Customer Reviews

Macedonia: The Bradt Travel Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first set out to my assignment in Macedonia, I went off to bookstores to get a book on the country. To no avail. Yes, there were a couple of pages in some regional guides but nothing that gave a full overview of the countrry and all the hidden treasures there is to see here. Also it gives a good overview of the fascinating history of this part of the world. I am sure the book will find a rich audience of all internationals in the country that are not acquainted with and hardly travels outside the Skopje and Ohrid axis. Now their eyes have been opened. It should also find audiences of those who have never been to this country and want to find hidden treasures outside the regular paths of tourism.

This is a useful guide to Macedonia, clearly written by someone with an enthusiasm and love for the country, which is to be applauded. However, while the writer is extremely helpful about places to visit and mountains to climb, and so on, she does little to conceal her own prejudices. In places there are unfortunate assertions (about certain groups) that do little to dispel myth and stereotype, and do not help to promote reconciliation and understanding. This is probably unintentional and written in all innocence, but as the guide purports to support responsible tourism, it could perhaps be written with a greater degree of sensitivity, given the well known tensions and history of conflict in the country. Read carefully, with a large pinch of salt!

Good and useful. Certainly worth the cost if you think of travelling to Macedonia. Without this guide you would miss a lot of interesting items, because the respective information offices in Macedonia are not yet up to standard and you could meet a languageproblem.

I used this book on a recent trip to Macedonia and found it to be a great resource. Even the Macedonians I was visiting were reading it and thought it was excellent. If you are going to Macedonia, this is one of the few resources available and, thankfully, it is a great one!

There isn't a lot available on travel to Macedonia, to say the least! This books offers a fantastic start to a country worth discovering. The author gives helpful and important background information as well as valuable history.
If you are considering a trip to the balkans, make time for Macedonia! (and pick up a copy of this book first!)

i have been to macedonia many times and until i read this i thought i had seen everything next time i go i would have with this guide

I absolutely loved this guide; even though I have traveled through Macedonia many times there were a lot of little useful details and insights Thammy offers in her book. I would recommend the book to anyone traveling to Macedonia even travelers returnees.

This book is amazing. I can't praise it enough, I really can't. It's already difficult finding anything on Macedonia at all however, this book is definitely an applauded effort. It has been beautifully written. I just got back from Macedonia after having spent three whole months there (I initially intended on staying for no longer than one month). I bought this book prior to traveling there. I had it in my hands the whole entire time. I carried it religiously. Had I not, I would have missed out on some truly spectacular scenery and interesting history. It is difficult to obtain much information from the local people there about places to see in the country because not many/hardly any of them have set foot outside their town or village and many do not speak very much English unless you're in the capital city or in one of the larger towns. Hence, this guide is essential. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone intending on traveling to Macedonia and to anyone who is interested in learning more about the country. This guide is definitely for you. This country is beautiful and this guide will allow you to explore its many hidden treasures. Oh, at the back of it there is also basic Macedonian and basic Albanian (there is a large percentage of Albanians in the larger towns) words and phrases as well as numbers and the alphabet. Congratulations to you Thammy on doing such a fine job.

The Bradt guides do a masterful job of presenting travel options to little-traveled countries of the world, and this guide to Macedonia is no exception. I used the book during a recent trip to Skopje, and was delighted to find it both accurate and insightful. Important sites are explained in detail, which is fortunate give the lack of signage at the sites themselves. The walking guides to the city were bang on the mark, and the breakdown of restaurants etc was extremely useful to this first-time visitor. I would rate this excellent guidebook a must-have for anyone planning a trip to Macedonia!

This book is useless. Do not buy it if you want to use it at as a travel guide and learn to speak the language. The majority of the population in Macedonia speaks Macedonian and this book offers phrases,and language expressions on Albanian instead of Macedonian. The Albanian language is not spoken in Macedonia except by some groups of ethnic Albanians who live in Macedonia. If you try to talk to someone and use this book as a guide it will not help you at all because the majority of the Macedonians speak the Macedonian language only which is much different than the Macedonian.