Explore the Millennium Cross and Matka Canyon on this half-day tour from Skopje. Travel from the historic Skopje Fortress to Vodno Mountain with a guide, then take the cable car to the Millennium Cross — widely considered among Skopje top attractions. Explore the village of Gorno Nerezi and admire beautiful Byzantine frescoes in the Church of St Panteleimon. Head deep into the Matka Canyon — home to ancient caves and medieval monasteries — then travel in comfort to Porta Macedonia.

Half-day Skopje tour including the Millennium Cross and Matka Canyon
Travel from Skopje Fortress to Vodno Mountain with a guide
Take the cable car up to the Millennium Cross
Marvel at Byzantine frescoes at the Church of St Panteleimon in Gorno Nerezi
Explore the Matka Canyon

What's Included

Local English speaking guide
Transport by private vehicle
Cable-car ride to Millennium Cross

Hotel pick-up and drop-off
Meals and drinks
Entrance tickets
Optional boat ride on canyon Matka
Personal expenses
Tips and gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Parking Skopje Citadel
2C2M+V3P, Skopje 1000, North Macedonia
Parking is in front of the main entrance to the fortress. Marked as parking B10 (Parking Skopje Citadel on google maps)

Start time

01:00 pm

End point

Macedonia Gate
XCVJ+QXM, 11th October St., Skopje 1000, North Macedonia

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Instant Confirmation
Please arrive at least 5 minutes prior to the start of the tour
Tour operates rain or shine, hot or cold, year round.

Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

about cancellations.

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers’ questions.

Q:What is the policy on sanitisation during Half-Day Tour from Skopje: Millennium Cross and Matka Canyon?

A:The policies on sanitisation are:

Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Q:What measures are being taken to ensure staff health & safety during Half-Day Tour from Skopje: Millennium Cross and Matka Canyon?

A:The policies on staff health & safety are:

Guides required to regularly wash hands
Regular temperature checks for staff
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms

Traveller Photos

Traveller Tips

A lot is packed in four hours, you’ll get your money’s worth for sure!

Reviews

4.5

96 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 96 reviews

Lots of highs!

Yvar_v, Jul 2022

You'll see beautiful things here! It's very clear on what's included and what's not in the tour. The Matka Canyon was amazing and I definitely recommend doing the boat tour! The cross gives you a good view if the Cable Car is operational, but unfortunately not from all of Skopje but more of its surroundings. The vehicle was equipped with AC.

Matka is gorgeous!

Juan_M, Jun 2022

Excellent day trip. Included the church of Nerezi. Matka is fantastic. Van was full, though. AC could be better. Water included would be nice. Must do this tour to go to the Millennium Cross.

Great guide

Gulsen_K, Jun 2022

Great guide who was knowledgeable about Skopje. Sharing The history of the city in a fun way. Keep on doing great work

Great Experience

Diana_K, Jun 2021

The trip was wonderful. Riding the boat to the caves was enjoyable. A lot is packed in four hours, you’ll get your money’s worth for sure! Our guide Vangel was so knowledgeable about history and culture, all your questions will be answered!

Response from Host, Jul 2021

Thank you for the review!

Matka Canyon - a MUST!

Antoinette_F, May 2021

Perfect half day tour! Matka Canyon was amazing and glad we did it! Our guide Smile provided great service and we couldn’t have been happier!

Response from Host, Jul 2021

Thank you for the review!

Fantastic experience, especially the...

Mercy O, Apr 2018

Fantastic experience, especially the Matka canyon. The view to and in the cave was breathtaking. The guide was good and friendly. I will recommend that viator should be more specific with regards to the start time of the half day tour.

My wife and I took the half-day tour...

Mark_G, Apr 2018

My wife and I took the half-day tour at the end of March and very much enjoyed it. Our tour guide Michal was excellent and gave us plenty of information about the places we saw. We particularly enjoyed going up Vodno and seeing the views of Skopje and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. We felt the tour was a little rushed with only 20 mins on Vodno and 1 hour in Matka Canyon. However, it's a half-day tour so I guess we couldn't have expected much different. Overall, we'd recommend this tour as we did have a good time.

I went on this tour with a tour...

Amy S, Mar 2018

I went on this tour with a tour guide who spoke very good English and his knowledge of the area was impressive and very interesting. He explained everything very well and I enjoyed the trip very much. Definitely a highlight of my trip to Skopje. Thank you very much!

Great tour. Friendly and...

Steve K, Nov 2017

Great tour. Friendly and knowledgeable guide Martin and driver Orhan. Flexible and accommodating to the customers interest and preference. Opportunity to hire a canoe and paddle Matka Canyon.

