Posted on: 14th March 2015
Come to see the beauties of Macedonia on spring for just 350euros in 7 days tour!!!
Old towns, new architecture, a lot of churches, fresh air, mountains and very hospitable people! You are welcome!
Make memories in the beauties country of the Balkan peninsula!
The best of Macedonia through an easy, cultural, fun & relaxing tour
INTRO: We warmly recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in exploring, who is high on adventure & who is always ready to meet new people. Open to a new way of living that will win your heart, make wish for more & keep you coming back!
Appropriate for ages: 18+
DAY 1 – SKOPJE
Arrive in Skopje, overnight.
DAY 2- SKOPJE
After breakfast it’s time for the highlights of Skopje popular sights. Accompanied by a licensed guide we’ll start from a viewpoint at the city “KALE”, over viewing the old Turkish bazaar, the center and the city park with the sports stadium arena. The KALE is a historic fortress dating back to the Neolithic period and the Bronze age, first build by the Byzantines in the 6th century, then rebuilt and restored several times. Enjoying the history stories you can travel through time while taking beautiful pictures.
The tour continues to the old town or the old bazaar as mentioned which is the largest marketplace in the Balkans, outside of Istanbul. Here you can enjoy the traditional food, shopping and exquisite and rustic architecture, until we get to the point where old meets new. Crossing the famous Stone Bridge connecting the old town and the heart of Skopje. Monumental new buildings in Roman & Baroque style will immediately catch your eye and your breath. The Macedonia Square is the main square in Skopje. Three main streets merge together to the square filled with a great choice of shops, restaurants, and coffee bars and of course different monuments representing influential historic people. We move on to Macedonia Street to the Memorial House of Mother Theresa. Built on the exact place where the house she lived in as a child was, the house holds a museum, a church and a souvenir shop. The long charming street ends with the City Museum of Skopje, a building that was a part of the old train station, partially destroyed, but standing tall with its original construction, preserved as a cultural monument after the fatal ’63 earthquake.
We take a break from walking, and take a ride to mount Vodno rising 1066m above the city.
One gondola ride away is the highest point of the mountain at Krstovar peak, where a monumental construction of a cross is built with an elevator to the top, literally taking you with your feet in the air.
After a full active day we are all going to need some R & R. and of course time to dress up for the night when we have a traditional dinner, with folklore music and dancing in a suitable atmosphere you will not forget.
Overnight.
DAY 3 – MATKA
Fresh start for a new day and a new way of looking at things. Because a new destination is your new way of looking at the world. Ideal place for purified thoughts is the national park & lake Matka, where we will enjoy a short walk we’ll pay a visit to a charming little church and have our morning coffee in an amazing natural environment. It’s still early to move on though.. First we have to visit the famous world known caves that this canyon holds.. 5 of them are open for tourists and you get there by a little motorboat with a cheerful local guide. When this adventure ends, our day turns to a new destination and we start the journey to one of the most beautiful cities in Macedonia – Ohrid.
Arrival in Ohrid, time for accommodation and getting to know the surroundings.
Organized dinner party and overnight.
DAY 4 – OHRID CITY
Put on your walking shoes and prepare for a time travel in history.. On our list today is the old town, which embraces many of the important cultural and historic monuments that make Ohrid so attractive to anyone.
After the history lessons you will well deserve some retail therapy, so a visit to the traditional old market is planned for the second half of the afternoon. Archaeological finds indicate that Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in all of Europe. The lake itself is over three million years old. Ohrid town is first mentioned in Greek documents from 353 BCE, when it was known as Lychnidos – or, “the city of light.” Only much later, in 879 CE, was it renamed Ohrid. The name probably derives from the phrase “vo hridi” – meaning roughly, “in the cliff.” It comes from the time when the town was limited in a small area on the lake side of the hill, which in fact is a huge cliff rising above the lakeshore. The town as we know it today was built mostly between the 7th and 19th centuries. Our time journey will start at St. Sophia one of the oldest basilica followed by a fairly new built, wish bridge by the water shore leading us to Potpesh beach and up to one of the most popular images on postcards.. The view from St.John Kaneo church built on a rock hill.. Now you will truly feel the pace as we continue through the woods to the other grandiose church palace and one of the best views on the lake at Plaosnik & St.Klement . It is the site of the first university in Europe, opened in the 10th c. and it is the place where the Cyrillic alphabet was created. Fifth century basilica and mosaics will catch your eye all around the church.. Again taking a small path through the woods we reach King Samoil Fortress where no one stays emotionally numb after hearing the stories about the King’s army..
The Antique theatre is the last view point on the list from the old town and the last visible monument from ancient times. It is also the only Hellenistic theatre in Macedonia, the other three are from Roman times.
Old Bazaar – Since Ohrid was a big religious and cultural center, it never was an important trade center, which is evident by the size of its bazaar. It is a simple bazaar consisting of one long street. On the square there is a 1000 year old tree and a nice fountain with places to rest your feet. Above the square the clock tower of Ohrid stands. As you walk down the bazaar on your left there are couple of stone stores, which is the only section of original stores in the bazaar. In the past, the bazaar was covered with grape vines, protecting shoppers from the sun and the rain. Very few crafts are preserved. But the marketplace in a traditional form does continue to exist if you pass the fountain and keep going straight you will feel entering in a new atmosphere. What you can buy? – Traditional Macedonian musical instruments, filigree jewelry, pearls, woodcarvings, items made from copper, or a CD with authentic Macedonian music, can be brought home to refresh your memories of your visit.
