Today it’s time for another vacation rewind that answers the question: How much did my trip to Vienna and Macedonia cost? These posts tend to be some my most popular ones. Uh, have you ever Googled “cost of trip to Peru?” Maybe you should, if you like seeing pictures of me. So let’s do it again!
In 2014, one of my best high school friends got married to a girl from Macedonia. When he told me where she was from, I had to look this country up on a map, because that was the first I’d ever heard of it. Albania? Knew it. Bulgaria? Of course. Kosovo? Sure, I’ve heard of it, but do I know if that’s a, official country or some kind of region? No, I don’t. But I’d never even heard of Macedonia.
Macedonia is part of the former Yugoslavia, bordering countries like Greece and Albania, where this friend had worked for the Peace Corps. So when they got married, they had a U.S. wedding and a Macedonian wedding. And since this could be my one chance to go to Macedonia, I left Marge behind and made the trip solo! Sorry, Marge! Tell your office to increase their vacation time and you can join me on the next crazy jaunt!
The conversion to US Dollars was made back when I took the trip in August 2014 ($1 USD = 0.758 Euros or 46 Macedonian denars) and some cash expenses were rounded to the nearest dollar.
Total Cost = $1,021.83
Flights
| Flight | Retail Cost | Discount | My Cost |
| Newark to Skopje, Coach | $1,090.00 | 60,000 United Miles | $180.10 |
Empty Ljubljana Airport
Ever the travel hacker, I looked at all of the available options for flying into Skopje, where the wedding party would be meeting. It’s not easy to get to Skopje’s “Alexander The Great” Airport. Starting from a major U.S. hub, Newark, it takes at least three flights to get there. I wanted to use miles to buy the flight, and since Skopje is a little-used airport, there are only one or two airlines aligned with a major partnership flying into it. My only option was United miles because I had to use Star Alliance partners.
I eventually found flights that worked: Newark -> Zurich -> Llubjana -> Skopje. And then returning by Skopje -> Llubjana, -> Vienna -> Newark. I flew on United for the overseas flights, and Adria for European flights.
Vienna
In my search, that word stuck in my head. I’d been wanting to go Vienna ever since seeing The Third Man in high school. And it seemed to work as a transit destination for the return trip. I played with the United scheduler, and figured out that I could have a stopover in Vienna for three days and use no extra miles! Hence, the second part of my trip. I planned to stay in Vienna by myself!
Marge was able to put her jealousy aside and allowed me this chance to add a few more days to this extravagant, but very cheap, trip. As you can see, it cost about $180 total, which is all fees and taxes. Every airport you fly into charges you one or two fees. So since this required two stopovers in each direction, this cost was actually higher than I anticipated.
Accommodations
Room in Ohrid
| Hotel | Nights | Retail Cost Per Night | Total Retail Cost | My Cost |
| Holiday Inn, Skopje | 3 | $168.00 | $504.00 | $120.00 |
| Private home, Ohrid | 2 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 |
| Hilton Plaza, Vienna | 3 | $353.00 | $1,059.00 | $234.02 |
| Total | 8 | $1,603.00 | $394.00 | |
| Per Night Cost | $49.25 |
Skopje
My trip was a total of eight nights. The first five in Macedonia, and the last three in Venice. In Vienna and, incredibly enough, in Skopje, I was able to use hotel points to stay for close to free. Sure, staying at the Holiday Inn in Skopje might not have been the most authentic experience, and might even seem pretty dorky. But it was centrally located, and given the bizarre, dropped-from-outer-space quality to the neighboring government buildings in Skopje, the Holiday Inn might have been the most appropriate place to stay.
Yugo in Ohrid
The wedding party went to the town of Ohrid on Lake Ohrid for two days. Ohrid is a very popular place for Macedonians on holiday, kind of a resort town resembling what you’d see in Greece. My friend’s bride-to-be, one of the few Macedonian speakers in the group, arranged places for everyone to stay. There are hotels in Ohrid, but we stayed in sopas. I saw this word outside the home I was staying in, so if you asked I might be telling you I stayed in a place called Sopa. But apparently this is just the term for “room for rent”
My place was just a spare bed in a room upstairs in a family’s house with a communal bathroom, although no one else was staying there so I had it to myself. And yes, it was just $20 a night American. With a beautiful view of the lake, as you can imagine, this was the best bargain of the whole trip! I would bring some breakfast and coffee up onto my private balcony, get on the laptop and write to Marge about all the stuff she was missing out on. Ain’t I sweet?
