North Macedonia

North Macedonia (Северна Македонија in Macedonian, Maqedonia e Veriut in Albanian) is 2 million people country in the southeastern part of Europe, part of the Western Balkans. It's an official candidate for European Union (EU) accession and it's surrounded by Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria. Aproximately 66% population come from a mostly Orthodox Christian tradition while more of the 30% of the population is Muslim; the official languages are Macedonian and Albanian (with Turkish, Serbian, Romani and Aromanian as official languages where they have inhabitants who speak it) and the official currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD). Till 2018 with the signature of Prespa agreement with Greece, the country was recognised as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The main city, and the capital city, of North Macedonia is Skopje, with other important cities like Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep or Tetovo.

What can I visit in North Macedonia?

Here you have a list of places North Macedonia that are worth to be seen. Check them out and find out the ones you want to visit:

History

Roman province of Macedonia
North Macedonia geographically roughly corresponds to the ancient kingdom of Paeonia, located immediately north of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. The Paeonians were a Thracian people (whilst the northwest was inhabited by the Dardani and the southwest by tribes known historically as the Enchelae, Pelagones and Lyncestae; the latter two are generally regarded as Greek groups while the former two are considered Illyrian). In the late 6th century BC Darius the Great conquered the Paeonians for the Achaemenid Persians but withdre from their European territories when Second Persian invasion of Greece (479 BC) failed. Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great conquered the region and incorporated it in his empire, reaching as far north as Scupi (close to current Skopje). The Romans established the province of Macedonia in 146 BC and in Diocletian's times it was divied between Macedonia Prima on the south and Macedonia Salutaris on the north, (with parts of Dardania and whole of Paeonia, similar to the current shape of North Macedonia, with the city of Stobi as its capital). Scupi area was put under Roman rule in the time of Domitian and it fell within the Province of Moesia.
The death of Emperor Samuel, Manasses Chronicle
Slavic tribes settled in the Balkan region by the late 6th century AD, raiding Byzantine territories in the region of Macedonia, later aided by Bulgars. One of the main kings of this Slavs was Presian, that extended the Bulgarian control over the Slavic tribes in and around Macedonia. During the reign of Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria (9th century) these Slavic tribes converted to Christianity and Ohrid Literary School, institution established in Ohrid in 886 by St. Clement of Ohrid on the order of Boris I, became one of the two major cultural centers of the First Bulgarian Empire (along with the Preslav Literary School), being involved in the spreading of the Cyrillic script. After Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria (with Kievan Rus attacking Bulgarian, then attacked by Byzantines) the Byzantines took control of East Bulgaria and Samuel of Bulgaria was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria. He moved the capital to Ohrid (previously to Skopje) and reestablished Bulgarian power till 1014, when Byzantine Emperor Basil II defeated his armies and restored control over the Balkans for the Byzantine Empire.
Size of Eyalet of Rumelia in 1850s
In these times the rank of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate was lowered to the Archbishopric of Ohrid. Since the late 12th century Byzantine suffered an important decline in the region and in the early 13th century, a revived Bulgarian Empire gained control of the region but, due to political difficulties, the region came once again under Byzantine control in the early 14th century. In that same century it became part of the Serbian Empire and Skopje became the capital of Tsar Stefan Dusan's empire. When he died a weak successor appeared and power struggles took place again, situation that was used by Ottoman Turks. One of this short-living territories was the Kingdom of Prilep. Gradually, all of the central Balkans were conquered by the Ottoman Empire and made part of the province or Eyalet of Rumelia. The size of the province was reduced over the centuries until by the 19th century, when it consisted of a region of central Albania and western North Macedonia with its capital at Manastir (present-day Bitola). It was abolished in 1867 and that territory of Macedonia subsequently became part of the province of Manastir Vilayet until the end of Ottoman rule in 1912. 
Band during Ilinden Uprising
Many of the reformers of the Bulgarian National Revival in the 18th century were the current area of North Macedonia and, in fact, the bishoprics of Skopje, Debar, Bitola, Ohrid, Veles and Strumica voted to join the Bulgarian Exarchate after it was established (1870). In the 19th century this movement seeked the establishment of an autonomous Macedonia (that would encompass the entire region of Macedonia); one of the earliest organisations was the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (later becoming Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, IMARO, and then Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, IMRO). In 1903 this organisation organised the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans that, despite some initial successes such as forming of Kruševo Republic (considered the precursor of the current Macedonian state), was brutally crushed. The leaders of the Ilinden uprising (like Gotse Delchev, Pitu Guli, Dame Gruev and Yane Sandanski) are now celebrated as national heroes in North Macedonia.
Balkan borders after the two Balkan Wars
