What’s it like in KOSOVO? Exploring PEJA | Gateway to the Accursed Mountains

Exploring the city of Peja in Kosovo + a tour of my room at the Benelux Hotel. The city has a Grand Bazaar & historic mosque and is considered Kosovo’s gateway to the Accursed Mountains.
🇽🇰 See all of my Road Trip in Kosovo here → bit.ly/mwt_KosovoRoadTrip
Peja is one of Kosovo’s largest cities and lies on the edge of the Rugova Canyon and accursed mountains. The city has a long history and is a former seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It was sadly hit hard during the Kosovo war where most of its architecture and historical buildings were damaged or destroyed, and lots of people suffered greatly in the fighting. It was a devastating time but Peja rebounded from adversity and has become an intriguing and interesting place to visit.
After a delayed flight I arrived in Peja later than planned - after parking and checking into my room it was 10pm so not enough time to properly explore the city. I decided to do a room tour at the Benelux hotel and then head out into the city centre to see the nightlife. My expectations were low on a Monday night but I quickly realised that Peja comes alive in the evenings and is awash with locals out enjoying themselves.
The next day I headed back into the city centre for a self guided tour of the many historical buildings and popular places. I walked along the Bazaar of Peja and made it partially inside the Çarshi Xhamija Mosque. Right in the centre is a public square on the banks of the Lumbardhi i Pejës River with a busy shopping zone and lots of memorials and flags. I walked a little further out to see the Haxhi Zeka Mill.
Whilst in the mood for walking I headed about 30 minutes to the east where I found a spectacular Serbian monastery called the Patriarchate of Peć (pećka patrijaršija), inside I discovered its history and admired the wonderful frescos painted on the walls. On such a lovely day it was good to see the old church and nunnery buildings with the lush green hills of the national park in the background.
📖 CHAPTERS:
📖 00:00 Introducing Peja, Kosovo
📖 01:48 Room Tour at the Benelux Hotel
📖 05:05 Night Scene in Peja
📖 06:58 Peja Beer Tasting
📖 08:02 Peja Kosovo Tour
📖 10:08 Patriarchate of Peć Monastery
📖 11:47 Old Bazaar of Peja
📖 12:54 Haxhi Zeka Mill
📖 13:56 Çarshi Xhamija Mosque
📖 15:36 What’s Next?
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[@MattWhitingsEurope]

THANKS FOR WATCHING!! 👍 If you enjoyed the video please consider LIKING & SUBSCRIBING - they really help the channel!! 👍 🇽🇰 See more of my videos from KOSOVO here → bit.ly/mwt_kosovo | Subscribe for free here → bit.ly/2RyPwto

[@beneluxhotel7411]

Greetings to you Matt. We recently came across your channel and we enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you for all the amazing shots you took. It was our honor having you stay at our hotel. We will be expecting you in the future, free of charge :)!! All the best to you, Hotel Benelux Staff.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Well that's very kind indeed!! ☺️ I very much enjoyed staying at your hotel, very modern and a great location. Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching! Have a great day!!

[@curiousodyssey]

Hey Matt, great video. Kosovo is one of our bucket list destinations. The cities setting in breath taking 🌄 keep up the good work

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you, I certainly recommend a visit if you get a chance - it's a fascinating and stunningly beautiful country! Thanks for watching.

[@Imdatboy2.0]

Such a great place I’ve been there

[@user-zk6je7og5y]

thanks for checking out peja! im from peja so thats why im saying that.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for watching! Interesting place, I enjoyed my visit.

[@bethwanderswiss5651]

Such a beautiful place. Great video.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Yes indeed Beth, it was incredible! Glad you liked it!!

[@ep1929]

Its like a paradise, never thought it would look like this.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Interesting place! Were you there during the war?

[@PHNOMPENHWALK]

This is a really great and beautiful video! Thanks for sharing it, I look forward to the next ones!💚💚💙

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@jameschilemi4690]

Awesome video! Keep them coming 💪

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks very much!

[@WITYTRAVELS]

Seems like a good deal on the room to us! We liked the Peja beer, but that was an extra special can for it. We were ROLLING during the Peja taste test! Nun convent protected by ruins and security? Wow. That red church is nice. You're right, set up must have taken for ever at those shops. Fresh bread smell is lovely! Great to see Kosovo for the first time through your series.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Glad I could show it to you my Wity friends. Yes the security is intense but mostly due to many important Serbian churches and monasteries being located these days outside of Serbia, although Serbia themselves would depute Kosovo's independence. The hotel was great, the beer went down very well after such a long and tiring day!

[@WITYTRAVELS]

@@MattWhitingsEurope 🍺 🇽🇰

[@ofcourse4105]

@@MattWhitingsEurope the churches was build by Constantine the great/ dardan bloodline/ Kosovo today.. we are fighting to get them back because we made them but they were taken in sneaky way plus to keep Kosovo under Serbian control, it’s long I can’t explain… anyways thank you for visiting my country … people sleep less in Eastern Europe because sun sets there and for some reason we get more energy 😀

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks, loved my visit! What a fascinating area!!

