If you’re honest, you probably can’t think of many attributes you associate with the small country of North Macedonia, right? You know that it borders Greece, and that’s where most people’s knowledge of this small country ends. That’s exactly what happened to us, and that’s why we decided in June of this year to get to know North Macedonia a little better. After all, everyone goes on vacation to Portugal, Spain, or Greece.
So we decided to travel around the 25,000 km² “large” country and explore it up close. North Macedonia may not be located directly on the Adriatic coast, making it unsuitable for a beach holiday. However, if you enjoy swimming in lakes, then you shouldn’t miss our article. Today, we present our top highlights and sights in North Macedonia.
Skopje – The Capital of North Macedonia
About a quarter of the country’s entire population lives in Skopje, yet with just under 540,000 inhabitants, the city is still very manageable in size and easy to explore. When in Skopje, there’s no way around the Old Town. It’s home to many different bars and shops and is especially worth a trip in the evening to explore the city’s nightlife. But the old town is also a great place to stroll during the day.
Slightly above the old town, the Kale Fortress is located on a mountain and offers a fantastic view of the city. If you’re already in the old town, you only need to plan a short walk of about 10 minutes to reach the entrance of the fortress. Admission is free, allowing you to enjoy the city view and walk along the old fortress wall. The Vardar River flows through Skopje, and here the North Macedonians have not held back with their magnificent buildings. We definitely recommend a walk along the river.
Stone bridges cross the river, depicting countless statues of famous people from the country. If you want to take your time looking at each statue, you could spend an entire day in Skopje just doing this. On every corner, you’ll find monuments, fountains decorated with statues, bridges adorned with statues, and countless old buildings, each richly decorated. The city has an interesting mix of many different eras, all combined in a small space, giving the city a special charm that we haven’t seen anywhere else like it.
The Matka Gorge
Not far from Skopje lies the Matka Gorge and is therefore used by many Skopje residents as a weekend getaway. Accordingly, it’s crowded on weekends, so we recommend visiting the gorge during the week. A hiking trail runs along the Matka Gorge, offering a beautiful panorama of the gorge and the dammed lake within.
If you prefer to explore the reservoir by kayak, that’s also possible. A boat trip on the reservoir is also possible. Everyone will find a suitable option for exploring the Matka Gorge and its turquoise waters. If you’re hungry after the excursion, you can stop off at one of the local restaurants and end the trip in peace.
North Macedonia – Lake Ohrid
If Lake Ohrid isn’t on your to-do list for your trip to North Macedonia, you’ll unfortunately have to come back. The lake is one of the oldest in the world and the second largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula. It also marks the natural border between North Macedonia and Albania. You’ll see that the lake’s natural features alone make it worth a stop.
We spent a few days in the town of Trpejca, right on Lake Ohrid, and made several excursions from there. More information about the town will follow shortly. The lake is an excellent place to spend a summer day swimming, diving, or SUPing across the lake. The lake is home not only to countless fish, which make swimming and diving interesting, but also to harmless water snakes that slither through the water.
The town of Ohrid of the same name
Lake Ohrid, of course, also has a town of the same name on its shore. The city is a bit larger than the other towns along the shore, making it a good place to stock up on groceries. Boat tours across Lake Ohrid can also be booked from here, or you can stop off at one of the many restaurants and enjoy some typical Macedonian food. If you want to stroll a bit, you can do so on the shopping street, or you can escape the touristy part and just go with the flow until you eventually reach purely residential areas and see the local spirit of the place.
We have one more tip for you regarding parking in the city. If you’re looking for parking meters, you won’t find any. However, there are signs everywhere indicating that parking costs money. There’s a special vendor for this, who walks along the rows of cars and from whom you have to buy the ticket. It may take a while to find him. So walk along the rows of cars and look for a person wearing a safety vest and holding papers to get your parking ticket. On our first visit to Ohrid, we got help from a local because we didn’t know how to get our ticket.
The small town of Trpejca
The small town of Trpejca is located directly on the shore of the lake near the Albanian border and provided us with an ideal starting point for our excursions around Lake Ohrid. The town itself is really small, built very steeply on the side of the lake, and also car-free. A relaxed place that offers several restaurants right on the shore of the lake, as well as a small grocery store. Definitely enough to relax and have the essentials on hand.
