Matka Canyon & Wine Tasting at Chateau Kamnik w/ Pickup｜North Macedonia

Matka Canyon sits west of central Skopje and covers about 5,000 hectares of limestone, water and forest. The lake at its centre is the oldest artificial lake in North Macedonia, made when the Treska River was dammed in 1938. That is what you are looking at from the path.

The path itself is cut into the rock a few metres above the water. It is easy going and it never stops turning, so the view resets every hundred metres. Ten minutes along it you reach St Andrew, a small monastery founded around 1388 and tucked so far under the cliff you have to duck to get in. Your guide is from here and will tell you who built it and what happened to him. Around 20 percent of the plants growing on these slopes grow nowhere else, and 77 species of butterfly are native to the canyon.

Ten caves open off the canyon. The best known is Vrelo, reached by a short boat ride from the jetty, with two underwater lakes inside and a depth nobody has yet measured to the bottom. The boat is optional, paid on site, and runs only when the water allows.

On the shared afternoon the day changes register after the walk. A short drive up out of the valley brings you to Chateau Kamnik, a hunting lodge winery on the Skopje side of the hills with its vineyards running back down toward the city. You peacefully walk the estate, go down into the cellar, and sit for a guided tasting. Ask about vranec while you are there. It is the grape North Macedonia is known for and Kamnik was one of the first to take it seriously.

If you would rather skip the winery, book the canyon only option. No winery on that one, just the walk.