Skopje

Currency budget North Macedonia

Pay in denars. The denar is managed against the euro and hardly moves, so there is little to shop for; the exchange offices (menuvačnica) in the centre and the Old Bazaar charge no commission and beat the airport. Change leftover denars before you leave the country.

ATMs & cards

Komercijalna Banka, Stopanska Banka, NLB and Halkbank machines are all over the centre. Decline the conversion and take denars. Cards are fine in restaurants and malls; the Old Bazaar runs on cash.

Cards work in restaurants and malls; the Old Bazaar is cash.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of North Macedonia

Comfortable, and the centre and the bazaar are walked late. The real health risk is the air: in winter Skopje has some of the worst smog in Europe on still days, which matters if you have asthma. Otherwise it is the driving, stray dogs at the edges of town and on Vodno, and the usual care with a phone on a terrace table.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa North Macedonia visa rules

Health & emergencies all of North Macedonia

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Tavče gravče, ajvar, pastrmajlija — a meat-topped flatbread from Štip — and grilled kebapi in the bazaar. A kafana lunch with a shopska salad and a Skopsko is cheap anywhere. Debar Maalo is where Skopje eats in the evening, and better value than the restaurants on the square.

Nightlife

Bars and kafanas rather than a club city, with the Old Bazaar’s courtyards and Debar Maalo’s streets full on any warm night.

• Debar Maalo — the bar and kafana quarter west of the centre
• Old Bazaar — bars in the old caravanserai courtyards
• City Park — the summer clubs at its edge

Closing: Around 01:00 midweek, later at the weekend.

Getting around

• On foot — the Stone Bridge joins the square to the bazaar, and the centre is twenty minutes end to end
• Taxi — metered, cheap and plentiful; the ordinary way across town
• Bus — red double-deckers on the main routes; paid with a rechargeable card from a kiosk rather than cash to the driver
• Cable car — up Vodno to the Millennium Cross, when the wind allows
• Airport: Skopje (SKP), 25 minutes by taxi; a shuttle bus runs to the centre

eSIM

A data eSIM for North Macedonia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:Works hereWorks here

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Macedonian

• HelloДобар ден (Dobar den)DO-bar den
• PleaseВе молам (Ve molam)veh MO-lam
• Thank youБлагодарам (Blagodaram)bla-GO-da-ram
• Yes / NoДа / Не (Da / Ne)da / neh

Cyrillic, with a few letters of its own, and close to Bulgarian — a comparison best not made aloud. Albanian is an official language too and the first language of about a quarter of the country, mostly in the west and north. English is good among the young.

Religion

Macedonian Orthodox, with a large Muslim minority

Around half Orthodox and about a third Muslim, mostly Albanians in the west and north, and the line runs close to the ethnic one. The Orthodox churches keep the old calendar, so Christmas is on 7 January; the medieval frescoed churches are working buildings, with covered shoulders and knees expected and photographs often forbidden. Mosques welcome visitors outside prayer times — shoes off, a scarf for women.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Take your shoes off at the door of a home, and accept the coffee or the rakija that follows
• Cover shoulders and knees in churches and mosques, and take shoes off in a mosque
• Say dobar den in a Macedonian shop and mirëdita in an Albanian one; both are spoken and both are noticed
• Bring something small if you are invited to a house

Don't

• Do not open with the name dispute, Greece or Bulgaria; the 2019 name change is recent and still argued over
• Do not call Macedonians Bulgarians, or the language a dialect of Bulgarian
• Do not photograph the frescoes where a sign asks you not to; several churches forbid it
• Do not assume everyone is Macedonian; about a quarter of the country is Albanian, with its own language and faith