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Here you’ll find travel reports about Skopje. Discover travel destinations in Macedonia of travelers writing a travel blog on FindPenguins.

23 travelers at this place:

  • London LeopardSkopje, Macedonia
    Day1

    Day 1 in Skopje, Macedonia

    June 7 in Macedonia

    Day 1 in Skopje and I love how quiet the city is. There are not many tourists so you can get an authentic feel of the city. We flew in an hour late with Wizz air and then checked into our apartment. Then we went to explore the city on foot. It was very hot (30 something degrees). We saw the stone bridge and went to Mother Theresa's memorial house. Then we went for dinner to try some Macedonian cuisine. I tried turli tawa which is basically like a meat stew.Read more

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  • Dan ThomasEuropa 2018
    Day34

    Skopje, Mazedonien

    July 26 in Macedonia

    Ich muss gleich wieder grinsen, wenn ich an Skopje denke 😂 Eine Hauptstadt die voll getunt wurde auf Pomp. An jeder Ecke ein Springbrunnen oder Statue oder am besten beides. Am besten gleich 30 Meter hoch und dazu noch ein paar Paläste mit vielen Säulen, ein Triumphbogen und ne Champs-Elysee , dazu ein paar riesige dänische Schiffsattrappen als Restaurants und fertig ist das pompöse Stadtbild. 🙈
    Versteht mich nicht falsch, ich finde das total super. Genug mit Understatement 😉 Aber leider kommt dann doch immer wieder so der Gedanke von Las Vegas oder Disneyland auf. Aber gut...
    Mazedonien liegt seit langem im Dauerstreit wegen seiner Namensgebung mit den Griechen, liegen doch über 50% von Mazedonien in Griechenland während sich Bulgarien und Mazedonien den Rest teilen. Aus diesem Grund wird Mazedonien sanktioniert, der Hafen von Thessaloniki für Transit dichtgemacht und ein Veto für einen potentiellen EU Beitritt gleich mit. Auch der überdimensionale Brunnen mit Alexander dem Großen musste umbenannt werden in "Warrior on a horse", da Griechenland auf alles das Copyright haben möchte... Schwierige Sache.
    Nach wieder einmal 5 Stunden mit dem Bus und einer ausgiebigen Gepäck und Passkontrolle seitens der Bulgaren bin ich abends um 22 Uhr aus Sofia angekommen und erstmal nicht mehr raus, auch wenn ich dank Zeitzone eine Stunde gewonnen hatte.
    Dafür habe ich am nächsten morgen gleich die Stadt erkundet und ein paar Leute kennengelernt mit denen ich direkt ein Taxi geteilt habe in den Matka Canyon 20km außerhalb der Stadt. Ganz schön eng mit 6 Leuten in einem kleinen Taxi 😂 Aber die halbe Stunde Tetris zu viert auf der Rückbank mit einer Rumänin, einem Engländer und drei Holländern ging dann auch rum... Mit dem Boot sind wir dann durch den Canyon zu einer Höhle gefahren und haben uns am Abend dann nochmal in einer kleinen Craft Beer Brauerei in der Altstadt auf einen Absacker getroffen.
    In der Stadt dreht sich vieles auch um Mutter Theresa, welche hier geboren wurde. Natürlich gibt es ein Museum und viele Statuen von ihr zu bestaunen.
    Ein ereignisreicher und sehr unterhaltsamer Tag war das 😎 Ich wäre gerne noch einen Tag geblieben, aber man soll gehen wenn es am schönsten ist...
    Jetzt sitze ich gerade in Pristina, der Hauptstadt des Kosovos in spannender Erwartung ob ich meine Wette gegen den Engländer gewinnen werde. Er wurde vom Kosovo kommend am Übertritt nach Serbien abgewiesen. Ich habe gewettet, dass ich durchkomme 🙈. 50:50 Chance. Sonst verliere ich 2 Tage weil ich erst zurück nach Sofia oder Skopje müsste, um über die dortige Grenze einzureisen. Vermutlich das letzte Abenteuer in Europa 😂
    Wish me luck 🍀    Read more

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Day3

    Skopje - Bizarre and Bazaars

    August 7 in Macedonia

    All aboard the yellow limousine! Yes you read that correctly. Unfortunately we misread the bus schedule, so we didn’t leave Plovdiv early enough to backtrack to Sofia, and then catch another bus to Skopje as originally planned. However, have no fear, when in doubt just call the taxi man! That’s exactly what we did, so we ended up taking a 4 hour taxi ride to Skopje, yes 4 hours!!! But let me tell you, it was 100% worth it.

