North Macedonia was the starting point for a tour of the Balkans in 2021. Prior to the trip I would not have been able to locate the country on the map, but at the time of Covid it was one of the few countries allowing unrestricted access from the UK making it a useful destination to start travel from.
Reasonable selection of airbnbs in the centre of the town. If visiting outside of the peak season you should have your pick of apartments at a very reasonable price.
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New legislation
Recent changes introduced by the Turkish government has made short-term rentals for under 100 days more restricted. Keep an eye on Reddit threads for up-to-date assessments of how the new legislation is impacting short-term rentals in practice.
There's only one real option for coworking in the town at present, although there is a large range of cafes. If planning to work from home, I would not assume the internet would be of sufficient quality.
Like the rest of North Macedonia, food and drink is very reasonable priced throughout, however compared to larger cities, there isn't an enormous selection of choice. Prices for local excursions and bicycle/car hire prove to be very good value.
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The yen is currently at a 34-year low
While this is undoubtedly a negative for the Japanese, it makes for an exceptionally good time to visit Japan from abroad. Although this trend is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short term, it's still worth checking before visiting.
Read moreAs you would expect from what is essentially a large town, Ohrid isn’t the most dynamic place to spend your time, especially if visiting outside of peak season. The town centre can be walked in its entirety in under 10 minutes, and there is scant evidence of any meaningful nightlife.
North Macedonia operates on Central European Time (CET), aligning with Western Europe.
I've written a guide on how to structure your day to get the most out of the time difference.
Without doubt, being able to speak Spanish with a degree of fluency is a huge asset when visiting South America. I had always put off visiting the continent due to my Spanish skills not extending beyond requesting a "cerveza grande".
But even with my incredibly primitive linguistic capabilities, it was not in any way to the detriment of the trip. English is spoken sparsely, but armed with a few phrases, some polite enthusiasm and a translator, it shouldn't deter you from visiting.
After spending 10 weeks speaking (limited) Spanish across the rest of the continent, I struggled arriving in Brazil.
While I was far from conversational in Spanish, I quickly realised when I stepped out of the airport my vocabulary didn't extend a single word beyond 'Obrigado!'.
In general, English is generally spoken incredibly sparsely. The most flowing interaction I had ended up being with an Uber driver where we periodically shouted out the names of Brazilian footballers playing in the English Premier League.
You can scrape by for a couple of weeks, but if you're planning on staying longer, I'd 100% recommend learning some basics to get the most out of the experience.
Given the instability in Argentina over the past few years, I found that most advice on key topics, even if written within the last 12 months, bordered on being dangerously outdated.
I have attempted to summarise some of the most misleading points I encountered.
Card availability is now excellent across the city. Even if you are purchasing a single empanada, bananas from a greengrocer, or buying cans of beer off a man in the street before a football match. Some businesses may offer a 10% discount if you use cash, or charge a small surcharge for card payments.
"It's difficult to get a SUBE card"
This was true in recent years, as there had been a shortage of the cards across the city due to a lack of the plastics needed to create the card. I had no problems going to the nearest off-licence and getting a card on my first attempt. It's worth asking your Airbnb host who may have a spare.
The biggest misconception that may still linger, even if you are reading articles from 2023. If planning on eating out heavily, then expect European prices or even higher on more imported day-to-day goods. Eating out aside, day-to-day expenses are still good value by global measures.
This advice would continue to make sense for Americans who already have dollars, but I wouldn't recommend making an effort to purchase with the intent of exchanging them on the ground. Collecting money via Western Union was convenient and good value, which I would recommend to anyone visiting from outside the US.
"Make sure you get the blue-dollar rate"
The dramatic stabilisation of the peso by late 2024 means that this difference is nowhere near as significant as it was 12 months ago. At the time of writing, there was only a 10% difference between the official and blue rate. If you are only in the city for a short period you may not even have to grapple with this.
"Restaurant service is poor"
I did see some evidence of this, especially in cheaper, traditional restaurants. In comical fashion, drinks would not appear or the bill would never materialise. In more contemporary outlets, it was never a problem.
"It is a football mad city"
There is absolutely no doubt that this is as true as ever in 2024.
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