Following the two Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, when the Ottoman Empire disappeared, most of its European-held territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia; the current territory of North Macedonia was annexed by Serbia (named South Serbia), going under an anti-Bulgarian campaign in the areas under Serbian and Greek control (the use of all Macedonian dialects and standard Bulgarian were proscribed). In today North Macedonia IMRO and local Albanians organised Ohrid–Debar uprising against the Serbian rule (managing to capture Gostivar, Struga and Ohrid but supressed by the Serbian army, being killed of fleeing to Bulgaria or Albania). Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in WW1 and occupied most of today's North Macedonia, returned to Serbian control after the war, as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Anti-Bulgarian measures were placed again and Serbian government pursued a policy of forced Serbianisation (altering family surnames, internal colonisation, forced labour and intense propaganda). Meamwhile IMRO kept promoting the concept of an independent Macedonia (with the territories that were part of Serbia and Greece); in fact, the Bulgarian government offered in 1918 to give Pirin Macedonia for that purpose but Serbia and Greece opposed it. In 1929, the Kingdom was officially renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and divided into provinces (called banovinas) and all of what is now the state of North Macedonia became the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. IMRO started an insurgent war in Vardar Macedonia, with guerrilla attacks against the Serbian administrative and army officials there. On 9 October 1934 a IMRO member (Vlado Chernozemski) assassinated Alexander I of Yugoslavia. Macedonist ideas kept increasing, supported by the Comintern and in 1934, it issued a special resolution recognising the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and Macedonian language.
Division of Macedonia during WW2
During World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis powers from 1941 to 1945 and Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italian-occupied Albania. Bulgarian Action Committees were established, mostly formed by former members of IMRO and the leader of the Vardar Macedonian communists, Shatorov switched from the Yugoslav Communist Party to the Bulgarian Communist Party. Bulgarian authorities deportated and murdered of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola. This harsh rule encouraged many Vardar Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito. After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, the Bulgarian troops fought their way back to the old borders of Bulgaria and the new Bulgarian pro-Soviet government sent troops to Niš, Skopje and Pristina, whose aim was blocking the German forces withdrawing from Greece.
Proposed Balkan Federation in Bled Agreement
The Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia in December 1944, part of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Macedonian alphabet was codified by linguists of ASNOM (based their alphabet on the phonetic alphabet of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and the principles of Krste Petkov Misirkov). With the view to the creation of a large South Slav Federation the new Communist government, led by Georgi Dimitrov, agreed to give Bulgarian Macedonia to a United Macedonia in 1946, signed in Bled Agreement (first time Bulgaria accepted the existence of a separate Macedonian ethnicity and language). That federation wasn't finally created, mainly because of Tito–Stalin split, and Bulgarian Communist Party revised its view of existence of a separate Macedonian nation and language. During the civil war in Greece (1946–1949), Macedonian communist insurgents supported the Greek communists and many Greek refugees fled to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. In 1963 the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.
Today North Macedonia got independece from Yugoslavia in 8 September 1991, remaining at peace through the Yugoslav Wars of the early 1990s (but for very minor changes to its border agreed with Yugoslavia) but it was seriously destabilised by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country, fact that was used by Albanian nationalists in their pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of North Macedonia.
UÇK soldier handing in his weapon to US forces
A conflict took place between the government and ethnic Albanian insurgents (in the north and west of the country leaded by the National Liberation Army, UÇK) between February and August 2001, ending with the intervention of a NATO ceasefire monitoring force and it was signed Ohrid Agreement, in which the government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority while the Albanian side agreed to abandon separatist demands and to recognise all Macedonian institutions fully. Inter-ethnic tensions flared in North Macedonia in 2012, with incidents of violence between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians. Since the independence, Macedonian authorities seeked to find a past heritage that differenciated them from Albanians and Bulgarians, promoting a nation building identity politics based on the presumable direct ethnogenetic link between today's Macedonians and the ancient ones. Since the coming to power in 2006, but especially since the country's non-invitation to NATO in 2008, the VMRO-DPMNE government pursued a policy of Antiquisation for the purposes of domestic identity-building with statues of Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon have been built in several cities across the country (such as plan Skopje 2014).
Signature of Prespa Agreement (2018)
Prespa Agreement was signed in 2018 between PM Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras, acknowledging that their understanding of the terms Macedonia and Macedonian refers to a different historical context and cultural heritage, changing the official name of the country from FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) to North Macedonia. This agreement was made possible because after a crisis in which the VMRO-DPMNE leader, Nikola Gruevski, was accused of illegally spying 20,000 citizens and, after Pržino Agreement, there were elections in 2016 and SDSM leader Zoran Zaev could form a majority (despite 2017 storming of Macedonian Parliament when an Albanian, Talat Xhaferi, was elected speaker of the Macedonian Assembly). The signature of this agreement resulted in the withdrawal of the Greek veto in NATO and in the European Union. In March 2020, after the ratification process by all NATO members was completed, North Macedonia acceded to NATO (becoming the 30th member state) and in the same month, the leaders of the European Union formally gave approval to North Macedonia begin talks to join the EU.

