Skopje
It is fairly easy to get from Pristina to Skopje, Macedonia by bus. It takes two hours and there are buses going there every few hours. After my initial taxi ride into the city, I decided taking the city bus to the bus station was safer & a little cheaper. The bus ride to Skopje was fairly uneventful with two quick passport checks. I had a small issue finding my bus to the hotel, but I eventually managed to find the right bus stop. Skopje recently converted to an electronic pay system for their buses, but unfortunately it seemed impossible to find any places to buy these passes. I ended up riding the bus for free since the driver couldn't sell me a ticket.
The small hotel I stayed in for 2 nights was pretty nice & very quiet, it was a great deal at $25/night which included breakfast. After checking in and doing research online, I found a walking tour that started at 5 pm that day. The guide was really good & was nice enough to agree to do the tour even though I was the only one that showed up. We toured the old bazaar area, the fortress, and many of the new structures that are part of a redevelopment project called Skopje 2014. Skopje 2014 started in 2010 with a budget of 80 million euros & is still ongoing (3 years past the deadline). There is a lot of controversy associated with it since they have spent over 700 million euros on it. Also there is a Las Vegas style tackiness to the statues and buildings with this project. Here are some of the structures and monuments along with an article about the project.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-s-new-govt-to-stop-skopje-2014-revamp-05-30-2017
No mobs of people surrounding this bull like there was in NYC last year.
On my second day in Skopje, I took the public bus out to Matka Canyon which is about 10 miles outside of town. There is a really beautiful man made lake there with nice hiking trails along the water. I did a 1 hour boat tour of the lake which included a trip into a cave with an underground river.
The only negative about my visit was the long wait for buses back to the city, there were only buses every 2 hours even though it is the biggest tourist attraction in the area.
After getting back to town, I found a place to eat in the old bazar area. There was a big rainstorm shortly after I left the restaurant & I found a place to stay dry to wait out the rain. After the storm, the cloud cover provided some excellent background for taking photos on the main square.
I had planned to go on a cable car ride the next morning since it had been closed the day before. But after a long wait for the bus near my hotel & the long intervals between buses to the mountain, I decided I wasn't in the mood to spend 3-4 hours trying to do it. I picked up my luggage at the hotel & took a taxi to the bus station for $3.50 to catch a late morning bus to Ohrid.
Here are a few more photos from Skopje.
The small hotel I stayed in for 2 nights was pretty nice & very quiet, it was a great deal at $25/night which included breakfast. After checking in and doing research online, I found a walking tour that started at 5 pm that day. The guide was really good & was nice enough to agree to do the tour even though I was the only one that showed up. We toured the old bazaar area, the fortress, and many of the new structures that are part of a redevelopment project called Skopje 2014. Skopje 2014 started in 2010 with a budget of 80 million euros & is still ongoing (3 years past the deadline). There is a lot of controversy associated with it since they have spent over 700 million euros on it. Also there is a Las Vegas style tackiness to the statues and buildings with this project. Here are some of the structures and monuments along with an article about the project.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-s-new-govt-to-stop-skopje-2014-revamp-05-30-2017
On my second day in Skopje, I took the public bus out to Matka Canyon which is about 10 miles outside of town. There is a really beautiful man made lake there with nice hiking trails along the water. I did a 1 hour boat tour of the lake which included a trip into a cave with an underground river.
The only negative about my visit was the long wait for buses back to the city, there were only buses every 2 hours even though it is the biggest tourist attraction in the area.
After getting back to town, I found a place to eat in the old bazar area. There was a big rainstorm shortly after I left the restaurant & I found a place to stay dry to wait out the rain. After the storm, the cloud cover provided some excellent background for taking photos on the main square.
I had planned to go on a cable car ride the next morning since it had been closed the day before. But after a long wait for the bus near my hotel & the long intervals between buses to the mountain, I decided I wasn't in the mood to spend 3-4 hours trying to do it. I picked up my luggage at the hotel & took a taxi to the bus station for $3.50 to catch a late morning bus to Ohrid.
Here are a few more photos from Skopje.
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