Skopje Transport

Getting there & away

Contents

Land

Bus

Skopje’s New Intercity Bus Station (Nova Avtobuska Stanica; 3236 254) is underneath the train station on bul Jane Sandanski. There is a comprehensive network to all Macedonian towns, with at least 13 buses daily to Prilep (320MKD, 2¼ hours, 139km), seven to Bitola (350MKD, 2½ hours, 185km), 21 to Tetovo (100MKD, 40 minutes, 42km), three to Mavrovi Anovi (270MKD, 1½ hours, 88km), 10 to Ohrid via Kičevo (380MKD, three hours, 167km) and four to Ohrid via Bitola (380MKD, four hours, 261km).

International buses either leave from here or from International Bus Station 2, along from the Holiday Inn on Kej 13 Noemvri, where there are offices for several private lines. To catch a direct bus to Tirana in Albania you will first need to head to Tetovo.

Train

Skopje’s ageing train station (3234 255; Bul Jane Sandanski) serves both domestic and international routes. For details on international trains. The most useful domestic route for tourists goes through Veles and on to Prilep and Bitola (four trains daily, some at ghastly hours). A little Cyrillic will be useful to make sense of the timetables, so come prepared with your phrasebook.

Air

A host of airlines serve Skopje’s Petrovec airport (3148 333; www.airports.com.mk), 21km east of the city.

It may be cheaper to fly into Thessaloniki in northern Greece; try to coordinate the flight times with the two to three daily trains that connect Thessaloniki with Skopje.