The Journey There and Away
The Hafet Tours overnight bus from Rijeka provided a relatively comfortable journey. Despite the absence of electricity or onboard restrooms, the ample space and legroom at each seat more than compensated. All the seats were automatically set in the fully reclined position, eliminating the awkward "is it acceptable to recline" dilemma that some of us face. The only minor inconvenience was the lack of a toilet, which resulted in more stops than necessary, including at the Serbian and North Macedonian borders, disrupting our sleep. We arrived in Skopje about an hour later than scheduled due to border delays, at around 6 am.
The inter-city bus station is located quite a distance from the city centre to the east, and we didn't realise that our Booking.com apartment was way out west (a 1 hour and 20-minute walk away). Rather than attempting to walk with our backpacks and only 4 hours of sleep, we decided to navigate the city buses.
The Good News: There were regular (red double-decker) buses that could take us from the Bus Station area to the city mall area at 6 am on a Sunday. The Not-So-Good News: There was no information available on how to purchase bus tickets. So, we did what seemed best: we withdrew some cash and boarded a bus. However, as we boarded, it became evident that the driver did not accept cash for tickets. Instead, we attempted to use the small tap-to-pay machines by the middle doors. Locals who boarded and disembarked used phones and cards to tap, but unfortunately, nothing we tapped seemed to work. Consequently, we reached our destination well aware that we hadn't paid the bus fare, but relieved that, after a 16-hour journey, we were almost at our apartment.
So, How to Pay for Public Transport: There is helpful online guidance available about the somewhat unhelpful ticketing system, which it would be useful to familiarise yourself with before your arrival. While most Balkan buses accept payment onboard, in Skopje, there are only two methods for purchasing tickets: either through the Skopje card or using a North Macedonia SIM card for phone payments. The additional challenge is that the Skopje card is only available at poorly marked kiosks at the far end of the bus station forecourt (not inside the station itself) or scattered throughout the city, which you need to know about to find. You can purchase the card for a small fee and load it with a set number of journeys. We eventually discovered a fantastic Google Maps overview that pinpointed the card purchase locations, allowing us to overcome this initial ticket-purchasing hurdle. However, our preference for walking led us to explore the city entirely on foot, despite the punishing heat. This decision enabled us to experience the city from east to west.
Leaving Skopje: We departed from Skopje the same way we arrived: by coach. Our bus to Thessaloniki was scheduled to leave at 8:30 am. On this rare occasion, we asked our host to arrange a taxi for us. The 20-minute journey across the entire city, from the new shopping mall area in the west to the bus station in the east, cost 300 di#enar inclusive of a tip (less than £5).
There are at least two buses to Thessaloniki as it's a popular route. We booked ours through the rather clunky site bustickets4.me for approximately £33 per person one way and the journey was smooth if a bit longer than advertised (roughly 10 hours). A couple of additional things to note:
It is still required to print your ticket for this journey, so we found a small printing shop near the new mall.
Even though you have gone to the trouble of printing your ticket, you need to have it validated at the Skopje bus station counter to show your passports and pay an additional 2 Euro station fee to receive another printed ticket. Arrive in plenty of time to do this.
Why Skopje?
For us, on this trip, Skopje served as a convenient and well-connected gateway from the Balkans to Greece, where we could catch our ferry from Athens. Skopje's quirky charm and affordability have also put it on the traveller’s map, either as a stop on a Balkan backpacking tour or more recently as a city break. With temperatures hovering around 35 degrees in August, it's perhaps not the ideal time of year for exploration.
We also chose Skopje, in part, because of the cost. Having been living in our tent for the best part of three weeks, we had run out of clean clothes. With temperatures expected to rise across the Balkans and Greece to the high thirties for the next couple of weeks, camping was no longer a safe option. So, we needed to be in countries where we could afford rooms or apartments.
Tale of Two Cities
Open any travel guide on Skopje, and one of the first things you'll read about is the controversial 'Skopje 2014' beautification project. Regardless of your opinion of it, this project has transformed one side of the modern city centre into a unique spectacle. It draws inspiration from classical and Baroque architecture, as well as from many other major capitals, reproducing their features (like the Arc De Triomphe, or New York bull with distorted proportions and throwing all these mock classical style oversized monuments and buildings together before adding a few extra statues for good measure. To see is to believe.
While on the south of the river, the beautification project aims to improve the city's appearance, on the north side, the 12th Old Bazaar needs no enhancement. It was the second-largest bazaar in Europe and an essential trading hub during the Ottoman era. Shiny cobbled roads wind up and down past silversmiths, mosques, traditional restaurants, and coffee shops. These attractive narrow streets are, in place, topped with umbrellas and coloured sheets and shades to provide protection from the summer sun, making wandering this area pleasant even in the heat. That said, the best time to meander is during golden hour when the falling light accentuates the area's beauty, and it comes alive with shoppers and tourists as the temperature drops.
This was the most photogenic part of our journey so far!
Food and Drink
For us, Skopje was the first location on our journey where we could afford an apartment (no more camping for a while), so we had always planned to use the time to rest, do laundry, and recharge as a priority. That said, we did make time for what we do best: eating and drinking.
As mentioned, Skopje is very reasonably priced, with a large beer costing around 150 denars (just over £2) in the city centre overlooking the Stone Bridge. Restaurants are also affordable, allowing us to dine out for the first time on this trip. North Macedonian cuisine may not be famous, and at first glance, it may appear quite meat-centric, but we dined fantastically well in the Old Bazaar for under £10 per person, including beer!
A few vegetarian (not all vegan) Macedonian dishes that you'll find everywhere include:
A few vegetarian (not all vegan) Macedonian eats that you’ll find everywhere:~ 1. Tavce Gravce (Macedonian beans). Beans are cooked for hours with peppers, tomatoes and spices and then baked in a clay dish.
2. Shopska salad. Although Bulgaria’s national dish this salad was everywhere in Skopje, full of tomatoes and cucumbers and topped with Skopska white cheese.
3. Macedonian Avjar. An aubergine and sweet red pepper dip.
4. Spicy paprika peppers, these are everywhere and best if you order the kind, grilled as a side dish.
5. Burek! Filling, cheap and ebay to travel with, we over indulged in Burek on this leg of our journey.
Finally, Beer
Parts of Skopje truly come alive at night. The streets of Debar Maalo, Skopje's bohemian neighbourhood, are quiet, leafy boulevards by day but transform into vibrant hubs for cocktails and beers at night. Around 9 or 10 pm, many of the popular eateries and bars in this charming neighbourhood are bustling with activity, often to the point of standing room only. While it's delightful to enjoy a beer or two in the Old Bazaar for a less touristy drinking experience, venture about 1 km southwest across the river, where you'll find a plethora of attractive establishments specialising in beers, wines, and cocktails. Sit outside, people-watch, and enjoy your evening. You will get a large local beer for approximately 150 Denar (around 2GBP). There are also a number of craft breweries, serving a range of different ales and IPAs, although these will cost you a bit more.
Four days passed quickly and rather leisurely for us (you’ll not we didn’t really do anything you would find on a useful ‘top things to do list’ (sorry!) but soon we were back on a coach heading across the border into Greece and onward to Thessaloniki, the food capital of Greece.
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