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✔ Balkans · Belvi Verified

The Balkans, done slowly.

A country where the wine costs three euros and the hosts remember your name by the second breakfast. Skopje's old bazaar, the turquoise of Matka Canyon, cliffside monasteries, and Lake Ohrid, that steals the show.

Length
7 days, 6 nights
Group
From across Europe
Value
One of our best
Format
3 city, 3 lake
Join this escape See the week
St John Kaneo church above Lake Ohrid at dusk
The week

Three days of city, three of lake.

The route we have run and refined ourselves. Cities, canyons, mountains and the lake that steals the show.

Day
01

Skopje by night

Land in Skopje, drop your bags, straight into the Old Bazaar: one of the biggest and oldest in the Balkans. Cevapi and local wine for the welcome dinner, first rooftop of the week.

Day
02

Skopje and Matka Canyon

Morning walk through Skopje's wild mix: Ottoman bazaar, giant statues, brutalist architecture from the post-earthquake 60s. Afternoon: kayaks on the turquoise of Matka Canyon and a boat to Vrelo cave. Night out in Debar Maalo, where Skopje actually goes out.

Kayak included
Day
03

The mountain road to Ohrid

Through Mavrovo national park, past the half-drowned church of St. Nicholas, up to the stone villages of Galichnik country, a stop at Jovan Bigorski monastery, carved wood and a thousand years of quiet. Arrive lakeside in Ohrid for sunset.

Day
04

Ohrid, the Jerusalem of the Balkans

Cobbled old town, the ancient theatre, Plaosnik and its early basilicas, then the postcard: St. John at Kaneo on its cliff over the blue. Boat across the bay, swim off the rocks, dinner above the water.

UNESCO old town
Day
05

The lake, all of it

Boat to the springs of St. Naum where the water is so clear it looks fake, peacocks in the monastery garden. Up into Galichica national park for the viewpoint with two lakes at once, then down to Trpejca beach, the local Saint-Tropez without the prices. Grilled lake fish for dinner.

Boat and national park
Day
06

Bitola and the wine country

Coffee culture on Sirok Sokak in Bitola, the mosaics of ancient Heraclea, then Tikves wine country for a tasting where the pours are generous and the vines are older than most countries. Back to Skopje for the farewell rakija night.

Wine tasting included
Day
07

One last burek

Slow breakfast, last bazaar souvenirs, group photos delivered to your phone, airport transfers.

The deal

What is included, and what is not.

In, per person

  • 6 nights (3 Skopje, 3 Ohrid lakeside)
  • All ground transport (bus and driver)
  • Matka Canyon kayak and boat trips on Ohrid
  • Tikves winery tasting
  • English-speaking guide, photographer, videographer and drone pilot
  • Daily breakfasts, welcome and farewell dinners

Not in, on purpose

  • Flights (you fly from your own airport, we help you find or book them)
  • Lunches and dinners not listed
  • Optional extras (paragliding over Ohrid, spa)
  • Travel insurance (required)
Lake Ohrid with the church of St. John at Kaneo and snow-capped mountains Tour boats gliding through Matka Canyon between green cliffs Skopje Stone Bridge over the Vardar river with the Archaeological Museum

Photos · Benoît Vicart (CC0), kallerna (CC BY-SA 4.0), Julian Nyča (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Come with us

Before everyone finds out.

Tell us your airport and we come back within 24 hours with the next group dates, your price, and a hand with flights if you want one.

Sign up for this escape