Free time in the evening for individual activities.
Overnight.
DEN 5 – OHRID LAKE
Beauty unseen is going to fill up your memory book from this day.
Driving along the coast, watching the beautiful beaches and small villages, we get to our first point – The Bay of Bones.
Ohrid was enriched with another cultural and historical landmark as well as with a tourist attraction – Museum on Water – an exceptional archaeological complex, which is one of a kind in the region. On the southern coast of Gradiste Peninsula in the Bay of Bones, a pile-dwelling settlement has been erected, which in the past was spreading at a total surface of 8.500 m2. Bay of the Bones is an authentic reconstruction of a part of the pile-dwelling settlement, dating back between 1200 and 700 BC.A Roman military fortification (Gradiste) has been reconstructed on the hill above the Bay of Bones simultaneously with constructing the pile-dwelling settlement and the Water Museum. The walls of the fortification that once had protected the Roman Empire from its enemies are once again lifted up on the hill near Gradiste.
The Roman fortress is connected with the settlement in order tourists and visitors to be given an extraordinary opportunity to experience time travel, from prehistoric to ancient times and vice versa.
The next spot you should never miss out on visiting whenever in Ohrid is St. Naum Monastery & the springs of the Lake.
It is located on a high cliff above the Ohrid Lake, in its southernmost point, on one locality with rare natural beauty, overlooking the coast of Albania. Saint Naum before the end of his life founded the monastery of St. Archangel in year 910 and within he is buried. Today, the Monastery of Saint Naum is one of the most visited tourist locations in Republic of Macedonia. The Monastery is also decorated with many beautiful peacocks, the birds which are considered a symbol of Christianity. They will welcome you with their screams, which can be heard as far as the Black Drin springs. To see the springs there are many local experienced and charming guides with their own boats who take you through a picturesque lagoon with wonderful stories. With so much beauty in one place, you can be sure that here you will find a spiritual peace. After getting our energy back with a wonderful traditional meal &scenery we continue our journey to Bitola.
Arrival in Bitola, accommodation & overnight.
DAY 6 – BITOLA
Welcome to the timeless city that doesn’t sleep and where culture meets every day modern fun.
It is a grand old town that still bears the marks of its turn-of-the-century importance as a center for diplomacy – while also exemplifying the country’s time-honored cafe culture. Bitola is nicknamed “city of consuls” and is the second largest city in Macedonia.
Near the border with Greece, it straddles the Dragor River at the foot of Mount Pelister, in the Baba mountain range. it has themost European atmosphere. It was a seat of consuls in the 19th century and with them they brought the European culture and influenced the local aristocracy, who started living in European fashon and building their houses in mixed neo-classical styles. Bitola is a nice place to visit since Pelister National Park is close, the ancient city of Heraklea is there, it has nice Ottoman architecture and 19th century romantic architecture, so some good examples of everything. It can all be done in a day including enjoying coffee on Shirok Sokak, but you have to put aside a couple of hours for Pelister National Park. And of course we will do exactly all those things! After visiting the ancient city of Heraklea which is 2 kilometers outside of Bitola we continue with a night drive to Krushevo.
Accommodation & overnight.
DAY 7 – KRUSEVO
You went & save the best for last..
It is the highest town in Macedonia.. Hidden up in the mountains between the woods, Kruševo has managed to preserve a genuine appeal. The town has the same layout as a century ago and around 80 traditional houses are preserved, so it is a good place to admire and learn about traditional architecture. Historic Kruševo was one the center of the Macedonian Ilinden-Uprising. Today the main celebrations of the National holiday on the 2nd of August are held here. Kruševo is the centre of the Vlach minority in Macedonia. Our daily program will include:
The monument Ilinden, also known as Makedonium is a famous monumental complex in Krusevo. It represents the chronology of events related to the Ilinden Uprising. It spans on an area of 12 hectares. The memorial begins with torn chains, followed with Crypt, and continues with picturesque landscape mosaic scene or commonly known as the amphitheater and finally ends with the Dome.
The Memorial House of Macedonia’s musical legend Tose Proeski is located In Gumenje, area in Krusevo. Monumental in size, equivalent to the work of Tose Proeski, the Memorial museum is an allusion to his life philosophy. The overall composition and environment of the memorial house with its materialization expresses the personality of Tose Proeski and the works that He has left behind: the cross as a symbol of his sincere belief in God, the strength, simplicity and longevity of concrete as a symbol of his character and work, glass as a symbol of human transience and vulnerability and water will be part of the landscape architecture of the project as a symbol of purity and life that radiated Tose Proeski.
As a marvelous journey deserves we will finish the program with a Closing party at one of the local café-bars.
DAY 8
It is going to be a long way home but you will remember it forever
NB: The tour operator is willing to make changes to the program according to the client group wishes and needs. The starting point can also be Skopje or Ohrid.
The arrangement includes:
∙ 7 nights in hotel accommodation with breakfast.
∙ Bus Transport for the whole tour and to all the sights in the program.
∙ Licensed tour guide for all the city tours.
∙ Travel guide to accompany the group 24/7.
∙ Organized program for day & evening events including the price of a traditional dinner with food & music.
∙ Closing party with welcome drink.
The arrangement does not include possible entrance fees to places you may want to visit extra.
