Macedonia Attractions

Skopje

Macedonia's capital, Skopje, is strategically set on the Vardar River at a crossroads of Balkan routes almost midway between Tirana and Sofia, capitals of neighbouring Albania and Bulgaria. The Romans recognised the location's importance when they made the city the centre of Dardania Province.

Later conquerors included the Slavs, Byzantines, Bulgarians, Normans and Serbs, until the Turks arrived in 1392 and managed to hold onto Skopje until 1912. After a devastating earthquake in 1963, aid poured in from the rest of Yugoslavia to create the modern urban landscape you see today.

Ohrid

Ohrid is the Macedonian tourist mecca, with stunning Byzantine churches, small cobbled streets, art galleries, good accommodation and picturesque pebbly beaches to relax on. The town rests by the waters of Lake Ohrid, a natural tectonic lake which is Europe's deepest and one of the world's oldest.

During summer the town is packed and there are numerous festivals. For quieter moments, Galiica National Park is nearby, on the way to the marvellous 17th-century Church of Sveti Naum. The church is on a hill above the lake, 20km (12.4mi) south of Ohrid towards the Albanian border.