Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, why is it the most weird or even unique capital city of Europe? Find out!
Where is it located?
Skopje is located in the north of the country and has 25% of its population located there, with a bit over 500.000 people living there. The city has been populated for over 2000 years. Due to many wars and invasions there is a part of Moslems and Christians. They are sharing the city and also the country underneath each other.
North Macedonia, has changed its name recently, due to the region in Greece with the same name of Macedonia. They had many conflicts. To the location, it borders the countries Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and when you count it as a country it borders also Kosovo. Pristina is from Skopje also the closest capital, when counting Kosovo, otherwise it would be Sofia in Bulgaria.
It is located in the central region of the Balkan Peninsula, which is found in the southeast of Europe.
What makes the city weird?
Besides the fact that Skopje is quite a beautiful city there is this one fact, which makes the whole experience weird and also fascinating.
When making it to the city, there was nothing, which I was expecting. Not knowing what to expect, but when walking through the city center, near the bridge over the Vardar river.
At and around the Macedonia Square, you are able to find over 280 sculptures of heroes from the country. The biggest statue is of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was an old king from the country.
After walking over the bridge, the view of the city is changing completely! From having the panel buildings all over with many statues, wide streets and big places one the one side. Over the bridge you are having the old city which is covered with cobblestones. The buildings are also different. It reminded me a lot of Turkey, which was also due to the high amount of moslem population in that part of the city.
The contrast and especially the amount of statues makes it the weirdest capital of Europe in my opinion, after visiting almost all.
Why are there so many sculptures?
The over 280 sculptures in the center of the city are there not for no reason, after the economic crisis there was the idea from the government. Under the name of Skopje 2014, there was a plan to make the city more attractive for visitors.
With presenting national figures, national heroes, they were in 2010 revealed with around half a billion Euros for cost, which is a lot for some statues. I don’t know if it is because of the statues but they are probably part of it.
The number of tourists visiting every year has been rising since the economic crisis in 2005. Since 2010, the numbers have even doubled. I personally understand why more people are visiting. There are many nice places to see and it is cheap in general.
What to expect?
You can expect an unnecessary high amount of sculptures and different cultures living in the same city together, but also being separated. You are able to see a whole bunch of different things and also a really clean city. Especially when being in the downtown region, in the region where the touristic sights are located.
You can expect a cheap country with friendly locals when talking to them. Also just spend time wandering around the city without a plan and still be able to find many interesting things. It is in general a city with a big contrast and at least I was not able to understand why things are there, the way they are.
It feels like there was a plan made for the city center, but not sure what it was. When wanting to achieve, to have a weird capital city, for people to visit, then they nailed that part at least!
When I was in Skopje, it was february and a decent temperature, not too cold. In summer it can be quite hot, so check a bit when to visit. Generally speaking for the whole southern part of Europe, in spring and fall, there are the best times.
How many days would you need?
I believe that you could see everything necessary in one day, but I would stay at least two nights, if not even three or four, to make it more calm. In general, the longer you are in a place, the more you can see and you don’t need to rush. I personally enjoy staying a bit longer somewhere, just to have enough time and can also use a day to just reflect everything and make a relaxed day.
Besides Skopje, you can spend some more days in other places of the country. There is some nice nature to explore, around the city. Many lakes and rivers with a lot of history, due to the fact that North Macedonia is one of the oldest civilizations in Europe.
Also combining the trip with the neighboring countries is quite easy to do, nothing is really far away.
Is it worth visiting?
It always depends on what you like to see, when having time and are willing to travel to a quiet non touristy country then sure. I think Skopje is a really interesting city, which is nice to explore and just see. The amount of sculptures is ridiculous, it is still nice to check them out.
Having a city, which doesn’t really fit into what you expect of seeing in Europe. But then, after crossing the bridge, where you can see something which fits in again.
I personally enjoyed my time in Skopje, it felt super safe, clean and not expensive, even though at that time I was doing the 0 Euro Challenge. That also worked there well, the locals were really friendly and welcoming.
Just for the city, I would not come, but having the surrounding with the beautiful nature as well and good places from other countries nearby. It is for sure something you should consider.
Also good to know, they are a country in Europe. North Macedonia is not in the EU and use not the Euro, they use the Macedonian Denar. People with a EU Passport don’t need a visa for at least 30 days. Also for other nations it is supposed to be easy to enter. Still check that out depending on your nationality before!
My experience
My experience in Skopje alone was nice, I enjoyed it a lot. With staying underneath the roof in a hostel. It was where the clothes were drying for free, it was nice to have a room for ourselves, not needing to think of much. This was just possible with Couchsurfing.
The location of it was almost in the center, so reaching the center was more than just easy. Everyday we were walking to get some food and exploring at the same time. The most important sights are right in the center, so not hard to find.
We arrived by hitchhiking and left by hitchhiking, which was actually not that easy, compared to the neighboring countries. To this later on another story, specific to that topic. The locals were super friendly and tried to help, when asking them something. Often the English was not available, which didn’t stop them from helping out and that is always refreshing to see, when you experience different things.
What to do next time differently?
Next time there would be a lot of stuff differently, because of a different style of traveling. I would actually like to spend some money to try out more local food. We tried local food, but not properly.
Maybe by taking a public bus, to get a bit further and to different places. To see more of the beautiful places of the country with its nature. We just stayed in the city and were not exploring much around. Even though we hitchhiked through the country and were also camping, it is just not the same.
It is a country which is for sure underestimated, same as other countries in the Balkan. Besides the famous ones like Croatia. If you include Greece into the Balkans, then of course they are also famous.
Summary
North Macedonia with its weird and amazing capital city Skopje is for sure an underestimated country in Europe. People don’t know much about it and that is sad. It has a lot to offer, from amazing nature, to great people and a huge history.
They want to be a really bad part of the EU and maybe in the future they will be. Good for you as a traveler is, you are not going to explore the country with many tourists. Because it is not on the list from many people. I personally enjoy it a lot, to see countries, which are not full of tourists and full on Instagram.
When you are going, take some time and when having more time, you should go to another underestimated country.
I would love to hear your experiences about this place, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
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