Unforgettable experiences 

This places and experiences are a must if you want to discover and understand North Macedonia and all its situation. This is my top 7:
Ohrid
  1. Ohrid: this city by lake Ohrid is the most touristic one in all the country and, despite noth being among the largest, it has its own airport. Ohrid has an awesome group of churches, specially St. Jovan Kaneo Church and St. Sofija Cathedral, built during the times where Clement of Ohrid established here one of the major cultural centers of the First Bulgarian Empire and that make this city the only place in North Macedonia that was placed in UNESCO World Heritage list. It's also very interesting getting lost in town to discover its traditional Ottoman houses, small churches and walking on the promenade by the lake.
    Skopje
  2. Skopje: the largest city in North Macedonia and its capital city is an interesting place to begin your journey in North Macedonia With plenty of museums explaining Macedonia's history and cultural legacy, interesting churches and the largest bazaar in the Balkans, Čaršija, it's worth to spend at least a day here. It can also be seen the impact that plan Skopje 2013, a controversial plan that consisted in building nationalist statues and modify building with a Neoclassical outlook.
  3. Galičica National Park: largest national park in the country, located sandwiched between lakes Ohrid and Prespa, close to the border with Albania and south from Ohrid.
    Galičica National Park
    Its location make it unique this park and the views are particulary beautiful when going up any of its peaks, being able to see both lakes. But moreover this place has many traditional mountanous and fishing villages by lake Ohrid, like     Elšani, and interesting places such as Bay of Bones Museum, St. Zaum Monastery, St. Naum Monastery, Golem Grad or many nice beaches.
  4. Pelister National Park: oldest and 2nd largest national park in North Macedonia, located between Bitola and lake Prespa, around Pellister peak (2,601 m). This site is perfect to get in touch with Macedonian nature, particulary to see the Macedonian pine or molika, and discover some traditional mountanous villages with nice trails, churches or natural sights such as Brajčino, Dihovo or Magarevo. Close to it can be found the nice town of Resen.
    Heraklea Lynkestis
  5. Bitola: the 2nd largest city in North Macedonia, not far from the border with Greece and close to Pelister National Park, used to be known as the City of Consuls because under the Ottoman Empire it was home of consulships of many countries. Nowadays the city is interesting enough to be worth a visit and discover its mosques and churches, its bazaar, parks and cementeries from WW1. But the main sightseeing point here is visiting Heraklea Lynkestis, one of the best archaeological sites in North Macedonia that owns nice mosaics and remains of old buildings.
  6. Mavrovo National Park: national park located around Mount Korab (2,764 m), highest mountain in North Macedonia, close to the borders with Kosovo and Albania. The park has very nice landscapes and is home of two ethnographic groups part of Macedonians, Mijaks and Muslim Macedonians or torbeš. Visiting Mijak traditional villages such as Galičnik or Lazaropole and Rostuša and its monastery can make the visitor enjoy a lot this trip.
    Prilep

  7. Prilep: the 4th largest city in North Macedonia isn't the place in the country with the most sightseeing points but it's still interesting to visit it. Its main sightseeing place are Marko's Towers (10th-14th centuries towers) and the Mound of the Unbeaten, a monument to Yugoslav partisans that died during WW2 to free Prilep from Bulgarian forces. Its strategical location make it perfect to visit Bitola, Kruševo, Veles or Kavadarci.  
 

