Let’s be honest: Skopje isn’t at the top of most people’s Euro-vacation destinations (which is a shame!) This can make finding flights tough! This post goes over all of my tips for finding flights to Macedonia Skopje.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy/book something through one of these links, I will receive a commission, at no extra cost to you!
When our local friends pulled up to meet us outside of the Skopje airport, one of them greeted us by saying: “Thanks for coming to our village!”.
While we all laughed about it, the reality is that Skopje is not some major metropolitan city. And, as it tends to go, the smaller the city, the tougher it can be to find flights from your point of origin.
Never fear: there are tons of ways to go about booking your flights to Skopje, Macedonia. So let’s jump in!
Why Are There No Direct Flights to Macedonia Skopje?
Skopje’s airport is small. Really, REALLY small. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen bigger Walmarts before.
The good news is that this makes navigating the airport easy. You won’t need to arrive quite so early before your flight.
The bad news is that it means the airport doesn’t get a ton of traffic. If you’re coming to Macedonia from outside of Europe, there will be no such thing as a direct flight to Skopje.
Don’t believe me? You can look at flight routes from your local airport to Skopje on trip.com (my favoritest booking tool ever) using the banner below, if you care to fact-check. 😉
Which Cities Have Direct Flights to Macedonia Skopje?
Good news: there are websites that contain all of the stats of direct flights from Skopje Macedonia! As of Autumn 2023, here are the most common countries that fly to Skopje, according to my research online:
- Germany (more than 100 flights per month)
- Turkiye (more than 100 flights per month)
- Switzerland (more than 100 flights per month)
- Austria (around 50 flights per month)
- Serbia (around 50 flights per month)
If a European country isn’t on this short list I made, don’t worry! Lots of European countries DO fly to Skopje directly.
Poland, the UK, Italy, Sweden, France, and more than a dozen other countries also have regular, albeit less frequent, flights to Skopje.
So if you’re not in Europe and you’re heading to Macedonia, there’s good news and bad news. The good news: once you’re in Europe, you can easily get to Skopje!
The bad news: well, it’s just bad depending on how you see it. But you’ll probably want to shell out some more cash on a quick “stopover” vacation in a secondary destination!
Booking Stopovers For Your Flight To Macedonia Skopje
When in Europe…stay in Europe for at least a bit. Especially if you’re one of my American readers who has crossed the pond to be there!
I’m from the US, but I actually flew to Macedonia from my expat home in Beijing. So we flew Beijing to Istanbul to Skopje, and did that in reverse to get back to Beijing.
However, we actually booked our trip one leg at a time.
This means that we had roundtrip from Beijing to Istanbul for a 3 week’s stay, and then a separate booking for Istanbul to Skopje roundtrip which was for the first 4 days of our stay time.
So we went directly from Beijing to Istanbul to Skopje. But when we flew back to Istanbul from Skopje five days later, we had about two weeks to enjoy Turkiye before we flew back on our roundtrip tickets to Beijing.
I hope that makes sense. The gist is that you should plan to spend some time in the country where your transfer is. Book the tickets separately like we did, if you have to! Make the most of a stopover!
Driving to Skopje from Other Cities
Yes, you can drive! (My American friends know exactly why I think this is so rad).
From Northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro, you can hire a car (or rent a car) to go to Skopje! The drive won’t be more than a few hours from any of the aforementioned countries.
So if roadtripping is your jam, then flying to one of these countries and driving to Skopje may be a great alternative for you!
Booking Smart for your Trip To Macedonia
In summary, these are my tips for booking your flight to Macedonia:
- Investigate major hubs for flights to Macedonia Skopje (like Turkiye or Switzerland)
- Plan to stay in that “hub” city for at least a day or two, to make the most of the layover!
- You’ll probably find it’s even cheaper to fly from your local airport to a major hub city and book the Skopje flight separately, than it is to just book everything altogether. So why not enjoy another city on the way?
- Remember, you can always drive to Skopje if you fly into Northern Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, or Albania!
Those are about all of the tips I could come up with from my own experience! Booking flights to Macedonia Skopje doesn’t have to be hard. As long as you know the situation, you’ll be able to make the most of it!
You may also like:
Macedonian Currency: What to Know Before You Go
The Millennium Cross in Skopje: How To See It
Skopje Airport and Beyond: Macedonia Day 1 Travel Blog
Skopje Hotels: A Quick Guide for Tourists