    As soon as you enter the Macedonia Square, towering warrior statues and other supersize monuments/fountains can be found no matter which direction you look in. It’s really rather entertaining, as absurd as they may seem you can’t help but wear a permanent smile on your face. Not to mention, how small they make a person feel (and in case you haven’t already noticed Sean and I are not tall people) so you can imagine how minuscule we felt.

    The Turkish old town was magical. You can’t help but be drawn into the narrow streets, it’s a shopper’s paradise. Ladies fashion boutiques, jewellery stores and other artisan goods are just some of the offerings here, but you can also find traditional coffee and pastry shops, mosques and...craft beer, but of course. What could possibly make a couple of beer nerds happier?! I have to admit, the feta cheese that has frequented our meals might be a close second, mmmm feta!

    I’m also happy to report that the people in Skopje are much brighter, which leads me to believe that Ohrid will be kind to us too. I spent some time studying the Cyrillic alphabet on the train yesterday, and it’s really paying off! To my surprise, I’ve been able to piece together words here and there along the way, so I’m hoping to pick up the momentum as our journey continues. KK    Read more

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  • Angharad DowseEuropean Adventure
    Day16

    Skopje

    April 19, 2017 in Macedonia

    Not good not good. We spent the night scratching. We brushed our teeth, made the bed, collected the rubbish and did a final scan of everything. We were instructed to leave our key in the room so we did.. we walked downstairs and found the front door locked, we needed the key.
    We were stuck.
    Will once again was far more stressed than me. It really surprises me, I thought I'd be the one having anxiety.
    We waited and luckily one of the residence came down for his morning smoke so he let us out.
    We went to the taxi rank and asked to be taken to Thessaloniki station. He was not happy but agreed. I think he was cranky because it's not a big/long job and they have designated pickup stations so once he dropped us off he would have join the back of the queue again So it's a big waste of time for him. He was a miserable sod and overcharged us but I tipped and extra euro anyway which cheered him up. To his credit he could have said no to us so I'm thankful he drove us.
    We were an hour early for the bus so we waited in the only open coffee shop.
    We couldn't help but notice the difference between counties. It was 7:30 on a weekday and the station hadn't opened yet. There was like 5 people around and this is the main station of the city...
    we waited where we thought we were suppose to - there was a sign with our bus company on it but the rest was in Greek. Eventually after time had past and still no one else had turned up I went searching for another potential bus stop and found one. We rushed over - lucky we checked it was nearly time to go.
    It was only a little shuttle bus type vehicle but we fit.
    When we got to the Greek border our driver took our passports and went inside, they got stamped and we went through. They didn't check to see if the passports matched those on the vehicle lol.
    There was a duty free shop one of the girls on the bus wanted to go to so we stoped there and I made friends with a dog.
    It broke my heart. He was so so so wet. And he was so happy when I game him a pat. I think he was hungry, he tried to get on the bus :( :( I wish I could take him home.
    He must have been so cold.
    I had to pay 50c to use the toilet, Will refused but I couldn't because they had hoarded all the toilet paper -.- it's ridiculous. I really don't think you should have to pay for a toilet. Especially if you are going to get in trouble for going on the street? What if I had no money? So stupid I wish I hadn't paid but the man started getting cross so I caved.
    We've crossed into Macedonia now and within the first 2 kilometers we saw 4 casinos hahah.
    We have both had a small nap - Will is still asleep.
    I think we should arrive soon. I already like Macedonia better, the buildings are like little rundown farm houses. I've seen some chickens and so much grass and lush greenery. Didn't realize how much I like plants until this trip.
    The leaves are a funny lime green color.