Planning your holidays

These are some possible routes you may do in North Macedonia to visit parts of it or discover it all. Here are some possible tours:

    a) 5 days tour

This short journey in North Macedonia would begin on its capial city, Skopje. The visitor can enjoy there the largest Ottoman bazaar in the Balkans, Čaršija, as well as visiting the museums that make Skopje a perfect introduction to understand North Macedonia and all its history. Discovering its different historical and religious buildings in a walk is an excellent idea. After a day in Skopje you can go south, close to the border with Greece, to visit North Macedonia's 2nd largest city, Bitola, the "City of Consuls" and with a long history (Heraklea Lynkestis should be visited). On the 3rd day you may go on a day trip to discover lake Prespa and Pelister National Park, a mountainous park with the unique molika (Macedonian pine). The last stop, for the 4th day, should be the most important sightseeing place in North Macedonia, Ohrid (Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1979 and 1980). Its traditional architecture and its very important old churches by lake Ohrid will impress and make the visitor love this laid-back city. For the 5th and last day, a day trip to Galičica National Park can be organised. Located on the border with Albania and between lakes Prespa and Ohrid, this park has many nice beaches, routes to trail, cute villages to discover or churches and museum to visit.

   b) 7 days tour

This journey in North Macedonia would begin on its capial city, Skopje. The visitor can enjoy there the largest Ottoman bazaar in the Balkans, Čaršija, as well as visiting the museums that make Skopje a perfect introduction to understand North Macedonia and all its history. After a day in Skopje you can go to enjoy the morning at Mavrovo National Park, a very nice park with an interesting mixture of nature and culture, visiting the cultural capital of Albanians in North Macedonia, Tetovo, in the afternoon and evening. The 3rd day could consist in going south, stopping in the beautiful Kruševo to discover the Vlachs (and their architecture) and then visiting the nice city of Prilep (in the center of the country) known for Marko's Towers. On the 4th day, close to the border with Greece, you can visit North Macedonia's 2nd largest city, Bitola, the "City of Consuls" and with a long history (Heraklea Lynkestis should be visited). On the 5rd day you may go on a day trip to discover lake Prespa and Pelister National Park, a mountainous park with the unique molika (Macedonian pine). The last stop, for the 6th day, should be the most important sightseeing place in North Macedonia, Ohrid (Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1979 and 1980). Its traditional architecture and its very important old churches by lake Ohrid will impress and make the visitor love this laid-back city. For the 7th and last day, a day trip to Galičica National Park can be organised. Located on the border with Albania and between lakes Prespa and Ohrid, this park has many nice beaches, routes to trail, cute villages to discover or churches and museum to visit.

   c) 10 days tour

This journey in North Macedonia would begin on its capial city, Skopje. The visitor can enjoy there the largest Ottoman bazaar in the Balkans, Čaršija, as well as visiting the museums that make Skopje a perfect introduction to understand North Macedonia and all its history. After a day in Skopje Kumanovo can be a nice place for a day trip, visiting the city and its surrounding area, including the cute town of Kratovo and Kokino megalithic observatory. Those who want to experience out of the beaten path tourism can go on the 3rd day to the largest city in eastern North Macedonia, Štip, and the smaller Strumica, not far from the border with Bulgaria. Starting the 4th day in Veles, a nice town with one of the best preserved traditional architectures in all the country, exploring Stobi archaeological site and any winery in Tikveš area. Going west from Skopje on the 5th day you can enjoy the morning at Mavrovo National Park, a very nice park with an interesting mixture of nature and culture, visiting the cultural capital of Albanians in North Macedonia, Tetovo, in the afternoon and evening. The 6th day could consist in going south, stopping in the beautiful Kruševo to discover the Vlachs (and their architecture) and then visiting the nice city of Prilep (in the center of the country) known for Marko's Towers. On the 7th day, close to the border with Greece, you can visit North Macedonia's 2nd largest city, Bitola, the "City of Consuls" and with a long history (Heraklea Lynkestis should be visited). On the 5rd day you may go on a day trip to discover lake Prespa and Pelister National Park, a mountainous park with the unique molika (Macedonian pine). The last stop, for the 9th day, should be the most important sightseeing place in North Macedonia, Ohrid (Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1979 and 1980). Its traditional architecture and its very important old churches by lake Ohrid will impress and make the visitor love this laid-back city. For the 10th and last day, a day trip to Galičica National Park can be organised. Located on the border with Albania and between lakes Prespa and Ohrid, this park has many nice beaches, routes to trail, cute villages to discover or churches and museum to visit.


