North Macedonia: Basic Information and Travel Tips

North Macedonia is a small country, but it has so much to offer! Amazing views, history and monuments, culture, and cuisine. Are you looking at travelling to North Macedonia? In this blog post, you will find basic information about this country regarding its name, capital, currency, and more. As well as travel tips for your next trip to North Macedonia.

Quick Links to organise your trip to North Macedonia:

Book your accommodations here.

Here, you can compare prices and rent a car.

Here, you can book guided tours and attractions.

And on this website you can review and book your flights.

Where is North Macedonia?

The Republic of North Macedonia lies in the Southern East Europe. It’s a Balkan country.

It shares borders with Bulgaria (on the east), Greece (on the south), Serbia, Kosovo (on the north) and Albania (on the west).

North Macedonia is a small country; it has around 2,000,000 inhabitants and over 25 000 sq km (almost 10 000 sq mi). Macedonia doesn’t have a sea coast, but has a beautiful lake, Lake Ohrid, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in this part of Europe.

When it comes to religion, the biggest number of people are Orthodox Christian. There is also quite a  significant minority of Albanian Muslims.

What is capital of North Macedonia?

The capital of North Macedonia is Skopje. It’s the biggest city in the country, and it has around 600,000 inhabitants.

It lies on the river Vardar. Skopje is a very interesting city; it’s a total mix of cultures. In the centre, Vardar divides the city into two parts. One part is a modern city with a very European feeling. After you only cross the bridge to the east side, you find yourself in the old part where Old Bazaar is. It’s also known as Turkish Bazaar, tracing back to Ottoman Empire history, and the name really shows the atmosphere of the place.

It’s a totally different experience, and it’s worth visiting it during the day and in the evening.

Skopje has one dramatic event in modern history. There was a very strong earthquake in July 1963. A large part of the city was destroyed.

What language is spoken in North Macedonia?

The language spoken in North Macedonia is Macedonian. It’s a language from the South Slavic group, it can sound similar to Bulgarian or Serbian to you. Macedonian uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

In a few places where the Albanian minority lives, you can also hear the Albanian language.

You will be able to communicate in English in many places, especially the more touristic ones.

What is the currency in North Macedonia?

In North Macedonia, the currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD). 1 Euro is around 62 denars, and 1 dollar is around 56 denars.

In a few places (in more touristic places, for example, in a few places in Ohrid) it’s possible to pay in Euro.  Anyway, it’s good to have some cash with you; don’t count only on credit cards.

Recent Name change

The name of the country is a quite complicated issue and it was disputed with Greece since 1991, when the country became independent from Yugoslavia. In short, Greeks don’t want to allow the name ‘Macedonia’ for the country. Why? Macedonia is a geographical and historical region that is within borders of 5 countries: North Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania. But the biggest parts lie in Greece and North Macedonia. The region has significant historical and cultural heritage meaning. So Greece didn’t want to agree that another country would be called in the same way as a big important region in Greece, additionally ‘taking over’ the whole heritage.

That’s why North Macedonia, since independence, has not had a very straight-forward name. Since 1991, country was called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in short, it was often referred to as F.Y.R.O.M. That wasn’t ideal solution for the country. And the name issue was blocking any possibility for the country to join international organisations, like the EU.

With internal discussions and external negotiations, a new compromise was reached. Discussions took long and were not easy, also because Bulgaria protested using word ‘north’. There were a lot of proposals for a name change. Finally, in 2018, a compromise was reached, and an agreement signed. After that, there were issues internally in the country to accept the change. At the end, the name to North Macedonia was changed at the beginning of 2019.

It has helped to open the path to joining international structures.

Of course, in the common language, you can just use Macedonia as a name.

And probably most Macedonians prefer that, whenever possible, it would be just called Macedonia.

I use it sometimes as well, also in the articles.

Is North Macedonia in the European Union?

No, North Macedonia is not part of the European Union. It has had official status as a candidate for the EU for many years, since 2005, but the road to the EU is pretty complicated. Due to different reasons, one of them is difficult diplomatic relations, and this, that negotiations were blocked by Greece and Bulgaria. The opening of accession negotiations by European Council finally happened in 2020, in 2022, accession talks were launched.

North Macedonia has been member of NATO, since 2020.

