Howdy all. As I moved along into Europe last year on my Dhaka to Dakar Adventure, I picked a spot for a full five day stop, having not had more than about three nights in any one place through Egypt and Türkiye. So I was looking for a chance to slow down a bit and so I decided to opt for the first Air BnB for the whole trip. I’d stuck to guesthouses and hotels until this point, but an Air BnB would give me the chance to have more space and cook for myself.

My previous experiences of Air BnB have been a mixed bag to be fair, and in general I have decided to stick with hotels the majority of the time. Later in the trip I would have a few more Air BnBs, and so I will go with an Air BnB when it is the logical choice, like it was in Skopje with five days ahead of me and not being taken by any of the hotel options I had found online.

Also, I paid I think it was $45AUD a night, and in the end I added a sixth night on so that kept the costs right down. Upon arrival at the bus station in Skopje, a city hard to reach if you’re not on a bus or have your own vehicle, my Air BnB host had the driver call her so that she could describe where to meet.

The location of the apartment was pretty central. Most things in the city were walkable from it although I should add that it’s a small city and most places are to some extent walkable, although the bus station is a hike from central Skopje and is best reached by taxi or local bus.

*** Please Note ALL photos of the apartment come from Air BnB.

The until was a little dated and a little warn, but really it was just perfect and so spacious. A decent view out the window of the city, I had two bedrooms, a large living space, and a good kitchen. The only negative was probably the bathroom. It wasn’t too small and had a bath, but there was an issue with the electric hot water, the tank housed next to the bathroom. Actually the issue didn’t just affect the bathroom, it also affected the kitchen when you needed hot water, and that’s because there was a shorting issue with the hot water. I needed to fully heat the hot water and then turn it off, otherwise I got a light ‘zap’ when the hot water ran and I put my hand under the water. This was explained when I checked in, it wasn’t a surprise that was waiting for me without warning, however this is obviously the sort of thing that probably should be fixed.

There was also a washing machine for clothes and a dishwasher (for dishes if it needs to be said) and across the road was a mall with a large supermarket on the ground floor which proved to be very useful.

When I got to Skopje I felt a cold coming on and by the end of that day I had a cold, and so the next couple of days I stayed mostly in the apartment watching videos on the TV and countless episodes of ‘Catfish’ and worked hard on the editing of my vlogs. I was super comfortable here. Despite the issue mentioned above this really was a great find, and it shows that in some parts of the world Air BnB’s can still be great and affordable options!

Andy’s Ratings :

Location: 4/5

Cleanliness: 3.5/5

Value for Money: 4.5/5

Noise: 3/5

Service/Friendliness: 4/5

Total: 19/25 [78/100]

Thanks for popping by! May the Journey Never End!