Wondering how to travel from Montenegro to Kosovo by bus in 2026? Here’s how I took the Podgorica to Pristina bus journey, which takes 7-8 hours and is bookable online!
I took a train trip through the Balkans, focusing on the region’s lesser-known and often under-used railways.
Railways used to crisscross Yugoslavia, but after the country broke up, many of these – which were a feat of engineering in the first place due to the terrain they had to cross – became disused.
Nowadays, only a handful of railways remain open in Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, none in Albania and only one remaining in Kosovo.
Instead, buses bridge the gaps. But it’s hard to find information on these outside of the countries, and they can be slow and unreliable. Here’s my experience taking the bus from Podgorica to Pristina (Montenegro to Kosovo).
Quick Facts: Podgorica to Pristina by Bus
- Price: €20 via Girafa Travel
- Duration: ~7 hours (scheduled 09:00–16:45, arrived early)
- Route: Podgorica → Shkoder, Albania (bus change) → Prizren → Pristina
- Booking: Online via Girafa Travel (not available on 12go); international cards accepted
- Extra costs to budget for: €1 luggage fee, €3 if you need your ticket printed at the station (free if you print at Hotel Evropa the night before)
Are there buses from Podgorica to Pristina?
Yes, the only way to travel from Podgorica to Pristina is by road (well, there may be flights, but as you’ll know if you follow me on Instagram or YouTube, I try not to fly in Europe!) – so as far as public transport goes, buses are the best option by far.
I believe there are more buses between Podgorica and Pristina, BUT the only one I could find that was bookable online departed at 09:00 and was scheduled to arrive at 16:45. Yes, that is a nearly eight hour journey to get between two cities that are about 250km apart!
How to book the Podgorica to Pristina bus
I booked my Podgorica to Pristina bus online with Girafa Travel. Buses aren’t bookable on 12go, which I often use to book transport all over the world, but Girafa Travel sells tickets for buses all over the Balkans (it’s a Kosovo-based company).
It took my international Monzo card no problem! (Monzo is my favourite card for travel and if you’ve not got an account, you can get a £10 bonus when you sign up with this link! UK customers only).
Arriving at Podgorica Bus Station
The night before, I stayed at Hotel Evropa, which is a couple of minutes’ walk from the bus station (which is also right by the train station). I’d taken a train from Bar on the coast earlier that day. (This is the end part of the very beautiful Belgrade to Bar train – more about that here!).
Hotel Evropa is basic but very clean and has comfy beds. Take a look at it here.
It was an easy walk to the station. I asked at the ticket office how to get through to the bus station area, and was told I needed to print my ticket off.
They do have a service for this at the bus station – but they charge three euros to do so! If you stay at Hotel Evropa, they printed my ticket off for free so I’d recommend doing that to save money.
They told me the platform at the ticket office, and I scanned my paper ticket to go through.
Boarding the bus
The minibus arrived on time, and I was asked for one euro to put my bag in the boot (which is common in the Balkans). Originally, I was in a minibus with a 2-1 configuration, and grabbed a solo seat. The AC cranked up as we left Podgorica (not particularly strong, but better than nothing!) and headed south.
I quickly realised that we weren’t driving the way I anticipated. Instead, we were journeying south, towards the border between Montenegro and Albania.
While the most direct way between Podgorica and Pristina is east, over the Montenegro/ Kosovo border, this bus was calling at Prizren too, which is closer to the Albanian border. What I didn’t realise was that we’d also be joining another bus in Albania…
Crossing the Albanian border
But first, we had to cross the Albanian border! Our passports were checked on the Montenegrin side and we drove through no man’s land. I’m not sure why, but here we stopped for a while, while the driver and a few passengers appeared to chain smoke an entire packet of cigarettes each.
We drove across the Albanian side of the border, where our passports weren’t checked at all, and then we emerged into Albania. I was slightly concerned as to why my passport hadn’t been checked; worried it would mean that we wouldn’t stop at all in Albania (we had at least 3 hours in the country, and I knew I’d need the loo!) or would cause problems at the border, but we didn’t have any issues.
Changing buses at Shkoder
We’d only been in Albania for around 20 minutes when we arrived at a service station near Shkoder. Here, we were instructed to change buses; disembark the minibus and board a larger coach. There were already people on board, who I’m guessing were travelling from Shkoder to Kosovo.
It wasn’t too busy, however, and I had two seats to myself and enjoyed the stronger AC!
We weren’t able to use the toilet at this stop, but there was one on the bus. We also stopped about an hour later, where I used the facilities and grabbed a borek (spinach and feta pastry) and a magnum to cool me down! Card was accepted and the toilets didn’t have a charge.
Crossing the Kosovan border
After a few hours, it was time to cross into Kosovo! Our passports weren’t checked again on the Albania side, but were on the Kosovo side.
It was very straightforward; someone just came onto the bus and took our passports, scanned them off the bus and then returned them.
Two Argentinian travellers in Pristina told me that the border staff did take a while with their passports. Argentina doesn’t recognise Kosovo as an independent country, which is why they suspected they were subject to more scrutinous checks – they also assured our Kosovan guide that they personally recognised Kosovo as a country! That said, they were able to enter without a problem.
The bus then stopped just outside Prizren, and everyone who was travelling from Podgorica or Shkoder to Prizren disembarked and got on a minibus.
Arriving in Pristina
The bus arrived at Pristina Bus Station ahead of time. It took around seven hours in total; probably due to the fact that the borders were relatively quick to cross!
I disembarked the bus, grabbed my bag and found a taxi. It cost me 10 euros to take a taxi for around a 13 minute journey. I was told by a local they’d usually pay 7-8 euros, so I was overcharged a little, but not massively.
You could also walk; it would take about 40 minutes to reach the centre.
I stayed in a private room at Pristina Center Hostel, which was cheap and comfortable – the only negative is it was up four flights of stairs! You can take a look at it here.
How to take the Podgorica to Pristina bus!
While it’s not quite as efficient as a train, the bus between Montenegro and Kosovo is fairly straightforward, and I had a good experience with all leaving on time.
If you want to see a first-hand perspective of it, check out my YouTube video below!