Rules for entry and visa requirements to North Macedonia

Citizens of the United States, UK, and European Union (and Schengen) countries do not need visa for a touristic entry for up to 90 days (in any 180 days).

You will need a valid passport, for longer than 3 months.

What is the voltage and plug socket type in North Macedonia

North Macedonia uses the same plug socket type as other European countries, called ‘Euro’ plug (type ‘C’ plugs and type ‘F’ plugs). The standard voltage in Croatia is 230 V and frequency is 50 Hz.

If you are coming from the UK you will need a plug adapter. If you are coming from US, you will need a combo of plug adapter and voltage converter.

North Macedonia time zone

North Macedonia is in the same time zone as most of European countries (same as Germany or France), meaning Central European Time: CET in winter (GMT+1) and CEST in summer (GMT+2).

North Macedonia: International Airports

There are two international airports in North Macedonia. The first one is, of course, in the capital, in Skopje. The second one is in Ohrid.

Ohrid Airport is a small airport with only a few flights, especially during the summer season. In winter, there are flights from Vienna, Dortmund, and Zurich. There is no public bus from the airport to the centre; you will need to rent a car or take a taxi. Taxi is not very expensive; it should cost around 12 Euro.

The bigger and better connected airport to many European cities is Skopje airport. To Skopje, you can fly from London, Vienna, Paris, Istanbul, and many more. Here you can check exactly the airlines, connections, and flights schedule.

There is a public bus to and from the airport, timetable is here. It doesn’t go very often, but you can also take a taxi; it should cost around 25 Euro.

If you want to travel between Skopje and Ohrid, it will take you around 3-4 hours by bus. Buses stop at the bus stations, which are a bit further from the centres in both cities. Again, taxis should be quite cheap.

Other close airports

If you don’t find any good connections to Macedonian airports, you can look at other airports in countries close to Macedonia.

Firstly, Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is around 3 hours from Skopje. Nis, the city in Serbia with the airport, is around 2 and half hours from Skopje.

Tirana, the capital of Albania (which has growing number of flights) is around 3 hours by bus from Ohrid.

And if you are visiting the south of Macedonia, you can look at flying to Thessaloniki airport (city is around 4 hours from Ohrid).

Of course, it will be much more comfortable if you can fly directly to North Macedonia, but just giving this as a potential solution in case nothing else works.

What to see in North Macedonia?

It’s not possible to say just in a short chapter what to see in North Macedonia. It’s a really very interesting country, with many monuments, lots of history, and breathtaking views. There are two places that most tourists visit. First of all, it’s Skopje. City with the Vardar River, Old Bazaar, Mount Vodno, and many monuments. The newer architecture of Skopje with monuments is sometimes referred to as kitch, but it’s absolutely worth seeing and getting your own opinion. Close to Skopje is another must-see place, Canyon Matka.

The second important place to visit is Lake Ohrid. You can stay in Ohrid town or in other smaller places around the lake. The lake is big, and it sometimes gives the impression that it is a sea. It has amazing colours and views. The city of Ohrid has a lot of monuments, places to see, and things to do. Sometimes, people come just for a day visit; don’t do it. Staying there for longer and seeing the city in daytime and with the sunset colours is absolutely recommended.

Additionally, you can also go on a cruise on the lake and visit the Monastery of St. Neum. If you have more time, travel a bit around the lake to see the views and small villages.

These are the two most known places, but that’s not all. Other places worth looking at are Bitola, mosque in Tetovo or Mavrovo, and Galicica National Parks.

Obviously, the nature in Macedonia is what delights. Another thing that I need to mention is cuisine. As typical Balkan, it’s quite meat-oriented kitchen, but vegetarians will also find something for them. Undoubtedly, count on a lot of visits to restaurants during your stay.

Summary

I hope this article has brought North Macedonia a bit closer to you and helped you understand basics. Surely, you will not regret, if you choose it as a destination for your holidays.

Interested in visiting Macedonia? Most likely you will want to visit Ohrid (yes, you want, it’s amazing place!). In this article you can read what you should do and see in Ohrid. People quite often ask, if it’s worth at all to visit Macedonia and Ohrid and I believe this post will help to answer this doubt quickly.

In this one, you will find more practical tips regarding Ohrid, how to get to Ohrid and where to stay in Ohrid.

Travelling in Southern East part of Europe?

Check out here, if you are planning to visit Greece as well.

And here, if you are looking at Croatia as your destination.