Bradt Guides have recently published the first guidebook in the English-speaking world dedicated to Kosovo. The authors promise that the curious traveller will find "Ottoman mosques, Tito-esque administration buildings, Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries, vineyards and extravagant KLA war memorials", as well as "some of the best skiing in southeastern Europe". It seems unlikely that Bradt will be overwhelmed by a rush of tourists eager to get their hands on the new guide, but it should find a market among the many "internationals" currently resident in the region.
Bradt have now achieved complete coverage of the Western Balkans, with seven separate guides to the countries of the former Yugoslavia, as well as one on Albania. They are also turning their attention to the eastern half of the peninsula, with the first edition of their Bulgaria guide due out later this year.
6 comments:
Actually it is not the first Kosovo guide. One of the existing Albania guides defines Albania as Greater Albania and includes Kosovo, NW Macedonia, Ulcinj/Ulqin, etc.
I had it once, but I lent it to someone who never returned it. And I can't remember who was the publisher.
Wim, I think that must be the Blue Guide to Albania. As far as I know it was last published in 2001. But I think the Bradt Guide still qualifies as the first in English dedicated entirely to Kosovo.
alan, I find your website biased towards Serbia since you have not included Kosovo in the menu on the left in the front page of your website. Republic of Kosova is coming..
Sara, it may be coming but it's not here yet. When it does I will try to find time to reorganise the site, which happens to involve quite a lot of work. That is, if I decide to keep the site going. So many people write to complain about me being biased about this or that country, I'm starting to think it's not worth the effort.
It is worth the effort Alan. It's a great site. Business and livelihoods in the Balkans are far better served by websites like this than by nationalist rhetoric. Good on you.
Well, the new Bradt Guide is certainly the first English language guide devoted entirely to Kosovo. Yes, the Blue Guide to Albania did indeed have sixty pages on Kosovo, but it was dreadfully dated, and focused on buildings at the expense of social insight. And of course, for historians of travel literature, Edith Durham's High Albania, published in 1909 had some splendid Kosovo material (interesting that Durham dismissed Pristina as 'hopeless looking'!). But the new Bradt Guide is a huge step forward. I have done no more than browse through its circa 300 pages but it seems a very fine piece of travel writing.
Nicky Gardner
editor
hidden europe magazine
www.hiddeneurope.co.uk
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