North Macedonia
Skopje's old bazaar, the Matka canyon and Lake Ohrid, one of the oldest lakes in the world.
North Macedonia is the country most guests know least about and enjoy most. Skopje is an odd, likeable capital: a large Ottoman bazaar and a 15th-century stone bridge on one bank of the Vardar, and on the other a centre rebuilt after the 1963 earthquake and then covered in neoclassical facades and statues a decade ago. Half an hour away, the Matka canyon is a quiet lake between cliffs with a monastery at the end of the path.
Lake Ohrid, three hours south-west, is the reason to come. The lake is around a million years old and clear enough to see the bottom several metres down; the town on its shore has Byzantine churches, a fortress on the hill and a boardwalk to the church of St John at Kaneo. Sveti Naum monastery, at the southern end near the Albanian border, sits above springs that feed the lake.
Our four-day tour joins Skopje and Ohrid, and the Grand Tour crosses the country from the Albanian border to the Serbian one. Food is a highlight: peppers in every form, white cheese, tavče gravče beans and good, inexpensive wine from Tikveš.
Practical information
Entry rules depend on your nationality and change from time to time. Many visitors enter for short tourist stays without a visa; check the current requirements with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia or your own government's travel advice before you book.
We do not give visa advice; the rules change and depend on your passport.Check the official source →Tours in North Macedonia
Multi-day tours that visit the country and, where we run them, day tours in its cities.
All tours
