Ah, the Balkans. So easy to lump them together under a single label. I’m sitting in the Skopje airport; this is the fourth country (out of six or seven, depends on who you ask) I visit that belonged to Yugoslavia. I’ve been to Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and now North Macedonia. They’re all unique but they all feel Balkan.
Many Lives
Skopje is a cacophony of things (in a good way). It’s been a place with humans since the Roman empire but it has had many lives. In the 1960s, an earthquake wiped it off the map, but they just decided to rebuild it with ✨a vision✨. The vision includes lots of what I’m sure many folks would perceive as kitsch architecture.
You can tell something’s up here as soon as you get out of the airport. One of the first things I noticed when driving to the city was a big illuminated cross (this one, if you’re curious). Just sitting there in the middle of nowhere. Confusing, but not as confusing as seeing another one after a few minutes of driving, looking just like the first. Big illuminated cross. Very cool. I understand and appreciate this all probably makes some sense and this is quite a religious place and all that, but the size and illumination of it all really fit what I found to be Skopje’s overall vibe.
The 1960s reconstruction was not all. Early in the 2010s, Macedonia decided it should “look older” because it has the history to back it up. A few hundred million Euros into the Skopje 2014 project and now you got quite the eye-catching situation here. For some reason a big investment was in statues. There are now many (many) statues in the city center of Skopje. Some would call it an unsettling amount of statues. Leading the charge is the Warrior on Horseback in Macedonia square: a modest, chill 12-meter statue (on top of a 10-meter pedestal, no worries) that absolutely in no way depicts Alexander the Great—that would offend the Greeks apparently.
Complicated history. I have no education to say anything about this, so I ignorantly find the whole thing pretty absurd and surreal.
Nature
If you’re into nature (or not really, worth it anyway), go visit the Matka Canyon. It’s a 30 min drive from the city, and you get thrown into the deep end of beautiful landscapes, water, and green.
We took a taxi to get there—I think that’s easier than a bus, and a tour is not worth it in my opinion. Just show up, walk for ten minutes to get to the canyon entrance, and enjoy. There are a few boat tour operators that you cannot miss. We went on a hour-long tour that got us to see a neat cave as well, for maybe €8 or so per person. They also rent kayaks there if that’s your jam.
The whole thing is doable in three hours or so; that was the right spot for us. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend eating there, as going back to the city is cheap and quick and you’ll find much better food. On that note.
Moving Around
Yuck. A thousand timzes yuck. I had to do self reflection after coming here because I must be the problem: I cannot get so pissed off by transportation. Life is more than this. Alas, I am human. I have flaws. I also have a career built out of making software, which did not help in this case.
The situation in Skopje is this. You need to go from point A to point B (and they’re not walking distance). You have a few alternatives, but let me prepare you, they all suck for tourists:
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You take a bus. Good luck, because it feels like a very, very local thing to do. Google Maps has no public transport directions, you don’t see many buses going around. We did not take buses.
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You take a taxi. This is perfect if you enjoy being scammed, I would highly recommend it. There are many parts of the world where the taxi experience is truly a metaphorical-fist-fight with drivers; this is one of them. Cash only, high prices. Thumbs down.
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Ride-hailing. In 2026, in a world where software is getting the cheapest it’s ever been, the ride hailing apps here have been a refreshing taste of how bad software can be. If you open one of the two biggest ones, Wizi or BeeRide, I bet you you’ll be able to log at least ten bugs within a single minute of using it. I was able to use Wizi once; the app bugged out when confirming a ride every single time I tried to use it then. BeeRide worked, except that I was not able to add my card as a payment method (it’s a normal card, nothing weird). So, cash it is, every ride.
This is abysmal if you’re used to anything that works. Uber, Bolt, Freenow, Cabify, whatever (moral issues or no moral issues).
My advice: if you’re like me, just maybe talk to your therapist about this or something.
Food
I only have good things to say here. I don’t think I’ve ever traveled anywhere where I didn’t love the food, so maybe it’s just food I love, but this was no exception. Great stuff as long as you eat meat—there’s probably good vegetarian food but the meat is exceptional. They do their ćevapi here, but they call them kebabs. They are as good as I’ve had them around the Balkans.
The national dish seems to be a bean stew. Buttery beans, tomato, lots of oily goodness. Delicious. Ajvar is also easy to find anywhere; it’s a creamy pepper paste that is definitely good on bread, even though I have no clue if it belongs on there.
Meat in general is great here. Lots of grilled cuts, very primal flavors.
Beer wise, things have been mixed. I’m not a fan of craft beer so I generally look for local big brands. They definitely have that here: Skopsko’s name is everywhere. The beer itself was okay, an easy lager and that’s the style I mostly like to drink. I was somewhat disapponted to only find it on draft once, and bottled everywhere else (even in places who had it on draft on the menu).
The End
This is the sort of place that needs passion about the Balkans and their history in order to be enjoyed deeply and for longer than a few days. For us, three days were enough. Every place deserves visiting and this was no exception. Unsure if I will go back anytime soon, but I’m glad I was there.