Camping Enigma

Wander around the Ottoman architecture of Vranje (10 minutes’ drive), including the Pašin Konak mansion and the Turkish hammam, as a warmup to longer tours of the impressive Kale-Krševica archaeological site (20 minutes), an old fortified Ancient Macedonian town stretching across four hectares of land. The Monastery of Venerable Prohor of Pčinja (40 minutes) is another architectural attraction to amble around, an 11th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery at the base of Mount Kozjak. Hike up to the area’s highest peak afterwards, the 1284-metre Virovi, or opt for a leisurely stroll around Vlasina Lake (an hour and five minutes) instead. This body of water is an attractive place for a walk – as well as being surrounded by pastureland and birch forests, the lake is sprinkled with naturally occurring peat floating islands. Explore the landscape (or brave the water), then make a break for North Macedonia’s border (35 minutes) to experience the customs and culture of another Balkan nation. The Katlanovo Thermal Bath, one of the country’s most renowned spas, makes an excellent stop-off (an hour). From here, it’s about 25 miles to Skopje, the nation’s capital, which is famed for having the Balkans’ biggest old bazaar.