Matka Canyon, Macedonia

View on Matka canyon from where you enter the Canyon

 

In April, I went to Macedonia. While staying in Skopje for quite some days, I decided to visit Matka Canyon (close to Skopje, around 20 -25 minutes with the bus). When I visited Skopje, it was raining almost everyday, but luckily, the day I went to Matka Canyon, there was sunshine.

In Skopje, I stayed at  Hi Skopje hostel, which was a pleasant stay; it was not crowded at all in the hostel when I stayed here. The staff is really helpful and provides you with information. The hostel has a garden, and is located in a quiet area on the slope of a hill. It’s not too far from the central station; It takes approximately 30 minutes by foot. (There are also taxi’s and one bus that drives close),

Matka Canyon

To visit Matka Canyon, there is a bus (bus 60) from the central busstation in Skopje that will take you there.

The timetable of this bus (2014):

Don’t be surprised if the bus comes 20 minutes late, and please, if you decide to take the last bus back, be early at the busstop! When I took a bus back from Canyon Matka to Skopje, the bus departed 15 minutes early… I was really happy I was too early at the bus stop and wasn’t on the last bus.

At the bus station in Skopje

Matka Canyon is a very nice place to see; you can hike here, take a boattrip, visit a cave, there’s a climbing route, there are medieval buildings to visit and there is a restaurant as well. I took a boattrip for around 400 MKD (Macedonian Denars). It took around 1 hour through the canyon, and we made a stop at a cave (it’s a very small one).

Walking from the busstop to the entrance of the canyon

At the place where the bus drops you off, is a kayak course

 

The boat trip

The cave we visited with the boat trip

The boat, at the stop where the cave is (also the end point of the boattrip – after visiting the cave, the trip goes back)

A lot of plants and animals are to be found at Matka Canyon, and it seems that there are unique species here. In the caves there are lots of bats, and eagles live in this area as well (unfortunately, I didn’t see them).  Along the shore, there are lots of huts to see. People fish here, and the area is suitable for climbing, hiking and diving. There is also an underwatercave from which the depth is unknown, and someone told me that some people speculate that this could be the deepest underwatercave in the world.