How can I arrive and move within North Macedonia?

 North Macedonia is well communicated with neightbouring countries such as Albania, Greece, Serbia, mainly via Skopje. Skopje and Ohrid are connected with most of the important destinations in the Western Balkans and in the rest of Europe. The best mean of transport to move in the country is the bus (high frequency) but train is also a good one because it is, at least, as fast as buses although the frequencies are lower.
    Train map of North Macedonia
  • Plane: there are international flights to Skopje International Airport (the most important one in North Macedonia) from many European cities and also to the airport in Ohrid. Most of the flights are from low cost companies.
  • Train: North Macedonia's railway system is a bit slow, with not many destinations available and unfrequent trains, although one of the nicest and most iconic ways to discover the country. The railway system connects Skopje with places like Tetovo, Kumanovo, Prilep or Bitola but not with Ohrid. There are also trains to international destinations like Pristina, Thessaloniki or Belgrade. A cheap way of travelling to or from North Macedonia might be the Balkan Flexipass.
  • Bus: this is the main and probably best mean of transport in all North Macedonia (and along Western Balkans). There are frequent buses from Skopje to all the main cities and towns of the country and there are also connections among them (although less frequent). There are buses that connect Skopje and Ohrid with places such as Pristina, Tirana, Belgrade, Sofia or Thessaloniki. The offer of bus trips in Skopje is larger, including destinations like Istambul, Liubliana or Zagreb.
  • Car: this is almost always the most comfortable way of moving for the lack of timetables to follow. It's required to have a green card (International Insurance Card). Most of the roads in North Macedonia are in good conditions and driving in the country is easy. 

What can I eat and drink in North Macedonia?

