre, don't drive it
Mother Teresa Boulevard is pedestrian and the streets around it are narrow and busy. Park on the edge of the centre, or ask your hotel where guests leave cars, and walk in.
Take the motorway for Prizren
The motorway gets you to Prizren in about an hour. The old road through the villages is slower, with speed bumps and tractors, so save it for the way back if you want to stop.
Carry some cash
Kosovo uses the euro, and cards are widely taken in Pristina. Village cafés, monastery shops and some car parks still want cash, so keep a few small notes in the car.
Bring your passport to Dečani
Visoki Dečani, south of Peja, is guarded, and visitors show ID at the gate. Dress for a church, with shoulders and knees covered, and check the opening hours before the drive.
Watch the villages
Main roads pass straight through villages, where the limit drops and pedestrians, tractors and parked cars share the road. Slow down at the first houses rather than at the sign.
Early flight home
If your flight leaves early in the morning, check the return time on your voucher, fill the tank the evening before, and leave enough time for check-in and security.
Yes – you rent with a debit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on that debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car. Its amount is shown on each car before you book, so you know exactly what will be held.
It depends on the car and the cover. With Basic Insurance the deposit equals the excess, typically several hundred euros; Full Insurance roughly halves it. Each car shows the exact figure before you book, and it is released after return.
At the terminal of Pristina Airport (PRN), 15 km south-west of the capital. Your voucher names the exact meeting point and your pick-up time, and My Reservation shows the same details.
About 20–25 minutes to central Pristina and about an hour to Prizren on the motorway. Peja takes about 1h15. Allow extra time at rush hour on the roads into the capital.
Most cars at Pristina Airport are manual; a few compact cars and SUVs are automatic. Choose the gearbox in the search filters, and book early in summer if you need an automatic.
Only with the partner's written permission and cross-border insurance papers, arranged when you book. Kosovo is outside the Green Card system, so a car without those papers can be uninsured, or turned back, at the border.
Between 21 and 75. Drivers aged 21–23 or 72–75 pay an age surcharge. Enter your age in the search: you see only the cars you can rent, and every price already includes the surcharge.
The gorge road above Peja climbs into snow and ice between December and March. Check conditions and the car's tyres before you go, drive the canyon in daylight, and turn back if the road is not cleared.
Pristina Airport (PRN)
Book in minutes with a debit card, see the deposit on each car before you choose, and collect at the terminal when you land.
