Well it only took me 26 years, but for the first time, I’m in Europe! This Day 1 blog is going to cover my experience at the Skopje airport, as well as the museums and shopping areas I visited. Let’s jump right in!
Before the Skopje Airport…
It’s been a crazy summer! I have to say, I’m dead tired, and it’s already past midnight…but I have so much to share, and want to do it while my mind is fresh.
I got to see my family in the US for the first time in 4 years this July. It was amazing. I left for JFK on the evening of July 30, flew out early on July 31, transferred in Seoul, and touched down in Beijing on August 1.
In Beijing, I had about 30 hours to unpack and repack at home before my partner and I departed from China together on August 2, landed in Istanbul on August 3, and then finally flew Istanbul to Skopje.
It was almost exactly 72 hours, and 5 countries in total. Woo!!
Arriving at the Skopje Airport
Okay so to be totally honest, while the area around the Skopje airport was stunning, the airport itself was super utilitarian and there wasn’t anything fun to do inside of it.
The airport itself is quite tiny, which does make immigration, baggage claim, and customs quite easy. As a US citizen who can come visa-free, it took me less than 10 minutes from plane to airport exit.
Why Macedonia?
So this trip actually has two BIG purposes for myself and my partner! First of all, we’re coming to Macedonia because two of our dear friends from Beijing (who are Skopje natives) are getting married.
Second of all, Macedonia is super close to Türkiye, which is where we will hopefully meet with my partner’s mother, who is coming from Ukraine to meet us there once we’re wrapped up in Macedonia!
Personally, travel has become more and more about people I care about, rather than just seeing new places. So having an “inside scoop” on Macedonia is making this trip really special!
Our friends came to pick us up from the Skopje airport, which was super kind! Partially because it saved us taxi money, but mostly, it was the best possible welcome.
Breakfast in Skopje
Our bride-to-be friend had been raving about “cafanas” long before we came to Macedonia. She was kind enough to treat us to our first meal in Skopje: traditional Macedonian breakfast at a cafana!
The soup, called “Chorba”, is a salty soup packed with tender meat and vegetables. To make it even better, a small dish filled with oil, garlic, cilantro and chives is served with a small spoon.
Just a few scoops of that garlicky oil takes Chorba to a whole other level!
In addition to soup, assorted salad veggies were served, which we put balsamic vinegar and olive oil on. A plate with sheep cheese (not shown) went super well with the veggies. Lastly, there were roast peppers. They were SPICY!
Walking Around Skopje
Skopje’s downtown is charming, easy to navigate, and full of shopping and dining treasures!
Near our Airbnb is a huge park with lots of room for movement. People don’t really seem to care about following paths in the park, and apparently the street cleaners are currently on strike. So there’s more trash than usual.
Something I love about Skopje: there are water fountains everywhere, and they are super clean so you can drink straight out of them, or fill up a bottle if you’d prefer. You can see a star shaped fountain in the above photo.
Our AirBnB In Skopje
First of all, our friends recommended we choose an Airbnb within proximity to Leninova Street, where there are plenty of cafanas.
Honestly though, the south side of Skopje (south of the river that goes through the city) holds the city center, parks, Leninova Street, and other lovely areas all within walking distance of each other. Lots of options.
The Airbnb we opted to stay in is a gorgeous fifth floor apartment, which feels very newly renovated. Our friends helped us chat with the landlord, since my Airbnb app is having some issues. We got to check in early!
The apartment is super bright and clean, with an enclosed balcony and a fully equipped kitchen (I’m making pasta as I write this lol).
We were able to self-check in thanks to great instructions from the landlord, which I liked! Including taxes, this Airbnb totals about $65 USD per day.
Our friends also prepared a very sweet bag of some local goodies for us, including some sauces, snacks, drinks, and candies. The box of green chocolates has been a favorite so far!
Out on the Streets of Skopje
As our friends are days out from their wedding, they had to take off after getting us settled in. But we love wandering and exploring, so that was totally cool with us.
After unpacking and showering, we went out with the mission of finding some recommended museums. On the way, we saw a beautiful Macedonian Government building, as well as countless monuments and statues.
If there’s one thing you’ll notice about Skopje right away, it’s the abundance of statues. They really seem to have a thing for them! We also saw an Oppenheimer billboard. So far, no sight of Barbie!
Museum of the Macedonian Struggle
Our first museum stop was the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. We only had euros on us, so we had to run to the Old Bazaar nearby to exchange some so we could buy tickets. The rate is currently 56 denar to $1 USD (or 62 denar to 1 euro).
When we came back, the woman at the counter sold us two tickets: 1 regular, and 1 student (26 year old me wasn’t upset about the mistake). An adult ticket cost 300 denar (about $5 USD), and the student ticket was 120 denar ($2 USD).
I don’t think pictures are allowed inside the museum…but for the sake of posterity, I took two: one so you can get the feeling of the museum, and another so you can see an example of the signage.
Hopefully in the name of posterity (and encouraging more folks to visit), they’ll forgive me!
There are three main categories of things to see in the museum:
- Wax figures of prominent historical people
- Artifacts (mainly weapons) from different eras of Macedonian history
- HUGE wall-sized paintings of significant events in Macedonian history.
