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22 British Tourists Visit Kosovo

Of course, there are tourists who come to Kosovo independently. One of my students reported that they saw a French couple on the bus to Pristina last week who were travelling around Kosovo. However, most of the 'tourists' are people like me: foreigners who are working here that have chosen to explore Kosovo a bit more closely.

Honestly, Kosovo has a way to go on even the most basic tourist fronts. For example, the women's toilets in the arrival hall of the airport are horrendous: leaky, often without toilet paper or paper towels, standing water on the floor, doors that don't lock... That's no way to greet anybody. Once, I was flying in to Pristina and was in line to use the airplane bathroom and the flight attendant asked me if I knew why the toilets on the short flight into Pristina were always in use. I explained the unpleasantness of the toilets at the airport. To be fair, the toilets in the departure area, both before and after security, are in generally better shape.

Once someone flies into the airport the conundrum is how to get into Pristina proper. A taxi cab will set you back 25 Euros. There is a bus for airport employees that runs a few times per day that will take airline passengers as well, but it's inconvenient to have to wait 3 hours for a ride (the cost is 3 Euros). Someone who knows might take a taxi to Sllatine (for 3 Euros after negotiation) and then flag down the next bus to Pristina. But for a tourist who's never been to the Balkans, doesn't speak Albanian, doesn't know about the transportation options, paying 25 Euros for a taxi suddenly seems like the best idea.

Granted, there are tricks to making airport arrival successful and easy no matter where one goes, but arriving passengers deserve decent toilets and an easy and transparent way to get into town.