Presently, $1 = 55 Denars. This is $108.
Ohrid is not an easy place to reach, after such a long flight to Skopje, you then need a three hour drive, but damn if it isn’t an affordable getaway. That’s mostly because Macedonia’s economy is in the crapper. There are few good jobs to entice young people to stick around. But with prices suppressed, you can live very well in Macedonia with a little bit of money.
On the other hand, Vienna is a world-class city with the expected price tag. I knew I would have to use hotel points if I wanted to stay anywhere in central Vienna. So I used 60,000 Hilton points to discount a three-night stay from $1,059 down to $201 using their Miles + Dollars option. (1.53 cents per point for those interested)
The Hilton was the typical high-class experience you’d expect. Double sinks in the bathrooms, incredible bed. What I found most helpful, though, was the complimentary umbrellas since it rained for all three days!
Transportation
| Cost | Miles Covered | |
| Taxi, Skopje Airport to hotel | $20.00 | 15 miles |
| Taxi, Skopje, hotel to bus station | $3.00 | 1 mile |
| Bus, Skopje to Ohrid | $10.00 | 107 miles |
| Bus with A/C, Ohrid to Skopje | $15.00 | 107 miles |
| Taxi, hotel to Skopje Airport | $10.00 | 15 miles |
| Train, Vienna Airport to city | $5.27 | 11 miles |
| Trams, Vienna, 72 hour ticket | $16.00 | 10 miles |
| Train, city to Vienna Airport | $5.27 | 11 miles |
| Total | $84.54 | 277 miles |
| Avg Cost Per Mile | 30.5 cents | |
| Avg Cost Per Mile (Macedonia) | 23.6 cents | |
| Avg Cost Per Mile (Vienna) | 83 cents |
Like in Peru, public transportation was hard to come by. We mostly used taxis and “buses,” large vans that moved from city to city. And like Peru’s collectivos, the bus/large van that drove us across Macedonia was very cost effective. And ultimately almost the same cost: 9.3 cents per mile vs 8.3 cents per mile.
It was worth it, but it was a mistake taking that one taxi from the hotel to the bus station. It wasn’t that far away. But, you know, I’m in a foreign country. It’s hard to tell where things are. With my backpack and pull-luggage, I could’ve walked the mile, but instead I was in a cab with a driver who really wanted to drive me and my friends all the way to Ohrid. It’s tough to tell someone “no, we have a hired bus already” with such a language barrier.
I split the later taxi going to the airport with someone else from the wedding party who was actually on the same flight out. So we split the fare. I paid with my final Macedonian dinars, and Daniel paid me back in Euros, which was super helpful for me since I was heading to Vienna next and I then I could have some cash to get started. I rode in a few other taxis with some wedding friends and didn’t actually pay my fair share. Shame on me! But how much would that have been anyway? A dollar?
Transportation around Vienna was significantly more expensive. But the public transportation system was everything I dream of, much like Switzerland. Trains running on time down to the second. Cute trams going down the streets.
I took a train from the airport to the city. At the Vienna airport, the CAT (City Airport Train) is so heavily advertised, you could wrongly assume this is the only train heading into the city center. Truth is, there is a normal train line, the S7, which costs 4 euros and takes 26 minutes. The CAT costs 11 euros and takes 16 minutes. So it cost almost three times as much and only saves you ten minutes! Someone has to pay for that advertising, I guess. I took the S7 instead.
Then I bought a 72 hours pass to ride trams around Vienna. I actually didn’t get enough use out of the tram pass since most places I wanted to go where within walking distance. I did use it to go to the Prater amusement park so I could ride the ferris wheel… just like Orson Wells in The Third Man.
