There are two types of climates in the region including Alpine in the mountain areas and Mediterranean or Temperate types in Central and East areas. Macedonia is an area of Greece popular with tourists who like to stay in holiday rentals. There is a great selection of holiday villas and self catering holiday apartments in Macedonia that can be rented as self catering holiday accommodation.

Traveling around is the best thing to do in Macedonia. Thessaloniki is am important Greek city and serves as a major industrial, cultural and economic center. Katerinin is also one of the must visit places of Macedonia. It is the capital of Prefecture of Pieria and stands on the plains between Pieria Mountains and Mount Olympus.
The second best thing to do in Macedonia is visiting its historical sites. If you are interested in historical architectures and sites, then there are many medieval monuments in Thesssaloniki for you to see.

These monuments are evidence of the great prosperity and former splendor of the city in ancient times. It is a port city and the second largest one in Greece. It is one of the most ancient cities in Europe and most of the Agora ruins date back to the Roman period.

The third attractive thing to do in Macedonia is enjoying the beaches of Makriyalos, Methoni, Plaka Litochorou, Olympiaki Akti and Platamonas. Holidays in these beaches are quite popular among the water sports and beach fans who want a village life in a relaxed atmosphere. Apart from that, these beaches also provide tavernas and other nightlife for those who are interested in living their life with fun.

The beaches are unspoilt stretches of fine shingle and soft sand with shallow deep blue water, good for swimming and children. There are also beach side restaurants and bars and they also offer plenty of water sport activities.
These beaches are attractive for relaxing, sunbathing, eating well and finding entertainment around the quayside and harbour. You can rent holiday villas and self catering holiday apartments next to the beach.

Going on a visit to the Litochoro is the fourth thing to do. It is a pretty village serving as the starting point of Mount Olympus which is the highest Greek mountain. It has schools, a post office, banks, sports centre, harbor, town hall, hospital, museum, concert hall, squares and shopping facilities, all of which are enjoyable for the visitors.
Agios Nickolaos and Agios Dimitrios are the two major churches in Litochoro and Hogios Athanasios is the most traditional cemetery in Greece. Visiting the historical town of Kozani is also a must for the visitors.

It is located on the crossroads of Epirus, Western Macedonia, central Macedonia and Thessaly and is most famous for its library that houses innumerable previous and rare manuscripts and written documents. Siatista is situated to the west of Kozani which is a medieval town having interesting Byzantine cathedrals and some huge traditional buildings.
The fifth thing to do is to see the two lakes, Mikri and Megali which form borders between Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece. It has an amazing landscape and there is an ancient Byzantine Church on the Aghios Achielleios, which is a small islet. Ancient Macedonia settlement remains have also been found in the nearby area.

A beautiful turquoise stream passes through the city of Skopje. It houses sports hubs, archaeological locations, a marvelous fortification and many cultural monuments. Many deep, dark caves inhabit the monstrous canyons of the River Treska.

Best Time To Visit
The weather is dry and sultry during the long summers whereas, the frosty winters are icy, cold and snowed, suffering heavy snowfalls and avalanches. The most suitable time to visit Macedonia is between May to September, especially in the showery months of July and August.

Travel Routes
The country possesses two international airports in the city of Skopje and Ohrid. You may travel by air, sea or road depending upon your comfort level. Some of the travel agencies providing their services are- Ohrid Touring Agencies, Skopje Dollar Travels and Simonium Travels.

Cuisine
Macedonia is known for its delicacy. Some of the famous, delicious as well as economical dishes include Skara (grilled meat), Shopska salata (mixed salad seasoned with tomatoes, gingers and chopped Sirenje- a milk product similar to the cottage cheese) and Winter Gjuvech (A famous Balkan recipe flavored with pickled meat). Rakija is a luscious, intoxicating brandy which is also the National beverage of Macedonia.

Famous places
Ohrid is recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is mainly a lakeside holiday hotel most regarded as a diamond in the Macedonian crown. Kumanovo is adorned with beautiful historical buildings, observatories and pre-modern arrangements.
Matka is a diminutive society located on the outskirts of Skopje. A beautiful church situated in this area within the dramatically cleaved crags, is dedicated to Mother Mary. Krusevo is encircled within the mountains, in a valley. It is termed as the “museum city”. The town is famous for its skiing locations.
Lake Ohrid, the famous tourist spot

It is an ancient lake and the deepest lake in Europe. The striking, refined mountains surround the lake. Surrounded around it, are the beautiful, ancient churches belonging to the medieval period.
So, if you want to take the pleasure of a fulsome holiday in the soothing backdrop, beside the crystal-clear lake waters and the hushed historical monuments then Macedonia is the finest honeymoon destination!

The timeless city of Ohrid, located at the coast of the beautiful Lake Ohrid, is undisputebly the most ashonishing place in Macedonia, a living example of old and unique architecture and the center of Macedonia’s cultural and historical heritige. Lichnidos is it’s old name, the name which was used to refer to that entire area, the settlement and the Ohrid Lake next to it.Built mostly between the 7th and the 19th century, it has the most ancient Slav monastery (St. Pantelejmon) and more than 800 icons of Byzantine style, painted between the 11th and the end of the 14th century, which are considered to be, after those of the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, the most important collection in the world.

The city of ohrid could also be called a living town museum, it a unique mix of the west and the ancient, unique city architecture, and also exclusive western tourist accommodations. Not a traveler passes through Macedonia not visitng ohrid.Its one of the country’s most popular tourist attraction, with top class accommodation, modern tourist properties of international recongition, beautiful places to camp and much more.

