North Macedonia delights with its often unexpected allure – the excellent local wine helps, of course
Craggy mountain backdrops, time-weathered monasteries, stunning lake panoramas and a hearty national cuisine – mix it up in North Macedonia.
History buffs can get lost in hundreds of Byzantine buildings and Roman ruins, foodies can gorge on tasty mezze, cheeses, stews and meats (and wash it down with potent rakija), and wannabe wine critics can swish and swirl their way through North Macedonia’s finest drops. Then there’s the great outdoors. Endless green pastures, rugged peaks and glacier lakes at every turn, perfect for thrill-seekers at every level. Discover this often-overlooked Balkan gem for yourself.
Skopje
2 million
Macedonian Denar (MKD)
North Macedonia, snugly tucked away in the heart of the Balkans, is sadly underrated. From the capital Skopje, surprisingly opulent for a former communist city and bursting with innumerable statues, to the expansive mirror-like lakes clean enough to swim in, surrounded by pastoral mountains dotted with villages that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years, North Macedonia holidays are full of surprises.
Here there are adventures aplenty. If you’re a keen cyclist, the borderlands of northern Albania and western Macedonia are a vista of sweeping gorges, crystal blue waters and plateaux rising high above lush greenery. Ancient villages lie along the carefully chosen route of our Macedonia trips, which offer cycling that challenges and rewards in equal measure.
Centuries-old traditions still take place, many of which incorporate the cultures of rulers gone by (notably the Ottoman Empire who ruled for 500 years). Locals will proudly put on their best folk costume to play traditional music, dance traditional dances (such as the ‘Oro’ circle dance) or take part in rituals passed down for generations. Ethnic North Macedonians – who make up the majority of the population (about 67%) and are largely Orthodox Christians – are frequently at odds with the country’s notable Albanian population (about 23%), who are predominantly Muslim. Despite their differences, both groups tend to share conservative and patriarchal values. Visitors should be aware that women are expected to dress modestly and both men and women are expected to cover their knees and shoulders when visiting a mosque or church.
Even by Balkan standards, North Macedonia’s history is characterised by complexity and controversy. Going back to the days of Alexander the Great (the country’s favourite son), North Macedonia has been pin-balled between external powers, from the Romans to the Byzantines, the Serbs to the Ottoman Turks, and the Bulgarians to the Greeks. In fact, it wasn’t until 1991 that the country officially attained its status as an independent nation – and even that remains a point of contention in certain circles.
From the sixth century AD until the fourteenth, the territory was wrestled to and fro between the Byzantines, Slavs, Bulgars and Serbs before eventually falling to the Ottoman Empire in 1371. The country remained under Turkish rule until the empire’s decline in the eighteenth century, then was once again split up but this time between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. Various pushes for independence and ‘reunion’ with Bulgaria were then stymied by the two World Wars and the advent of communism.
At the conclusion of World War II, the country was incorporated into the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia under the leadership of Tito – an era during which, by and large, the territory prospered. With the collapse of European communism, however, came new calls for Macedonian independence, and the state peacefully ceded from the republic in 1992.
Wary of ‘Macedonia’ being used as the country’s proposed name due to implied claims to Aegean Macedonia, Greece made its objections known and the compromise ‘The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ was eventually arrived at. Greek ire was re-aroused in 1994, culminating in its enforcement of an economic embargo that was eventually lifted upon Macedonia’s changing of its flag and agreeing to discussions about its name. The country evaded being embroiled in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s but experienced a potentially catastrophic civil conflict from 1997-2001 over tensions with its sizeable Albanian population. Hostilities were becalmed with a NATO ceasefire, but the Albanian-Macedonian relationship is still a touchy subject that’s best avoided.
In 2019 Macedonia agreed to change their name to North Macedonia and Greece agreed to stop blocking its entry to NATO and the EU.
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