Food
| Cost | |
| “Bunu”? Burger, Skopje | $3.00 |
| Ice Cream Cone, Skopje | $1.00 |
| Swiss Bakery, Skopje | $2.00 |
| Via Sacre Pizza, Ohrid | $10.00 |
| Bake & Cake, Ohrid | $2.00 |
| Fish Restaurant, Ohrid | $12.00 |
| Swiss Bakery, Skopje | $4.00 |
| Matka Canyon Cafe, Skopje | $12.00 |
| Other various meals, Macedonia | $20.00 |
| Apfelkuchen from a tram stop, Vienna | $3.00 |
| Der Mann, Vienna | $4.00 |
| Bitzinger, Vienna | $10.00 |
| Schonbrunn Cafe, Vienna | $10.00 |
| Trzesniewski, 2 trips | $16.00 |
| Knockwurst and Ottarkringer, Vienna | $6.00 |
| Various Desserts & Breakfasts, Vienna | $15.00 |
| Total | $130.00 |
| Cost Per Day, Macedonia | $13.20 |
| Cost Per Day, Vienna | $21.33 |
| Cost Per Day, Overall | $16.25 |
Thanks to airplane food and my free United Club pass, I was able to not spend any money on food during the 24 hour journey from Newark to Skopje. But once I did arrive in Skopje, things got dire. I couldn’t read any signs. Pathetically, I usually do little or no language preparation for these international trips.
Usually I can survive and stumble through cities well enough through a combination of English signage and a basic relatable foreign words. But in Macedonia, everything is in Cyrillic. Which may as well be an alien language. I’ve never felt so utterly uncomprehending as I did walking through Skopje. I managed (poorly) to order a burger at what I ascertain to be a chain restaurant. although I couldn’t read the sign.
What I am calling a “burger” was actually a hamburger in a pita stuffed with all manner of things, including french fries. I’m not sure what you call this, Most days in Macedonia, for breakfast, I would find a bakery and just point at what looked good. This worked well enough. There is a very popular filled pastry called a burek which might come with cheese, meat, or fruit inside, and seemed to sell for around 30-50 cents. Add a beverage to that and you are all set for breakfast.
A decent lunch or dinner in Macedonia could be had for $5.00, but we usually ended up at nicer and/or touristy places. After a boat ride across Lake Ohrid, we ate at a lakeside restaurant and had the local fish delicacy. While waiting for the food, you could take a dip in the water. Add the local favorite salad (shopska) and a local beer (Skopsko) and it still came out to about $12.00.
In Vienna, food was noticeably more expensive, which is to be expected. Since I was all on my own, I mostly ate at food carts and got takeaway. One big exception was Trzesniewski a rather famous open-face sandwich restaurant.
This place was right up my alley. There is a huge array of slices of bread with different topping smeared on top. Vegetables, smoked fish, onions, hard-boiled eggs. If you get these with a “pfiff” of beer, a tiny little glass mug, you pretty much have my ideal lunch. You stand at a counter to eat it.
My most proud food moment was using my little German to order “ein Apfelkuchen bitte.” An apple cake for dessert. Although when the guy replied in more impenetrable German, I had to admit that I had just used about 50% of my German vocabulary to tell him about the apple cake. He repeated in English, “Takeaway?” Let that be a lesson. Never confidently start a conversation in another language if you can’t sustain it past one sentence.
“Look down there. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?”
Recreation
| Activity | Cost |
| Ohrid Fortress | $0.60 |
| Lake Ohrid Boat Cruise | $7.00 |
| Bay of the Bones, Ohrid | $2.00 |
| Various Lake Ohrid Churches | $7.00 |
| Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna | $19.06 |
| Schonbrunn Carriage Museum | $8.00 |
| Kaisergruft, Vienna | $7.00 |
| Falschermuseum (Art Fakes Museum), Vienna | $6.00 |
| Praeter Risengrad, Vienna | $10.00 |
| Austrian National Library | $8.00 |
| Total | $74.66 |
Again, entertaining yourself in Macedonia is much cheaper than in Vienna, arguably one of the cultural capitals of the world. I visited a good number of museums in Vienna and still have a list of another dozen for the next time I visit.