    So we arrived and there was this really friendly guy helping our driver get everyone's bags out and he asked if we needed a taxi so we said yes.
    We followed him to his car and he drove us to the hostel. He was hilarious! His English was very clear. He made a few good comments but I think the main one that will stick with me is when he asked us how old we were and we said 24/25 and he responded "oh guys this is the best time of your life, live it. Smoke a joint, eat some ribs, enjoy it! His accent and enthusiasm made it all the more funnier. It was unexpected. He was really lovely so we tipped him 5€.
    He has given us his his number if we have any questions or I suppose if we need a driver we could call him too.
    His name was Toni :)
    We got an upgrade at our hostel so we have an apartment to ourselves. It's really nice. It has a fridge and washing machine which is great!
    The hostel has a fish tank :D
    I was so frighten exhausted so I had a 3 hour snooze while Will researched Macedonia and he updated me when I woke up.
    We hadn't eaten at all today so we went for a walk to the main square looking for a place for dinner.
    I LOVE the main square. They have a ridiculous amount of statues. Like it's beyond stupid.
    Easily 30 in the one place but a big one of Alexander the Great in the middle surrounded by lions and such.
    There was a cool water feature nearby too with colored lights. We walked across the stone bridge and back.
    We found a spot to eat which had traditional Baulkan food.
    Will is regretting his decision to not buy waterproof shoes. He said I jumped the gun buying hiking boots but tonight it was raining and FREEZING and my feet were toasty while his toes were numb.
    We ate an entree of mixed meats that's intended for 4 hehe. We made a solid attempt.
    We tipped our waited the equivalent of 6€ and he was so so ecstatic and appreciated it. He shook both our hands.
    The walk back was COLD.
    I love Macedonia already. We have collected all the brochures from the hostel to have a look at and make plans for the week. We also bought cereal and milk on our way home.
    Honestly though, it's already kicking Greece' ass and I've been here all of 5 minutes.

    I have noticed that there are no stray dogs here. Will has said that he read that out in the villages they hang stray dogs from trees.
    Oh god.
    I pray I don't see it.
    It's forecast to snow in 2 mornings time. Exciting!    Read more

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  • Angharad DowseEuropean Adventure
    Day17

    Skopje

    April 20, 2017 in Macedonia

    I don't know why, we haven't even done anything but we are both just so tired. We got up at 12.30 today which yesterday, in Greece would be 1:30 :S
    We ate cereal for breakfast and we are now waiting for our first load of washing to finish before we put on another. I hope I did it right.. it hadn't exploded yet so that's a good start.
    Later today we are thinking of visiting the mother Theresa memorial house.
    We have just contacted a bike tour company who do rides through the country side. Will is really interested in doing it. We also are going to ask reception if we can extend our stay by 3 nights so we have enough time to do all the tours we want to.
    We (ha, me) hung up the washing and put on a second load, organized with Sachin to Skype him later tonight and then went on our way. It's about a 2km walk to the main square. We found the Mother Theresa memorial and I actually really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. I didn't realize she had been recently made a saint so that's kinda cool.
    It had lots of pictures of her, items such as her head scarf, documents she had written and other things like her certificate of baptism and Nobel peace prize. It had a small chapel too but we didn't go in. We walked back to the main square and had lunch. I had the most DELICIOUS tomato soup!!! I ordered a second bowl and drained it hehe. :D I also caught a Mr Mime on Pokémon go which I have been trying to do since we arrived so I'm very happy. (You can only catch him in Europe). I booked us onto the free tour for Saturday and wrote some reviews on TripAdvisor - im now level 3 haha.
    On the walk home we wanted to buy toilet paper, pegs, conditioner and more napisan sachets.
    Apparently these people do not use conditioner. It surprisingly hard to find. Will also has extremely sore shoulders - partly because he went to the Gym and partly because he is stupid sized and doesn't fit anything; So we got some muscle rub for him too. Everything is so cheap!!!! The cocktails at the lunch place were roughly $4.50 each and the muscle rub was only like $3.
    Woohoo!
    We're back home and we have just finished talking to Sachin. He is doing good :)
    I've hung the 2nd load out - the first load has practically dried because the apartment is so warm!
    Just booked us onto a half day tour of "Skopje's surrounding beauties"
    We went over to reception and have booked a few more days here so we will now check out on Wednesday AND we get to keep our upgraded room for the same price ( well technical 2€ a day more but big woop)
    they printed off our tour receipts for us too :)
    YAYAYAY so keen for tomorrow, I think I'll be getting the thermals out though.
    We got told we have a maintenance person coming tomorrow to fix our shower door because at the moment half is missing which makes a big mess on the floor so we are quite pleased :)
    Went out to dinner at this burger place Will wanted to try. It cost 99 Denar each which is 1.6€. BARGAIN! Burger was average but for the price is was amazing!
    It is so so cold! My phones weather app says it's 5 degrees but feels like 2. I have to agree with it.
    I really like the juice we bought yesterday. It's tropical flavor but a thinner texture than normal juice.
    We have to do another load of washing because we forgot to wash Wills disgusting gym shirt because it was in its own quarantine section. It smells so bad.
    I think I put too much napisan in before because some of the clothes have come out with white powder type stains on them so we will wash those shirts again too.
    We got our Wills GoPro and are charging it for tomorrow and looking at his old photos from his caravan trip to Cairns with Tim. There is a great video he got of him swimming after a reef shark.

