Skopje - Post Report Question and Answers
What kind of vehicle(s) including electric ones do you recommend bringing to post, given the terrain, infrastructure, availability of parts, burglary/carjacking risks, etc.? What kind of car or vehicles do you advise not to bring?
Small cars would be best unless you plan on doing a lot of hiking or skiing in the mountains and then something with AWD and a bit more clearance would help. We tried taking our Mazda CX-5 up into the mountain (Vodno) the first winter after a big snow to go sledding and got a bit stuck (as did everyone around us) so we ended up coming back down. If you just plan to drive in the city or some small road trips, my recommendation is a small, zippy car. Parking is a HUGE hassle in town so a small car helps. Outside of the city, road infrastructure can be bad, depends on where you're going. The highway to Kosovo and Greece are great; the one to Bulgaria is terrible and was under construction the entire two years we lived there. Additionally, they are building a new highway just outside the embassy and that area was also under construction the entire two years we were there. While you can get most things serviced here, European and Asian brands tend to be most common (Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, BMW, Volkswagon, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota). There was a Mazda dealership in town but when we had to get our windshield replaced (because a rock hit it while on that highway to BG), they had to get it shipped from the US since the car was US spec-ed, which meant a longer wait. We brought our own winter tires. I know some people have a prius and are very happy they brought it. - Jun 2023