Thoughts on the Museum of Macedonian Struggle
My takeaway from the museum can best be summed up by a note we read which was written by a foreign tourist in the guestbook at the end of the museum: “This museum helped me to try to understand Macedonian history”.
And yes, the emphasis on the word “try” was hers (she even underlined it).
I’ve read two books on Macedonian history: one on Macedonia, and one on the fall of the Yugoslavian Republic. And the latter especially just confused me more than anything.
I wish I could say that this museum helped…but it really didn’t, other than helping me with some basic timelines.
Essentially, the museum covers the history from the occupation of Macedonian people by the Ottoman Empire all the way up to the fall of the Yugoslavian Republic in 1991, when Macedonia was finally declared an independent nation.
There were signs throughout the museum, but they felt very much like Google Translations directly from Macedonian: hard to follow. I ended up doing more Googling than reading.
Honestly, the artwork was beautiful, and very helpful to what I was reading on Google.
But I felt that the museum mostly displayed lots of weapons from the Ottoman era onwards and LOTS of wax sculptures without explanations. And some of these historical figures couldn’t even be found on Google!
In the end, I felt that the museum was interesting and beautiful, but not as helpful as can be. Still definitely worth a visit, though!
Holocaust Museum of Macedonian Jews
So I had never been aware of the Jewish population in Macedonia. But apparently after being exiled from Spain and Portugal for refusing to convert to Christianity, many of these Jews settled throughout the Balkans.
Over 7,000 of these Macedonian Jews were later murdered in the holocaust, and this museum details not only the specifics of those Jews’ fates, but also how they ended up in Macedonia in the first place.
Unlike the Museum of Macedonian Struggles, which was right across the street, this museum was more timeline/information focused than art focused. So I personally got a lot more out of this museum.
Having also traveled to Israel (which I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to blog about because it was so long ago!) my background on the subject also aided my understanding.
The museum was beautifully done, and even though I’ve been to Yad Vashem, Israel’s own holocaust museum, I didn’t find the information repetitive. It was very much specific to the Jews of Macedonia, and a very neat perspective.
Tickets to the museum were 100 denars per person, or less than $2 USD per ticket.
A Stroll Through Skopje’s Old Bazaar
After the museum, we went to get some gelato in the Old Bazaar. This area is a key part of Skopje’s tourist attractions.
You can pretty much buy anything and everything there, from souvenirs to jewelry to fabrics to foods and every other good you can think of…but some haggling is required.
I’m honestly not a huge shopper (though I was on the prowl for a dress that can be worn to Orthodox churches, since I only brought strappy sundresses), so we didn’t get anything other than gelato and a bite for dinner.
For dinner, we got a traditional Macedonian dish, which I forget the name of. Essentially, it’s baked beans, roasted sausages, and a kind of naan bread.
When we went to ask about the dish, my partner asked: “How expensive is it?”. The boy working the counter smiled awkwardly and assured us that “it’s not expensive”.
We grabbed one serving for about 250 denars, less than $5 USD.
MEeting Up With Friends in Skopje
After that, we left the bazaar and went to hunt down our friends from Boston and Romania. They had just driven to Skopje from Sofia, rather than flying into the Skopje airport.
Dusk settled over the city as we walked. We passed a gorgeous mosque on our way.
Once we found our friends and said all of our hellos, I let the guys hunt down a place to eat. I went to find a dress, and managed to do so at a shopping mall, finally!
For a black, short-sleeved dress (it doesn’t quite cover my knees, but I’ve heard they’re forgiving about that), I paid 500 denar ($9 USD). Not too bad!
The guys were enjoying their Colas and Ckopcko beers when I found them, and I got a Cola along with them. Colas here are served in smaller glass bottles…which I love.
We enjoyed the evening right beside the main square of Skopje, with a perfect view of Alexander the Great’s statue. Planes departing from the Skopje airport passed overhead as the sky grew dark. It was lovely.
Summary of Day 1 in Skopje Macedonia
It was a packed day, but the perfect first day in Skopje. I’m glad we hit the museums when we did, because I doubt we’ll have time during our other days here!
I like to share our spendings from each day, just so anyone eyeballing a visit to Macedonia can get a feel of how much we’re spending!
In total (excluding airfare) we spent about $91 USD (close to $100 if you count what our friends covered).
Airbnb: $65 USD for the day
Breakfast was covered by our dear friends 🙂
Tickets to Museum 1: $7 USD for 2 people
Tickets to Museum 2: $4 USD for 2 people
1 Gelato cone: $1 USD
Dinner: $5 USD
Dress: $9 USD
Drinks: covered by our Boston buddy for today
So that covers our Day 1, from arriving at the Skopje airport all the way up to our evening in the downtown. Tomorrow, we’ll be taking a trip with our friends to Skopje’s canyons! Be sure to check back!
You may also like:
Skopje Hotels: A Quick Guide For Tourists
Macedonian Currency: What to Know Before You Go
Matka Canyon and Millennium Cross: Macedonia Day 2 Travel Blog
Skopje Airport and Beyond: Macedonia Day 1 Travel Blog