[@matteoceloro6514]

great video as always Matt!

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you Matteo, glad you enjoyed it! 👍

[@KATHYSLUITER]

Life doesn't always go as planned, you did roll with the punches.cant imagine the square on Saturday night, seems like a late night culture.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hey Kathy, yes the culture was very different, people seemed a lot more social and often things were only getting started at about 7-8pm. Lots of children up as well but it's nice to see - everyone out having fun, it's how life should be! Saturday nights must be rockin'!!

[@deadend2023]

Thx Matt. Great video... I believe you left, but Sharr mountains are another great areas to visit.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks Ismail, glad you enjoyed the video! Yes I've left now but you'll be pleased to know I did make it into the Sharr Mountains later on in the trip. And you're right, it's another spectacular area!

[@spiritvoys]

Thank you so much for this amazing vidio !

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for watching - cool place!

[@spiritvoys]

@@MattWhitingsEurope 👋♥️🇽🇰

[@keithcomyn8159]

Looks a good spot heading there soon

[@Imdatboy2.0]

I’ve been to peja and wish I could go back such a pretty place

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Really enjoyed seeing it for myself, you are right, it is a pretty place. Thanks for watching.

[@Aqifipordhi1]

very good vlog, like proffesional

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks very much 👍

[@OlgasBritishFells]

Oh my god! What a heavenly price for the hotel!!!! Nice place, it's like East meets West kind of culture, and not all touristy. That's the kind of place I'd like to go. (Just not when it's too hot maybe). How much was the rental car again? (We rented a car too, when we went to Bulgaria.)

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Yes it was a really nice place, the atmosphere for a weekday night was incredible - lots of people out having fun and enjoying themselves. Rental car cost £88 (excluding excess insurance) for five days but it was a bit of a wreck. It did it's job though! Glad you liked the video, Olga.

[@adrianog4148]

@@MattWhitingsEurope 88 quid is a steal, even for kosovo. Normally a car costs 25 euro per day.

[@WhenAdventureKnox]

Had to chuckle at how despite your flight being delayed by 3 hours, you were 7 hours out from where you planned to be - exactly like me when I travel! The hotel you stayed at was gorgeous and an absolute bargain, even if it didn't come with parking and breakfast, for that space and quality, it looked fab! Totally believed you when you said that beer was gross and let out a laugh when you said you were joking as you had me. Just 1 person's opinion, but I'd much rather not see the inside of the monastery and understand that you followed the rules than you being disrespectful and sneaking some footage 🙏 Very much looking forward to the mountains video coming up. Hoping you may do some walking/hiking? Though if there's one things I know nothing about is the landmine situation as I know in Bosnia when I visited, the really touristy areas had been cleared, but not everywhere in the country.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Ha-ha, yes my planning is something I've been working on recently for that very reason. I quite often underestimate the time I need and end up having to either rush or drop certain plans on route. I'm often guilty of trying to pack in as much as I can, I find it hard to resist! I may have misspoke in the video but it did come with the breakfast and parking so it was an even better deal than it appeared - prices are good out here in Kosovo! Totally with you in terms of the photography and videography rules, I always use to try and sneak a bit of video or a quick pic but these days I try to respect the wishes of the owner where possible. Sometimes it's best experiencing these things in person only, imagination can fill the gaps especially if I describe it well. Yes I have at least one hiking video coming up but you are right about the landmine situation, many have been cleared but when signs tell you to stay inside the markers you stay inside the markers - no arguments!

[@user-br3ou2cs9o]

Very Peaceful for a land area that has seen so much devastation and not that long ago. As recently as the 2004 unrest in Kosovo between Kosovo Serbs & Kosovo Albanians with a lot of destruction of very old community relevant structures.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Yes it's amazing that this city was getting destroyed just a few decades ago in the war, and with all the civil unrest since it's remarkable it's back on its feet so soon!

[@cruelclipsy2943]

i live here, nicest city full of good people

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Everyone was really friendly, thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Thanks for watching!

[@cruelclipsy2943]

@@MattWhitingsEurope Glad you enyoy it🫡

[@rilindshehu96]

LOL The struggle with the window/door is very funny. You don't have those where you come from?

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

We do but I've not used many, and when I do I tend to end up with the door opening when I just want a window 😂. Maybe I need to get out more!

[@timallison8560]

market looks great, i hope some people actually support the vendors or at some point the market goes away.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Fair point that! I do regret not going inside, there were some really good deals and I'm sure I would have bought something.

[@giannis.o]

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

😃

[@glennmosher1338]

I'm sure those clothes were all knock-offs - that's what I found when I was there. You can easily tell by looking at the price.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I thought they probably were but didn't look closely enough to see for myself. Thanks for your comment.

[@lumturiekrasniqi1669]

There are not " Accursed Montain" we call them " The Blessed Mountains" !!!!

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I like it!