North Macedonia

Lake Ohrid is three million years old and still underrated

North Macedonia is landlocked, mountainous and built around one extraordinary lake. Ohrid is among the oldest and deepest lakes in the world, roughly three million years old, with a town on its shore that once had a reputation for having 365 churches, one for each day. It is UNESCO listed for both the natural and cultural sides, which is rare.

Skopje is the strangest capital in Europe and worth seeing for that alone. A government building programme in the 2010s covered the centre in enormous neoclassical statues, fountains and facades, producing a city that looks like it was assembled from a catalogue. Opinions locally range from embarrassment to affection. The old bazaar behind it is the real thing and predates all of it.

The country is cheap, the food is a strong Balkan-Mediterranean crossover, and the mountains at Mavrovo and Pelister are almost empty. It is also a useful stop for anyone travelling the Balkans overland, sitting outside Schengen and connecting easily to Albania, Kosovo, Greece and Bulgaria.

Annual events and festivals

• Vevcani Carnival (Jan) — a pagan-rooted masquerade running for around 1,400 years. Satirical and genuinely wild.
• Ohrid Summer Festival (Jul-Aug) — classical music and drama in churches and open-air venues.
• Galicnik Wedding (Jul) — a traditional village wedding re-enacted over two days, with one real couple chosen each year.
• Skopje Jazz Festival (Oct) — running since 1982 with a serious international line-up.
• Struga Poetry Evenings (Aug) — one of the oldest international poetry festivals in the world.
• Balkan Trafik and street festivals (summer) — Skopje fills its squares through the warm months.
• Independence Day (8 Sep) — marks the 1991 referendum.
• Ilinden Uprising Day (2 Aug) — the most significant national commemoration.
• Epiphany, Vodici (19 Jan) — men dive into freezing water to retrieve a cross.
• Taksirat Festival, Skopje (Dec) — the main alternative music festival.