This hike of 10 km with 675 m ascent on Mount Vodno near Skopje was surprisingly nice because it mainly uses attractive narrow forest trails. There are some good views of Skopje during the hike.
The hike starts at a free parking alongside the road to Middle Vodno (Sredno Vodno). An alternative start is the parking at Middle Vodno, however at Middle Vodno you have to pay for parking.
The cable cars to the Millennium Cross on top of Mount Vodno also start at Middle Vodno, in case you want to save yourself most of the climbing. Note that the cable cars do not operate on Mondays and the last Tuesday of the month (see timetable at http://zicnica.jsp.com.mk/).
We did this hike on the last Tuesday of August 2022, so the cable car was not running. This probably contributed to our very positive experience of this hike, because it was really quiet on Mount Vodno since the cable cars were closed. It’s probably better to avoid weekends on Mount Vodno because it can get crowded.
From the free parking the trail goes to Middle Vodno, from where you climb for a bit more than 2 km and about 500 m ascent to the Millennium Cross.
The coffee bar and mountain house on top of Vodno near the Millennium Cross were also closed on this quiet last Tuesday of the month.
A few hundred meters from the Millennium Cross a new huge building was under construction. This monstrosity is going to be the Antenna Tower of the Agency for Electronic Communication, which will be the tallest building in Macedonia with its 155 meters. The tower will be twice the height of the Millennium Cross.
From the Millennium Cross you walk downhill until you reach the site Markovi Kuli (Marko’s Towers) also called Markovo Kruvce (Marko’s Pear), where there is a picnic area and where you can see the ruins of the old fortress “Marko’s Towers”. Remains of settlements from the Late Antiquity (4-6th century) and Middle Ages (10-14th century) have been found here. Allegedly, the ruins that you can see today are from the 10th century fortress that was built on the foundations of the 4th century fortifications. You can find some extra information about the fortress here.
This pleasant hike gets 4 out of 5 stars because the trail is nice and it takes you to the famous Millennium Cross as well as the less well known ruins of the Markovi Kuli fortress.
You can view and download the GPS track of this hike here: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/vodno-middle-vodno-millennium-cross-markos-towers-117151872
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