There are three tectonic lakes in Macedonia: The Ohrid lake is the most important and sure enough the most stunning of all. Itsmarvelous cristal clear waters (the transparence of the water is nearly 22m) and primordial beauty look breathtakingly fascinating to both the passers-by and numerous domestic and foreign tourists who continuously visit this lake.

The ancient city of Ohrid and the Ohrid region are recorded in UNESCO’s directory of worlds cultural heritage and have been placed under environmental protection as an outstanding environment. The Ohrid Lake gets it water from underwater springs which run all the way under the mountain. This water comes from lake Prespa. The historical name of this city was once Lychnydos, established on an ancient gemstone which whas uncovered that reported of King Philip’s II take-over of the city in 353 BC; . Under Roman rule Lychnidos developed into a typical Roman city and an important transit point on the road Via Egnatia.

As for touristry, Ohrid has many things to offer.Aside from sightseeing, there are a few unique untouched beaches, commonly the further from the city heart the more beautiful they become, and each provides a different beach experience. Its truly an untouched or virgin beauty.

A speciality is Ohrid trout which come out of this 15-mile lake at 10 lbs and over and taste like the most delicious fresh salmon. Chatting to some locals one morning in a pub in Prilep, I was told that I must eat some sheeden for lunch. The Macedonia House Restaurant produced some within a half-hour and special it was. Made in a sheep’s stomach, whereas haggis has offal and oatmeal, sheeden has real meat – chopped lamb, pork, beef and chicken – with rice. “Puts hair on the chest” suggested Slobodan, our driver.

The Negotino wine region produces red, rose and white wines of high quality and the growers were happy to let us taste. The Fonko vineyard fortified us with copious amounts of delicious chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. And I can confirm that rakija, the brandy made from local grapes, is, like sheeden, not for the faint-hearted.

An abiding impression of the small fledgling state is peacefulness allied with emptiness. There is little internal trouble following the break-up of Jugoslavia and tension with its neighbours Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria is reducing. Peace reigns.

This impression is reinforced by the low population density. The two million souls spread themselves over their 10,000 square miles so thinly that you can always find empty beaches, lakes with no boats, rivers without even an angler. And the mountain areas, which are all over the country, comprise miles and miles of empty, untouched, pine-scented beauty.

The country’s economic development is at an early stage, and with low wages, high unemployment, and underdeveloped tourism, the people are pleased to see visitors. It is warm in summer and snowy in winter. It is one of those places where you feel it is good to be there before the rush starts.

Konstantin, like everyone in the towns, wanted to practise English . Their own language is, to say the least, complex. “It is not like Serbian”, he said “Or even Slav”. “More like Bulgarian”. “I see”, I said, “Quite so!”
In town there was little sign of those round Balkan hats or women’s headscarves that you see in pictures supposedly showing the typical local dweller. These were the preserve of the villages.

But the towns, like the villages, have a “we are not in any hurry” kind of pace to them. Macedonians say they are not laid back, it is just that the scales of the work/life balance tilt heavily on the side of life. And good for them. We went out on the lake at St Naum just outside Ohrid with Nikola rowing his boat. He spent a little time rowing and a lot of time resting on his oars, sometimes asking us to listen to the sounds of nature, sometimes telling stories and sometimes singing us a Balkan song. We enjoyed Nikola’s company so much that it was 5.30 pm before we got to the restaurant for lunch. Turns out that that 5.30 is pretty standard for lunch in Macedonia.

Skopje, the capital, is known in the west mainly from its days as a landing point for visitors to the old Jugoslavia. It has 600,000 inhabitants who have survived nazism, communism and that dreadful earthquake. In the extreme north, where Macedonia butts up against Serbia, Skopje’s buildings bear the slab-sided signature of the communist sixties but it is morphing into a pedestrianised café-and-boutique type of place. The most interesting part is the old town in which we found a working blacksmith operating next door to a wood-panelled barber’s shop where I had an old-fashioned shave complete with shaving soap, brush, hot towels and cut-throat razor.

Before Jugoslavia was even thought of, Macedonia had its own history going way, way back. Back, in fact, to Alexander the Great who originated from here. If every schoolboy knows this, not so many know that it was also home to Mother Teresa.

Possibly the most impressive thing that strikes you about this entrancing small country of 2m people is its cultural display of all kinds. The people are proud of the art-rich cultural mix which has been developed over hundreds of years, if not thousands. They are industriously digging and restoring extensive Roman sites all across the country. We saw the biggest, at Heraklea a few minutes outside Bitola, in the very south of the country next to the border with Greece. The remains of baths, a church, a theatre and a forum were all there as well as beautiful and extensive mosaics. The next biggest Roman town at Stobi is only 40 miles away.

A special characteristic of the Balkans is that the multifarious immigrants who have come to the area over the centuries have never had it in mind to integrate into anything like one nation. This means that the whole region is crowded with myriad varieties of dress, language, religion and architecture. The National Museum in Skopje shows scores of almost unrecognisably different forms of dress for every few miles of the tiny country. And it is covered with churches of all types – Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim. You could get monastery fatigue if it were not for the breathtaking woodcarving and icons of the monasteries of St John the Baptist in the Mavrovo mountains, St Mary the Beautiful and St Saviour in Skopje, itself.