Riding the Airport Bus in Skopje

In some cities, public transport between the airport and city center is a simple, streamlined affair which is well marked and easily deciphered. Skopje is not one of those cities. The most common mode of airport transfer is a taxi, and when heading to the city there are several clearly marked “airport taxi” in white and black waiting in front of the airport. Our ride was 1500 MKD ($27 / €23.40), and after asking a few locals, this seemed to be an average price.

There is another option, which is the shuttle bus to and from the airport. It runs perhaps three to five times a day on an irregular schedule, and has pick ups at the Holiday Inn, the Main Bus station and Capitol Mall. The cost is 180 MKD per passenger ($3.24 / €2.93) paid in cash and preferably with small bills or exact change. The front desk at the Holiday Inn was helpful in showing us the location of the shuttle bus stop.

The bus picks up passengers from across the street of the Holiday Inn Skopje, and had arrived slightly earlier than its 11 am pick up time. The driver spoke sufficient English to handle the transaction. We piled onto the bus after loading our bags in the back. (There was no fee for the bags, sometimes in the Balkans there is a small fee of roughly €0.5 to €1 for large pieces of luggage).

The next stop is the South Western corner of the International Bus and Railway station underpass. According to the tickets and the schedule, there is also a pick up point at the Capitol Mall, but we did not stop there, I cannot say if it was due to the bus being full or if we simply passed it by and there were no waiting passengers.

The shuttle avoided toll roads most of the way to the airport, passing through residential areas on small streets. The total trip took around 45 minutes, was a safe and comfortable journey.

In order to take the bus to the city center, there is a ticket office in the airport near the car rental desks, where one can inquire as to the departure times.

Current departure times from Skopje Airport as of 18/3/22

Monday 00:20, 11:40, 13:00, 17:50, 20:30

Tuesday 1:00, 13:20, 17:40, 18:45

Wednesday 8:50, 12:30, 18:00

Thursday 00:15, 11:40, 13:00, 18:30, 20:30

Friday 00:25, 12:55, 18:40, 20:30

Saturday 01:10, 11:40, 13:10, 18:00, 20:20

Sunday 00:30, 11:40, 18:40

Current departure times from Holiday Inn Skopje to Skopje Airport as of 18/3/22

Monday 3:30, 8:30, 15:30, 17:20

Tuesday 3:30, 9:30, 15:00

Wednesday 3:30, 6:45, 11:00, 15:00

Thursday 3:30, 9:30, 12:00, 15:00, 17:45

Friday 3:30, 8:00, 10:00, 15:00, 17:54

Saturday 3:30, 8:00, 11:00, 15:00

Sunday 3:00, 8:00, 11:00, 15:00

You can find updated information for the bus here

All images copyright The Art of Vagary 2022; this is not a sponsored post. If this has been helpful to you and you wish to support us, please consider buying us a coffee by clicking the link below.