The Republic of North Macedonia, one of the former states of Yugoslavia, has the perfect location in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Perfect for a road trip.
So, if you live around and you want to go for a visit, I would suggest you to go by car. We preferred this option too, leaving from Romania. Therefore, passing through Bulgaria, we were on the road for about 9-10 hours.
If you don’t have a problem with being in the car for so many hours, these details will help you out, for sure. Because, in this article, I want to talk about all the things that you should know before leaving on the road. Final route: Romania- Bulgaria-Skopje (North Macedonia):
- First thing first- the road taxes- you need to pay the bridge fee at the entrance to Bulgaria (14 lei= 3.5 €), then the road taxes before entering in Skopje: 2 stops (100 Denars for both= 1.6 €). In Bulgaria, you can pay in Euros, but only Denars in North Macedonia.
- There is also the vignette for Bulgaria that you can pay in customs (either in € or Lev). We paid it online (it’s easier, plus you skip the line in customs). You can check the prices here.
- On the way back, you pay again the 100 Denars taxes road in North Macedonia and 8 lei or 2 € (bridge fee) before entering to Romania. Only Lev or € accepted.
- Because of the toll system in North Macedonia, there, you won’t need the vignette.
- The green card that we have in Romania is also valid for North Macedonia. Depending on the country, I know that you can buy one that may include other countries or the whole Europe. You better check this information before your trip.
- The gas prices are pretty low (comparing to Romania)- 60-70 Denars/L (1-1.12 €/L).
- When it comes to the necessary documents- you will definitely need a valid passport.
- As a Romanian, you don’t need a visa for tourist or business trips of less than 90 days within a six month period .
- To check the complete list of countries that would require a visa, click here.
- The road is pretty nice, but depending on your leaving day, it could be pretty crowded while you get closer to Sofia in Bulgaria. I would suggest to leave a little bit earlier or during the night.
- The currency of the country is Denar (1 denar= 0.016 € ). We didn’t exchange it before, so we used our cards (Revolut to be more specific). You can use your card almost everywhere, except for bazaars, parking etc. If you want to more about the Revolut card, click here.
- The mother languages in North Macedonia are Macedonian and Albanian. But, as mentioned in these articles, Macedonians do speak English pretty well. The menus in restaurants are available in English too, so you won’t need to learn the Cyrillic letters.
- In both countries Bulgaria and North Macedonia, they drive on the right side of the road.
- Comparing to the experience of traveling to Ukraine, the customs control in North Macedonia was pretty different. They didn’t check our entire car or ask too many questions, just made us open the trunk.
- The roads, in Bulgaria, but also in North Macedonia are pretty good. you will mostly drive through Bulgaria, but we arrived just in time. As mentioned before, it really matters what time you leave at.
I read so much about road trips around Europe, but honestly, every experience can be very different. In my opinion, the most important thing is to make sure that you know what documents do you need for the trip. Anything else, is not mandatory.
This summer we will be travelling for two weeks in one of the countries with, apparently, some of the most amazing beaches in Europe (or world!?).
We keep in touch, I’ll tell you about it! 🙂