Tavče gravče
Macedonian cuisine is an aspect of traditional Balkan cuisinie that reflects the influences of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cusines. Some of the most important ingredients are vegetables herbs and fruites, dairy products and wines. Common dishes in North Macedonia include Ottoman receipes like kebab and sarma. The most popular dish in the country is tavče gravče (Тавче гравче), dish based on beans and onions baked and served in a traditional unglazed earthenware pot. Macedonian cuisine has many different of stews such as turli tava (турлитава, a vegetable and meat stew made of potatoes, rice, aubergine, tomatoes and meat), kompir mandza (компир манџа, potatoe and meat stew) or selsko meso (cелско месо, roast beef, pork and lamb with mushrooms, white wine and yellow cheese).
Turli tava
Other important dishes are moussaka (мусака, aubergine or potatoe Balkan dish that usually includes ground meat and isn't very different from lasagna), jufki (јуфки, Macedonian version of pasta), chorba od kopriva (хорба од коприва, creamy nettle soup), bakrdan (бакрдан, maize porridge known as kačamak in other countries), popara (попара, traditional Bulgarian dish based on bread and meat broth) and prženi lepčinja (fried slices of bread covered in beaten egg, usually eaten as breakfast). Some of the most popular regional and local dishes are ghomleze (ѓомлезе, diamon-shaped version of Turkish gozleme) and polneti piperki (полни пиперки, stuffed peppers filled with rice and/or meat), from Ohrid and Struga.
Šopska salad
Salads are also an important part of the diet in Kosovo; for example, makalo salad (salad mixed of cooked potatoes and red dry pepper) or šopska salad (salad made of tomatoe, onions, peppers covered in sierenje cheese). North Macedonia has also a large variety of  dishes and food based on meat, just like čevapi (чевапи, griled dish of minced meat traditional from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia), mekici (мекици, fried lumps of dough), širden (ширден, kind of sausage typical from Prilep), pljeskavica (пјескавица, grilled dish of spiced meat patty mixture of pork, beef and lamb); all over the countries different variesties of cheese are produced such as kashkaval (кашкавал) from Šar Mountains and bieno sierenje (бијоно сирење, similar to halloumi) from the south of the country.
Pastrmalija
The country has also pies: burek (бурек, pie made of pastry layers filled with minced meat, white cheese, spinach), pastrmalija (пастрмајлија, oval-shaped pie made from dough and meat), zelnik (зелник, Macedonian pie similar to burek). North Macedonia isn't in touch with the sea but has many lakes so therefor there are some dished based on fish, mainly on Ohrid trout (caution: this specie is endangered of dying out so it's highly unrecommended trying it on restaurants, even if it's offered). Many dishes can be condimented with malidzano (малиџано, spread based on aubergine, peppers), ajvar (aјвар, roasted red pepper spread), pindjur (пинџур, relish based on red peppers, aubergine, tomatoes, garlic, oil and salt) or tarator (таратор, tzatziki) and the most popular bread is pita bread.
Tulumba
Traditional desserts of North Macedonia are normally based on honey (med, мед). Some of the most popular ones are kadaif (кадаиф, Macedonian version of kanafeh), tulumba (тулумба, deep-fried batter soaked in syrup, similar to Spanish churros), palačinki (палачинки, Macedonian version of crêpe), Turkish delight (named as lokum, локум), baklava (баклава) or slatko (слатко, fruit preserve made of fruit, normally berries, or rose petals). Like in many former Ottoman countries, kefir (кефир) is also a popular consumed yogurt.
Talking about drinking, the visitor has to know the importance of the culture of coffee (kafe, кафе) in North Macedonia (and in general, all over the Balkans), being widely consumed and served. There are specialised bars on coffe called kafana (кафеана) Tea (čaj, чај) is also quite popular in the country.
Mastika
North Macedonia has a large variety of non-alcoholic drinks such as kompot (компот, sweet beverage obtained by cooking fruits, usually strawberries, apricots or peaches) or salep (салеп), beverage based on flour made of the tubers of orchids. The country has an important winery culture, particulary focused in the central and eastern part of the country (around Kavadarci), using the following grape varieties: stanusina crna, vranec, traminec, alexandria or smederevka. There are also local beers (pivo, пиво) in North Macedonia like Skopsko, Bitolsko or Makedonsko. The most important spirit in the country is mastika (мастика), liqueur seasoned with mastic (resin from mastic tree), traditional from the region of Strumica. Other very traditional drinks like rakija (ракија, grape brandy alcoholic beverage) or boza (боза, refreshing drink made of maize and wheat flour, traditional from ethnic Albanians).

Learn some Macedonian

 Macedonian is the co-official language of North Macedonia, together with Albanian and other local languages, and is currently spoken by 2.5 million people aprox. Macedonian language is a south Slavic language and has a high degree of mutual intelligibility (some even argue that Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian) and it's related with Serbo-Croatian too, so visitors who speak any of those languages won't have problems of communication. Moreover Macedonian very widely spoken and understood all over North Macedonia, with less importance in the western and northwestern part of the country.
These are some basic words in Macedonian:

Macedonian
English
Macedonian
English
Здраво
/Zdravo/
Hello
Те молам 
 /Te molam/
Please
Како си?
/Kako si?/
How are you?
Благодарам /Blagodaram/
Thanks
Збогум!
/Zbogum!/
Goodbye!
Да   
/Da/
Yes
Добра ноќ!
/Dobra noḱ/
Good night!
Не 
 /Ne/
No
Извини ме
/Izvini me/

Excuse me
Јас не зборувам македонски /Jas ne zboruvam makedonski/

I don’t speak Macedonian

Useful links

 In case you want to look for more information about North Macedonia (https://macedonia-timeless.com/eng) or its cities, towns and places, here there's a list with some pages to get it:

 
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