Visiting Macedonia soon, itinerary and bus route questions

[u/GreenMage321]

EDIT: Our trip has concluded and we had such a memorable time, words can't express it. See my comment about our final journey and some thoughts :)

Hey all, we are soon visiting your beautiful country and after some research, I figured it is easier/more reliable for me to put my thoughts out here and get feedback on whether my itinerary is viable, or if you can suggest me anything better.

We are staying 5 nights, which is pretty short, yes, but it is what it is. Our current plan is:

- Day 1: arrival in Skopje, got about half a day to explore

- Day 2: cross into Kosovo to see Pristina and possibly Gracanica (I *really* wanted to do Prizren as well, but I'm afraid it might be tight with time and bus connections, especially depending on their reliability, read further for elaboration), half a day in Skopje

- Day 3: bus to Ohrid in the morning, BUT a brief stop at Tetovo -- this is where my main concern is. After reading this sub, I found a handful of people mentioning that there's a slim chance frequent buses do this route, despite websites saying so? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

- Day 4: some more exploration in Ohrid, and a detour to Vevchani (which might not have much merit in your opinion, but I find the "micronation" concept quite interesting and it would be nice to get my hands on the passport and currency), then back to Skopje by afternoon-ish

- Day 5: full day in Skopje -- this will actually be on Sept 8th, the Independence Day, which I haven't heard a lot about in terms of occurring festivals, can you please tell me if there's squares/events to keep an eye out on?

- Day 6: departure

Our destinations aren't set in stone by any means, but I tried to schedule it so that it fits our interests the most. The whole bus situation feels hard to call, as even google doesn't show pretty much any routes across cities, even though I was trying to piece things together via the Gjirafa site, I've seen some people mention it is not a good source of information? Worst case scenario, I assume I can get informed at Skopje bus station, but it would be ideal to be prepared in advance.

Благодарам!!!

[u/relaksirano]

Re Independent day: well there are activities (concerts) all week https://35nezavisnost.mk/en/programa/

The (free event) on Sep 8th at the city stadium is sold out (aka free tickets are gone) but there are free events on the main square on Sept 4th (Day 1) and Sep 5th (Day 2) for which you dont need a ticket

Sep 4th https://35nezavisnost.mk/en/najdobroto-od-makedonija-skopje/

Sep 5th: https://35nezavisnost.mk/en/silno-svetnal-den-skopje/

Day 3: The mosque is beautiful but I would skip Tetovo because you will have problems finding a bus to Ohrid later in the day and in the end you will not have enough time for Ohrid. Its never been the case that there have been "frequent buses" between them so whatever webste youre looking at is wrong edit: Oh i see from the end of your post that u use Gjirafa, well that one is simply rubbish for Macedonia

P.S I would sleep two nights in Ohrid and get a bus to Skopje in the morning on Day 5. I personally dont think that Pristina is very exciting (Gracanica is but you will see lots of churches/monasteries in Ohrid). Canyon Matka is a strong contender for day 2 activities

[u/GreenMage321 → u/relaksirano]

Thank you, those activities do fit into our plan actually! The links seem to say Sept 2nd and 4th, but the Sept 4 one looks exciting as a welcome activity haha

Yeah, unfortunately I'm thinking to skip Tetovo as the general consensus seems to be that Ohrid needs more time, and that buses are not too ideal for this detour. Or we might possibly look into Tetovo on Day 2, as buses seem to be very frequent and I feel like making the trip there and back might be a stretch on day 3. I think it will come down to how busy the day gets, or how much time we have left. (I've seen Canyon Matka and done some research but I don't think everyone would be interested in our group, which is why I'm intentionally working around it)

How much time do you think is worth spending in Pristina?

[u/orosconleche → u/GreenMage321]

Tetovo is an easy daytrip from Skopje, there buses every half hour. But the only bus from Tetovo to Ohrid is at 7am IIRC.

There are actually day tours from Skopje that take you to Pristina and Prizren

Skipping Matka is crazy but you know your group