As a tourist in Skopje, you must visit Matka Canyon and so we did on Sunday. The Canyon is 15kms south west of Skopje and easily accessible by car, taxi and public bus.
We took the 45 minute bus ride out of the city. It was a pleasant journey. The bus was full with locals on their Sunday excursion and a small number of foreign tourists. They were mainly Spanish (7) and the obligatory two Germans.
As it is probably the biggest tourist destination close to Skopje, I expected to find some information, signs and/or maps when we arrived. Unfortunately, the Macedonian tourist industry has not felt the need to provide these types of things.
The bus dropped us at the mouth of the Canyon next to a couple of restaurants. I had wanted to hike the 40 minute climb to a Monestery on one of the mountains overlooking the Canyon. Sheila however, quickley and decisively erased that idea. “It’s too hot to hike up a bloody mountain” she advised me.
Instead we agreed (read, she agreed) to take the footpath that runs along the right side of the Canyon. In many places, the footpath has literally been carved out of the cliff face. It looks spectactular and reminded me of the Caminito del Rey at Chorro north of Malaga.
I’m informed the footpath is more than 10 kms long. We didn’t have enough tim and walked 45 minutes out and 45 back as we wanted to take a boat down the Canyon to see the famous underground caves. Excuse the poor quality snaps below.
It was a most enjoyable day even though our visit coincided with a local holiday weekend and so it was incredibly busy. There were cars parked along both sides of the approach road to the Canyon as there is no parking provision. The buses were unable to get to the mouth of the Canyon. We had to walk 1.5 kms to the nearest place the bus could get, to catch our return bus to Skopje.
The other negative was tbe amount of litter. The place was overflowing with litter. There was no charge whatsoever to enter the canyon. If I had a role withe the tourist authorities, i would reccommend levying a small charge and use the income to have the litter and refuse cleaned and to maintain the public paths. End of rant.
All things considered a most enjoyable day out.
On the bank of the River Vardar in Skopje City Centre
Wandering Boomers 
Brilliant …keep going you two.
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