The Monastery of Saint Naum
The Monastery of Saint Naum is also located directly on Lake Ohrid and is just inside North Macedonia. The Albanian border is just beyond the monastery. In front of the monastery, there are several tourist shops where you can buy souvenirs or stop at restaurants. If you walk past them quickly, it soon becomes quieter and less touristy. The monastery church and its courtyard can be visited free of charge. Countless peacocks wander around the monastery courtyard, cartwheeling, giving the monastery with its lake view a special atmosphere.
Directly behind the monastery, you can take a short circular hiking trail, which, strangely enough, most visitors to the monastery have forgotten. However, this offers the advantage of having the beautiful path almost entirely to yourself. The circular hiking trail leads past several springs that feed Lake Ohrid, which in North Macedonia have been built over with small houses. A sight we don’t see in Germany, which lends the place a somewhat reverent feel. With a little luck, you might even encounter tortoises, which live here in the wild.
Lake Prespa
Lake Prespa is quite famous for its large population of pelicans, and the lake also has a lot to offer geographically. It marks the natural border between Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia, and is in no way inferior to Lake Ohrid in terms of area. It can be reached from North Macedonia through the Galicica National Park, which we will discuss in more detail later.
Deserted roads wind down to the lake’s shore, past many abandoned hotels, which make the area around the town appear somewhat suspect. As inviting as the towns on Lake Ohrid are, they appear just as uninviting on the North Macedonian side of Lake Prespa. A complete contrast to Lake Ohrid. Anyone seeking absolute peace and quiet should definitely come to this lake.
Galića National Park
The national park is geographically located between Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa and can only be accessed via a single road. The entrance to the national park is between our location in Trpejca and the Sveti Naum Monastery. The entrance is quite difficult to see at first glance, and since there are few turning options after that, we recommend driving slowly to ensure you reach the road. At the entrance, the road is blocked by a barrier, as you must pay an entrance fee to the park attendant to enter the national park.
The costs, however, are quite reasonable: just under €0.30 per person and €0.80 for the car, which goes towards the maintenance of the national park. A fair deal, in our opinion. The road up to the park is narrow and winding. The first viewpoint already offers a wonderful view of Lake Ohrid. A little further along the road, you’ll find a small parking lot from where several hiking trails into the national park start.
We opted for a hike up Magoro, a mountain whose highest point is almost 2,000 meters above sea level. You’ll learn more about the hike below. If you want to visit Lake Prespa, however, you’ll need to continue past the visitor parking lot for hikes and take the winding road down the other side to reach the lake’s shore. Since there’s only one path from the start of the national park to the shore of Lake Prespa, you can’t get lost here.
Hiking up Magoro
The route up Magoro starts in the middle of Galicica National Park. You should definitely bring enough food and drink with you for the hike, as it takes several hours and the next town is outside the national park. Hiking boots are also a good idea. We did the hike ourselves in sneakers, but because many sections of the trail are covered in scree, sneakers don’t offer sufficient grip. The hike begins with a short section through a forest, but shortly after, you find yourself on the mountainside, whose slopes are covered only in meadows and whose path climbs quite steeply.
The hiking trail leads steadily uphill, past large rocks and narrow sections that offer a wonderful panorama of the mountains. Once you reach the top, the view will knock your socks off. You can see for miles across Lake Ohrid, but also Lake Prepspa. And as if that weren’t enough, you’re standing on top of a mountain and overlooking three countries at once: North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. A wonderful place, worth every step up. The hike to Magoro is definitely our number 1 choice when it comes to listing the highlights of North Macedonia.
Our conclusion about North Macedonia
A country we’d love to return to again. The landscape is beautiful and diverse. In the morning, you can climb a mountain and in the afternoon, lie by a lake and enjoy a beach holiday. This small country combines countless possibilities for a wonderful vacation in a small area. North Macedonia is easy to travel through, as the roads are well-maintained and there’s generally not too much traffic.
The people we met on our trip were very warm and always welcomed us. A country whose tourism is growing slowly, but still offers plenty of wonderful places waiting to be discovered by tourists. North Macedonia, you’ve inspired us! So don’t think twice about whether North Macedonia is worth a visit; just get going!