    I am doing my first iCloud backup ever right now and so happy about it. I thought the day would never come :,) I was able to change my Apple ID so all my past problem are gone!!! :D
    Off to bed shortly :)    Read more

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  • Angharad DowseEuropean Adventure
    Day18

    Skopje

    April 21, 2017 in Macedonia

    Our shower fixing guy hadn't arrived before we left so we hid the laptop.
    We walked and got more money out, had lunch then went to find our tour meeting spot - we walked through Old Baazar and I can't wait to go back and explore it (the old main square). We were told to meet in the car park on fortress kale. This instruction was not helpful and we spent about 30 minutes stressed not knowing if we were in the right place or not because let's just say the "carpark" is not a legit space. It's more like where people felt like putting there car. There was a mosque nearby so there was loud prayers blaring over a speaker. We were in the right place and first to arrive. An English couple joined us next, they were nice. We waited for 2 Canadian ladies to turn up. They had a fantastic reason for being late though - the Princess of Thailand is staying in there hotel and and the hotel went into lockdown for her arrival and wouldn't let them out. An unexpected but very valid reason lol.
    We picked up another couple who are very odd, don't speak much and both have bowl hair cuts.
    First we drove to millennium cross. Apparently the overworked staff who press a button to operate the cable cars take 30 minute breaks every half hour... so we had to wait and the tour had a coffee in a shop nearby. The hot chocolate I had was a packet mix not stirred in properly :/
    We went up the cable cars with the British couple and our guide. It takes about 8-9 minutes to reach the top. The cross was built in 2011 to celebrate 2000 years of Jesus and the cable car was added in 2011. Construction of the cross is not completely finished yet though - they are building a resturant. There was play equipment and a spectacular view!! I WAS BEYOND FREEZING THOUGH. I was wearing my thermal top, a long sleeve shirt and my windbreaker jacket but had to get out my big boofy jacket - I was still cold!!!
    There was a dog at the top of the mountain which surprised me. We went back down the cable car and took the bus to a church - Will became very grandad Pickering on the Bus. He asked if it was a working church and was told yes. He then went on to very LOUDLY tell everyone on the bus that that was wrong and as a Christian he shouldn't have to paid yada yada yada making a small scene. It was a touch embarrassing.
    The church had beautiful frescos in it. It cost 120 denar each to enter. The paint had such strong colour and it hadn't been restored so even more impressive. There was goats me and Will wanted to pat but we didn't :(
    Next up was canyon Matka. It was exquisite. The water was so blue but it was so cold - I had trouble taking photos because my fingers couldn't really move. We had the choice to sit in the resturant, go for a walk on one of the trails or take a boat to a cave, we did the latter. We were joined by 2 other guys. 1 of them had just had a beer and was doing disgusting beer burps -.-
    The cave wasn't really worth the trip but the boat ride was enough in itself. I loved going through the gorge. Apparently it's known for its butterflies but unfortunately it was too cold to see any.
    I liked the people on our tour and our guide. They were super friendly. The bob cut people not so much though but I don't think English was their first language so they are excused.
    As we were leaving canyon matka was saw a traditional Albanian Wedding celebration ( or so we think) they were all dancing and wearing fancy outfits. It looked very gypsy-like but they had the Albanian flag. We were suppose to get dropped off at the Macedonia gate but apparently there is a demonstration that takes place at 5pm everyday and all the streets get closed by the police. We haven't realized cause we have been going everywhere by foot.
    So our bus dropped us close enough and our guide stayed with us to walk us to the main square.
    Macedonia hasn't had a government since December 11. It's obviously a complicated issue but from what the guide said is everyone was angry cause the government has spent so much money on pointless things like the 700 statues which is ridiculous when 1/3 of people are below the poverty line.
    She said something about Albanian being made a national language too - not sure if the protest was for or against that point but I (granted I don't know much on the subject) don't think it should be. The argument they have is that 40% of Macedonian citizens are Albanian but I think if 40% of Australia was Chinese and I was told Mandarin should be a national language I'd be outraged too.
    Walking through the demonstration was fun. Lots of flags and thousands of people.
    I like that they do it everyday AFTER work. I think that shows a glimpse into what type of people they are - hard working and not just having a whinge.
    We ate dinner at the resturant from the first night again. Will ordered a chunk of cheese. It's not why he thought it was going to be,
    but it was a literal slab of cheese.
    I had curry chicken and it was great. I wanted a dessert, Will didn't think he could finish one on his own - I thought this meant he would have 1 or 2 bites of mine but ended up eating half of my crepe -.-
    HAVE I MENTIONED IT IS COLD.
    At the hostel we did 2 loads of washing cause the first one must have had a tissue in it.
    We then watch Hamish and Andy gap year videos .    Read more