Macedonia’s Ohrid Fortress overlooks the city from its strategic vantage point. It is mostly in ruins with some poorly done concrete refurbishments. Mostly I was annoyed that there was barely any information, English, Macedonian or otherwise, so I had no idea what I was looking at. But for an entry fee of less than a dollar, what do you expect?
The other side of Lake Ohrid was more interesting. We took a boat cruise across the lake (something like $7.00 a person) and checked out a few very old churches and something called the Bay of the Bones, a recreated village built on stilts over the water. And wherever we were, swimming in the lake was free.
Also free was the throat-charring bootleg liquor, called rakia, which my friend poured from a re-used dish soap bottle into tiny boot-shaped glasses that the skipper on the boat washed by sticking them into the lake.
I also went on a hike with some new European wedding friends at Matka Canyon, which is quite near Skopje. I believe that was free, although we chowed down at the overpriced cafe. Overpriced by Skopje standards, but very worth it. This is where I questioned what I should get with my salad, and one of my companions said, according to the menu, “But that salad weighs 500 grams!” Sorry, guy. I guess in America we don’t weigh our salads. But indeed it was huge.
The main entertainment in Macedonia, of course, was the wedding. There was an odd band playing traditional and non-traditional music, great food, and lots of dancing. Much of it like this.
Oh, and the president was there. Yes, the president of Macedonia. I went to a wedding with the president of Macedonia. That’s a picture of him watching on as my friend bumbles his way through reading his vows in Macedonian. I won’t say more about it, except that I’m glad that I can say I’ve been to a wedding “with the president.”
I was completely on my own in Vienna. No offense to Marge or anything, but being all on my own was very freeing. No discussion about where to go or when. I made up my plan and just did it. Instead of going to one of the huge art museums, I visited the Art Fakes museum. I am fascinated by hoaxes and was already familiar with some of the more accomplished art hoaxers, but had never seen their work in person… or have I??
Greenhouse at the Schonbrunn Palace
I took a short train ride to Schonbrunn Palace and took the tour. I’ve never been to Versailles, but I assume it’s about on the same level as Schonbrunn. The interior rooms are extravagant, but the gardens outside might’ve been even better. And they were free! I also visited the Carriage Museum on the grounds, which I highly recommend. It was another eight dollars, but you’ve never seen anything like these carriages.
Because I’m morbid, I also took in the Kaisergruft, or Imperial Crypt. All of the important rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are here, buried in extremely ornate and creepy tombs. I went to the Austrian National Library which was having an exhibit on World War I. Lots of great propaganda and ephemera on display there.
And no frugal tourist’s tour of Vienna would be complete without taking in the daily free organ concert at Peterskirche, another ornate work of art, right in central Vienna.
Other Miscellaneous/Gifts
| Photo from Wedding | $3.00 |
| Four Serbian/Macedonian CDs | $22.00 |
| Uncategorized Macedonian Expenses | $35.56 |
| Uncategorized Austrian Expenses | $97.97 |
| Total | $158.53 |
When you walk into the wedding reception, you get your photo taken with the bride and groom, kind of like meeting the president I guess. But then during dinner, the photographer walks around and tries to sell you a print of your photo, kind of like on a cruise ship! It was only a few dollars, so of course I bought mine.
I bought several CDs for Marge’s father who is really into Eastern European folk music. At first I mistakenly bought two Serbian CDs, so I kept those for myself and got two Macedonian CDs later. They weren’t super cheap, either, but I guess when you’re paying $20 a night for your room, you’re more likely to spend money elsewhere.
I know I missed accounting for a few things, since I took more out of ATMs than what I had recorded as spending, so I’m just going to mark that down as Miscellaneous above.
Summary
I calculated the total cost of my trip to be $1,021. That is a little bit more than I expected to pay, being that it is a little more than half of the cost of our trips to Japan, Switzerland, and Peru ($2,052, $1,821, and $1,711 respectively). I suppose that’s because, doing a solo trip, hotel rooms don’t cost half as much like transportation, food and recreation do. Much like our other trips, it probably could’ve been done cheaper by eating in, and, well, not taking in any of the sights in Vienna, which would be a tragedy. I don’t know how much cheaper you can get than the $49.25 average hotel night. Probably not much.