Gostivar

Gostivar (Macedonian: Гостивар) is a town in the Western North Macedonia. It is the second-largest city of the Polog region, beneath the Šar Mountain range. The Municipality of Gostivar has over 80,000 residents, of which under half live in the city of Gostivar.

Understand
Gostivar is in the Polog Valley in northwestern Macedonia, near Mavrovo National Park and the source of the Vardar River.

Gostivar is the seat of the fourth most populous municipality in Macedonia, with over 80,000 residents. The city has just over 35,000 residents, making it Polog's second-largest city after Tetovo. Gostivar is ethnically diverse with 47% of the population identifying as Albanian, one-third as Macedonian, 13% as Turkish, and the rest as Roma (Gypsy) or other.

By car
Gostivar lies on the main road Skopje-Gostivar-Kicevo highway. This road is smooth and nice but you have to pay a toll to drive on it.

By bus
Gostivar is well connected by bus to both to Skopje and Ohrid. Many of the Ohrid-Skopje buses travel this route.



By train
Macedonia Railways (MŽ) operate a daily service to and from Skopje (towards Kicevo). The Skopje-bound train leaves at 06.06, while the train from Skopje departs at 16.45. Unless you're an avid rail fan, the early start might not be worth it - though if you are, you might enjoy the aging rolling stock, witness the rare occasion of a single carriage being pulled by the locomotive.



Further afield
Vrutok is a village in which the source of Macedonia's most important river is found. It is on the slopes of Mount Bistra, and is home to several fish restaurants at the source of the Vardar. The village, southwest of Gostivar city, is home to over 1,100 residents.

Brodec is a mountain village in the west of Gostivar Municipality with the largest area of any village in Macedonia. While Brodec is nearly completely depopulated today, it has much traditional village architecture worth seeing, complemented by the mountainous scenery. It also features a monastery complex established in 2015 and a small waterfall.

Notable sites in other villages of the municipality include the below.

Vrapčište Municipality is north of Gostivar. It is primarily Albanian-populated with Turkish and ethnic Macedonian minorities.

Go next

 * Mavrovo National Park
 * Tetovo