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  • Angharad DowseEuropean Adventure
    Day19

    Skopje

    April 22, 2017 in Macedonia

    Will finished all the cereal last night so we had to buy breakfast/lunch - we went for the cheap option and went back to 'burger friends'
    I don't understand why no one puts salt on their chips.
    We arrived at the meeting spot a half hour early so we waited - at first in the shade but then in the sun cause we were cold again.
    Our tour guide, Zoran arrived - his teeth were awful! Rotten, half missing and I think the top ones he did have was a plate of sorts. He did spit a bit too - apart from that distracting feature he was great - super friendly and spoke English clearly enough:) we waited a little, but because he changed his usual tour time he didn't expect anyone to show - we only knew about the change of time because we booked and received an email - but the website actually specifies that you don't need to book. So lucky we did. A Spanish man came over and enquired about the free tour umbrella and joined too.
    Our first stop was mother Theresa's birth place - the 1963 earthquake destroyed the house but there are gold outlines on the floor to mark where it stood. There is also a tree that she planted too.
    Next up was an arch, variety of statues and parliament building. The parliament building still had some signs of the protests from last year. They didn't graffiti like most people, instead they covered the building in paintballs hahah.
    We went to the old train station which is now museums and had some of the Thousands of statues explained.
    Next we went to the main square - that ridiculously large Alexander the Great statue cost the government 9 million euros - no wonder they are cranky.
    We looked at stone bridge and learnt about the explosives that were hidden in there during the war, and looked at another 2 bridges one covered in significant Macedonian artists and the other important Macedonian figures be it politics or philosophy etc. Most of the city is new because in 1963 there was a massive earthquake which destroyed 80% of the city.
    we went through the old bazaar to reach fortress kale. We went inside today but there want much to see, it's still under construction. We went to a mosque (the one making a racquet yesterday) and then we went back through the old bazaar again where our guide, Zoran bought us some traditional Turkish sweets - delightful! Everyone else didn't like them as much so I got 3! ^.^
    The Spanish dude - who btw was a knob at the start had warmed up and bought a sweet for himself and offered me a bite - it wasn't chocolate like expected but full of dates or similar. The old bazaar is my new favorite spot. It honestly looks like a theme park with matching shop fronts and clean streets but with people selling silly things.
    Back in the day there was a designated street for each thing but now there is only one still doing that tradition which is the street selling gold/jewelry which we walked down.
    The Spanish dude said bye to us, we tipped 1000 denar which is about 16 euro (the tour was free in theory - it's all tipped based) then we sat at a shop Zoran recommended. He came and sat with us for a while. He really is lovely but makes too many jokes haha and many of them sexual - the Spanish man and Will found them funnier than I did lol.
    I had a traditional salad called a shopska * salad.
    It's tomato, cucumber and onion covered in white cheese.
    We were meant to go on a pub crawl but we went to the meeting point and no one was there. So we have now strolled through the city and are stopped at traditional Turkish place in the old bazaar.
    Will is pretty devo.
    We had traditional Turkish tea, it needed a lot of sugar to be yum. Will liked it and ordered another one but we got it on the house. :)
    We also had some Melon hookah which was yum.
    I feel uncomfortable, not unsafe but uncomfortable. I feel like my hair an eye colour really give me away and a lot of people look at me.
    There were a lot of beggar kids walking around.
    We gave a big tip again because the waiters were really nice and there money is worth squat. He was so appreciative and supposed.
    I plan on buying dog/cat food tomorrow cause I can't deal with all the sad animals :(
    We are currently watching Bear Grylls and will go to bed soon.
    We both have obvious wind chafing on our faces.    Read more

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You might also know this place by the following names:

Skopje, ስኮፕዬ, Scopia, سكوبيه, Skopye, Горад Скоп'е, Скопие, སི་ཀོཔ་ཇི།, Skoplje, Üsküp, Съкопиѥ, Скопье, Σκόπια, Skopjo, اسکوپیه, סקופיה, Szkopje, Սկոպյե, SKP, スコピエ, სკოპიე, 스코페, Scupi, Skopia, Skopjė, Скопје, स्कोप्ये, ਸਕੋਪੀਏ, سکوپ جے, Escópia, Skopiye, Shkupi, Скопље, ஸ்கோப்ஜே, Скопе, สโกเปีย, سكوپليې, Скоп'є, اسکوپیہ, סקאפיע, 斯科普里

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