| Duration: | 8 Day(s) - 7 Night(s) |
| Tour Category: | Rural Tours |
DAY 1: WELCOME TO SKOPJE
As you arrive at Skopje Airport, your guide will take you on a brief walking tour of the capital to visit its main landmarks: the Mother Teresa Memorial House, the fountain of Alexander the Great, and the narrow streets of the Old Town lined with handicraft shops, Byzantine-era churches, and Ottoman mosques and baths that have been turned into art galleries. In the afternoon, drive to the homestead in the countryside where you will meet your hosts over a tasty welcome dinner in their garden.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 2: MEET THE COUNTRYSIDE
After a hearty village breakfast, take a walk and a donkey-cart ride around the village, and visit local people to get introduced to their slow, countryside lifestyle. You will see how they still thread tobacco leaves manually and how they extract honey the old-fashioned way. On your way back to the house, you can collect fresh eggs right from the roost next door and goat cheese from a small nearby farm for your afternoon cooking class: make Balkan “Gibanitsa” in the traditional way — with handmade dough layers.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 3: ART DAY
A day for a creative workshop where your lovely host, Katerina, will guide you through carpentry work. You will create a decorative wooden plate used by local women in everyday cooking and kneading. You will cut wooden parts, sand, glue, paint, and decorate throughout the day… and take breaks by the pool. This little piece of craftsmanship will be the souvenir from Macedonia that you will proudly take home.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 4: DETOX: THE WORLD OF HERBS AND SPICES
Today you will learn how to find and collect herbs from nature, how to store them, and how to use them in medicine (teas, tinctures, oils). You will learn about lemon balm, thyme, St. John’s wort, and many more, and you will prepare your own herbal therapies for the following days of detox and aromatherapy. Later, you can start using your new skills to prepare dinner and make a healthy seed spread to pair with your fresh salad and Turlitava casserole.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 5: DETOX 2 – AROMATHERAPY
Learn how to make 100% natural cosmetics that you will take home with you. You will use only natural ingredients to prepare your face cream, face and body scrub, deodorant, toothpaste, and hair treatment. You will also learn how to experiment with aromatic herbs to create your own scent in the future. BBQ evening by the fire.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 6: DETOX 3 – IN THE MOUNTAINS
A spiritual detox day. After a morning meditation under the 600-year-old maple tree, take a relaxing hike in the mountains to the springs of the Babuna River, one of the cleanest rivers in the Balkans, which emerges from the rocks as a beautiful waterfall. We will have our picnic lunch here and a “water clean-up” meditation. On the way back, visit the village where the Bogomil movement started and hear the mystical story of their “Secret Book.”
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 7: LEAVE YOUR MARK
As much as you enjoy your countryside experience in Macedonia, we believe that leaving your positive impact on this place and its people will be inspirational and fulfilling both for you and the local inhabitants. Whether it is about protecting their natural resources or making the village a better place for living and receiving guests in the future, they will certainly appreciate your positive energy. We have developed a few volunteering activities for this last day that will depend on your physical condition and the length of your stay. Farewell dinner by the pool.
O/N in the homestead.
DAY 8: DEPARTURE
After breakfast, transfer to Skopje Airport for your flight home.
Included in the Price
Accommodation: 6 × homestead stays
Meals: 6 × breakfast, 5 × lunch, 6 × dinner
Local tourist guide in Skopje (Day 1)
Full escort and activities led by the host family and local guides
Transport by air-conditioned vehicle
Traditional welcome at the homestead
Guided village walk with meetings with local producers
Art workshop (Days 2 and 3)
Presentation and course on the use of natural herbs in medicine and cooking (Day 3)
Course: make your own 100% natural cosmetics (Day 4)
Hike to the Babuna River springs (Day 5)
Meditation and water clean-up activity (Day 5)
Organization and logistics for voluntary activities (Day 6)
Cooking classes as described (Days 2, 3, 4)
Full organization and logistics by Macedonia Travel
Not Included in the Price
Drinks during meals
Personal expenses not listed under “Included in the Price.”