The sights in itself weren't bad...

Andreas K, Oct 2017

The sights in itself weren't bad, and they're musts when in Skopje. Except maybe from the church, which seemed like a filler. But the Matka valley is so beautiful, as is the view from Vodno. However, our guide was pretty much phoning it in, seeming like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. He was accommodating and informative when I asked about the sights, however he didn't do anything to build a relaxing atmosphere, so it was hard to break the ice and connect with the other visitors. If you're going with others and don't mind spending a few extra bucks so you don't have to arrange going by public transportation, this trip might be worth it. But in retrospect I'd have preferred hooking up with other travelers at the free walking tour and simply splitting a taxi.

Excellent half day out. Stunning...

Matthew F, Sept 2017

Excellent half day out. Stunning view of Skopje from the Millennium Cross, and beautiful, dramatic scenery through the Matka Canyon. The boat ride through the canyon was a pleasure, and very relaxing!

Definitely a tour worth the money...

Amanda_N, Sept 2017

Definitely a tour worth the money! It's a shared tour, so if you are a solo-traveller, or duo/trio travellers, this is a good option to go on a tour that is also affordable, when you aren't a big group of people. The tour starts at 13:00 and ends around 17:30-18:00. The first part of the tour takes you to the beautiful Matka Canyon, where you have an hour of doing what you want e.g. swimming, canoeing, trekking or sailing in a boat. I did the latter option and we visited a big cave. Afterwards we drove to a mountain church and stopped for a bit, followed by the last stop of the day the Millennium Cross situated high above Skopje. We reached it with cable car and the view was astounding. The tour guide was really nice, knowledgable and good at answering additional questions. I can definitely recommend this tour!

1 traveler found this review helpful

A great little tour to get the know...

MM86, Sept 2017

A great little tour to get the know the surroundings of Skopje, the highlights being the visit to the Monastery of St. Panteleimon with beautiful fresco paintings, and above all a boat ride in Matka Canyon, which is just stunning. Our guide Martin was super friendly and knowledgeable and was able to give us good insight into how things are in Macedonia in general. Would recommend this to everyone.

Excellent tour with friendly and...

Fbgirl, Aug 2017

Excellent tour with friendly and knowledgeable host! The scenery and views were breathtakingly beautiful.

The tour was very pleasant. We were...

Joshua O, Aug 2017

The tour was very pleasant. We were with a nice little group of 3 people, we all 3 were solo traveling so from the start there was a nice vibe. The tour guide speaks very well English. In his stories he also included personal information which is great since you dont just get the details/facts but also extra information that cant be found on the internet. The tour guide lived all his live in Skopje. Mount vodno en the millenium cross is very amazing and gives a great view across the city. After it was visited a small museum where they showed the style of different houses in macedonia and we visited a very old orthodox church with amazing fresno's Matka Canyon is very beautifull. We did a boat ride through the canyon. Can highly recommend this tour.

This was such a great tour...

Nataniel W, Jun 2017

This was such a great tour. Definitely worth going. We met the mini-bus and tour guide at the meeting point. Our tour guide Kate was exceptional. She was very knowledgeable, warm and approachable. Would advise to wear flats or trainers and take a waterproof for boat ride.

What fantastic value! I was on my...

francesthom, Jun 2017

What fantastic value! I was on my own in Skopje do this was a great safe way to see a bit of the city and it's surrounds. Our group of 4 really hit it off, largely due to our guide Katie. Private car took us to the cable car up to the Millennium Cross and Canyon Matke and caves. Brilliant.

The tour was fully proffesional and...

MAREK K, May 2017

The tour was fully proffesional and guide was young eloquent man knowing much about history and culture of Macedonia. It was pleasure to listen to him. Organization was perfect and the car comfortable. There were just two of us taking part in this excursion so there was no crowd around.

This tour was absolutely amazing! We...

Daphne_R, May 2017

This tour was absolutely amazing! We were a big group of 14 and all of us extremely enjoyed this tour! Awesome experience! Our guide was the sweetest, and telling us so much about the different places we visited. Absolutely recommend without a doubt!!

Great to get out and explore the...

Sarah M, Mar 2017

Great to get out and explore the outer area of Skopje. Bad weather which hindered the experience a bit but unfortunately you can't control that at all. The guides were fantastic. There is also a full day tour available if I had of seen that on the website I definitely would have chosen that, not sure if this is actually available via the viator website but if it isn't then you should definitely think about including it.

Questions?

Product code: 14832P3

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