Europe
North Macedonia
A small, mountainous Balkan nation wedged between Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Kosovo — UNESCO Lake Ohrid (3+ million years old, the deepest in the Balkans) on the western border, the surreal Skopje 2014 capital project, and a low-cost, high-character Mediterranean climate without the Adriatic crowds.
North Macedonia at a glance
MKD
Macedonian
$55–$100
May–Oct
28° / 4°C
79/100
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Destinations in North Macedonia
2 guides available
Ohrid
North Macedonia
A small UNESCO town on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid — at 3+ million years one of the oldest lakes on earth, deep enough (288m) and clear enough that you can read the church bells underwater near shore. The hillside Old Town spreads from the lake harbour up to Tsar Samuel's 10th-century fortress through cobbled lanes lined with 30+ medieval Byzantine churches. The Church of St. John at Kaneo, perched on a clifftop above turquoise water, is the icon image of North Macedonia. Add the lake-edge St. Naum monastery boat trip, the underwater Bay of Bones archaeological site, and the highest concentration of Byzantine fresco art in the Balkans — at a third of Croatian-coast prices.
Skopje
North Macedonia
North Macedonia's capital and Europe's cheapest, where the controversial Skopje 2014 government project blanketed the centre in giant marble statues, neoclassical facades and bridges of warriors over the Vardar river. Cross the 15th-century Stone Bridge into the Old Bazaar — the largest surviving Ottoman-era bazaar in the Balkans outside Istanbul, a warren of caravanserais, hammams, mosques and copper-beating workshops. Mother Teresa was born here in 1910 and her birthplace is marked with a memorial house. The Mt Vodno cable car climbs to the world's largest standing cross. Daily mid-range budget under €60.