Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through North Macedonia can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized North Macedonia itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are required to enter North Macedonia, but make sure routine shots (measles-mumps-rubella, tetanus-diphtheria, polio and flu) are up to date. Hepatitis A is recommended for most travelers, and hepatitis B is advised for longer stays or if you may need medical treatment. Rabies vaccination is worth considering if you plan long hikes in rural areas or will be around animals, as stray dogs are common.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in North Macedonia, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Hospitality runs deep in North Macedonia, so if you’re invited into a home, take off your shoes at the door, bring a small gift like sweets or flowers, and accept at least a sip of the offered rakija or coffee, since refusing outright can seem rude. When toasting, look people in the eye. Dress modestly in Orthodox churches and monasteries (covered shoulders and knees, and a headscarf can be appreciated for women) and in mosques, where you remove shoes and women cover their hair. Avoid calling the country “FYROM” or opening debates about the name dispute with Greece, relations with Bulgaria, or tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians, as these are sensitive topics. Expect smoking in many cafés and bars, and don’t rush meals, which are long and social. Same-sex couples should keep affection private, especially outside Skopje, and women may draw less attention in conservative Albanian-majority towns by dressing more covered.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for North Macedonia.
- Tavče gravče: white beans baked in a shallow clay pot with onion, dried red peppers and paprika, often with sausage. It is widely considered the national dish and is a traditional Friday and fasting-day meal in Orthodox homes.
- Ajvar: a smoky relish of roasted red peppers, sometimes with eggplant, slow-cooked with oil. Every autumn families roast peppers in yards and on balconies to make jars for the winter, and it appears on almost every table.
- Šopska salata: chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and peppers buried under grated white sheep’s cheese. It is the standard start to any meal and pairs with a glass of rakija.
- Pastrmajlija: an oval, boat-shaped flatbread topped with chunks of cured or fresh pork (sometimes egg), baked in a wood oven. It is the pride of Štip, which holds a festival dedicated to it.
- Burek: flaky layered pastry filled with cheese, meat or spinach, eaten for breakfast with drinking yogurt. Bakeries sell it from early morning, making it the cheapest filling meal in the country.
- Selsko meso: “village meat”, pork and veal stewed with mushrooms, onion and wine in a clay pot. It is a hearty mountain-tavern classic, especially in winter.
- Polneti piperki: peppers stuffed with rice and minced meat or just rice for a vegetarian version, baked in tomato sauce. It is a home-cooked staple through the summer pepper season.
Tap water in North Macedonia is generally safe to drink, and Skopje’s supply, which comes from the Rašče spring, is considered good quality and is drunk by locals every day. Tourists can drink it in Skopje, Ohrid and most towns, and the public drinking fountains in Skopje are fine for refilling a bottle. In rural areas or older buildings with poor plumbing, some travelers prefer bottled or filtered water, which is cheap and sold everywhere.
The main language in North Macedonia is
Macedonian. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Macedonian skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for North Macedonia includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is widely spoken in North Macedonia among people under about 40, especially in Skopje, Ohrid and Bitola, where hostel staff, café servers and tour operators handle it easily. Older people and rural villagers often speak little or none, though many understand Serbian, and German or Italian turns up among those who worked abroad. Serbian or Croatian helps most, since Macedonian is close enough for basic conversation, and Albanian is the main language in the west around Tetovo, Gostivar and Struga. Learn the Cyrillic alphabet before you arrive (it takes an afternoon), because bus destinations and menus outside the center are often written only in Cyrillic, and keep Google Translate with the Macedonian pack downloaded for offline use.
Money & Payments
The local currency of North Macedonia is MKD (ден).
ATMs are easy to find in North Macedonia’s cities and towns, especially in Skopje, Ohrid and Bitola, though they are scarce in small villages, so withdraw denars (MKD) before heading into the mountains. Many local bank ATMs charge a fee of roughly 150 to 300 MKD (US$2.70 to 5.50) per withdrawal, and you should always decline the machine’s offer to convert to your home currency, since that dynamic conversion rate is poor. Cards are widely accepted in hotels, supermarkets, malls and many restaurants in Skopje and Ohrid, while bus tickets, bakeries, markets, small guesthouses and village taverns are usually cash only. Euros are the most useful foreign currency to bring, with US dollars accepted at exchange offices but at slightly worse rates. The many licensed exchange offices (menuvačnica) in town centers offer fair rates with no commission and are generally better than the airport counters or banks.
Tipping in North Macedonia is appreciated but not obligatory, and most locals simply round up the bill in cafés and bars. In sit-down restaurants, especially in Skopje and Ohrid, leaving about 10 percent in cash for good service is standard. Taxi drivers expect you to round up to the nearest 50 or 100 MKD, and a small tip for tour guides is welcome.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.