North Macedonia
Skopje, Matka Canyon, & Lake Ohrid
From May 17th to May 20th, 2023
Day 1
We drove in around midday from Sofia, Bulgaria through the [border crossing], border crossing took 15 minutes
We checked into Marriott Skopje and walked about 10 minutes away from the hotel through Porta Macedonia to get Mexican food from La Puerta for lunch. We got mushroom quesadillas and a ‘California’ burrito.
After lunch we walked through the Karposovo Square, took pictures with all of the statues, sculptures and bridges and finally made our way to a 6th century fortress that overlooks the city of Skopje called The Fortress (or otherwise known as Kale). We walked the walls of the fortress and enjoyed the views from the top. To enter the fortress area is free.
We headed back to town and walked through Citjka, which is like a Turkish bazaar market selling things from all across the spectrum.
We went back to the hotel to rest before heading out to cocktails at a place called Speakeasy. It was somewhat difficult to find (no surprise) and we almost gave up on it, but Max sniffed it out and found the entrance. We met the head bartender who is the number one bartender in Macedonia. He made us great cocktails and was very friendly.
We left Speakeasy and went to drinks at Van Gogh (it was just ok) in the Debar Maalo neighborhood. The Debar Maalo neighborhood was a happening place with a lot of great looking restaurants and bars. We ended up also having dinner here at Matto Napoletano and had one of the best pizzas we’ve had in the Balkans.
We walked back to the hotel and called it a night, but the bars and restaurants were just starting to pick up.
Day 2
We woke up, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and made our way 20 minutes outside of Skopje to a popular city-escape destination: Matka Canyon
Once we got there we found out they were having some euro competition of kayaking, so we parked a quarter mile away and walked into the area, watching kayakers from all over the EU compete in the competition.
When we finally made it to the actual canyon itself and past the dam, we hopped on a boat about 20 minutes and it took us to a special cave. The cave was massive inside and was really had to fathom how it was formed in the first place. I overheard a lady saying they still haven’t found out how deep the water in the cave goes, but it’s more than 200 meters (650 feet).
After our boat tour and cave excursion, we had bottle of Bela Voda Tikves Macedonian wine and cheese fondue at the only restaurant there: Restaurant Canyon Matka.
After spending about 2 hours in Matka Canyon, we hopped back in the car and drove to 2.5 hours to Lake Ohrid checked in at Villa Mal Sveti.
Upon arriving in Lake Ohrid, we quickly realized how special of a place this is and had a great time exploring the streets. We tried to go to Jazz Inn that night for cocktails and live music, but for some reason it was closed. Instead we settled for a drink at Liquid Cafe, also recommended by Lonely Planet.
Day 3
We started our day off with a long walk around the lake, walking east & south to Golden Beach Park. It took us a bit out of town, which was nice to see how the surrounding area was developed.
We turned around and had breakfast at Lion Ohrid before continuing our almost 6 mile walk through Lake Ohrid to the north side and hopped on a boat near the Church of Saint Sophia. We hopped on a boat with a local at Potpes Beach and he gave us a tour around the area and even gave us an up close view of Church of Saint John the Theologian.
Day 4
Left from Lake Ohrid on our way to Albania through the Dogana Qafe Thane border crossing.
Next time we visit we plan to check out:
Buying Ohrid pearls from the Filevi family