"A wonderful find and great Euromeet." Bitola by planxty

Bitola Travel Guide: 244 reviews and 1,038 photos

It's all because of VT.

I visited Bitola in late May 2011 as part of the wonderful Euromeet so ably arranged by the redoubtable Valentina who deserves the greatest credit. She was supported by her friend, the other Valentina, a recent convert to VT who did so much of the groundwork when Valentina was out of the country. For ease of reference, I shall refer to them, as I did, as either V1 and V2 or Tina and Elvira. Have a look at V2's profile pic and you will understand.

The ladies are both from Bitola and are, justifiably, very proud of their hometown. I had visited Macedonia before and thoroughly enjoyed Skopje. I had a notion I would like to visit Ohrid some day but I doubt I would have ever discovered Bitola were it not for the VT meet, so another thing to be grateful to VT for. I also met a huge number of VT memebers and guests, some of whom I had been in contact with before and some not, and we generally had a great time.

After the rolling Euromeet to Bitola and Ohrid, some of us went on a food and drink tour, but all these things are subjects for other pages. I loved Bitola, it is big enough to be interesting but small enough that you can walk anywhere. I only got a taxi once and that was because Google maps had totally lost me. More of which later.

I realise that the reader will not have the opportunity to be involved in a Euromeet here and not have the benefit of so much local knowledge but I would thoroughly recommend the city as a a delightful place to visit. Have a look at some of my tips for more information about this wonderful city.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Easily accessible on foot, friendly people.
Cons:I believe it gets unbearably hot in summer.
In a nutshell:A wonderful place that should be more visited.

Last visit to Bitola: May 2011
Intro Updated Jun 30, 2011
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Reviews (9)

A fascinating museum. Things to Do (8)

As I have mentioned elsewhere VT Euromeets are wonderful fun and I recommend them but they do have one slight drawback... more travel advice

Heraclea site, Bitola, Macedonia. - Bitola

Visit the ancient site. Things to Do (8)

A short walk (and it really is) from central Bitola, there is a most impressive ancient site, that of Heraclea. Our... more travel advice

Always a market - or Bazaar. Things to Do (8)

Readers of other pages of mine on VT will know that I detest shopping but I love markets or bazaars as they tend to be... more travel advice

Jeni mosque. Things to Do (8)

OK, I am not going to beat about the bush here, and I do not want, in any way, to breach VT's very proper rules about... more travel advice

Hotels (1)
A wonderful find.

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Comments (3)

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planxty Jul 9, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Thanks for the wonderful comments and yes, Bitola is a tremendous place, it really needs a few days. Ohrid is beautiful but I would suggest perhaps three days in Bitola which really is one of the undiscovered gems of Europe. Thanks again for your very humbling comments, I only try to write as I find and it is tremendously touching to have someone read them and appreciate them. You will have a great time in Macedionia, it is a stunningly beautiful nation with the most lovely people. Yes, Tina is wonderful, isn't she? fergy.
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  MacedonianUK Sep 11, 2012 at 4:19 AM
  
  Oh, guys, thank you fot the prase.... I love Fergy pages in general and the ones of MKD particular. Extremly well written.. Hope both of you had great time visiting and will come back again. Fergy there are few winaries still waiting out attention!
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  planxty Sep 11, 2012 at 6:11 AM
  
  Hello again Tina, so many wineries (breweries, distilleries etc.) and so little time!
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pure1942 Jul 9, 2012 at 4:34 AM

Hi Fergy,
I was advised to visit your page by the wonderful Valentina (My personal travel agent to all things Macedonian). I will be arriving in Bitola tomorrow and I had initially planned to head straight to Ohrid but it appears that Bitola warrants much more attention than I initially gave it credit for. Thanks for sharing these informative, and more importantly, sensitively and personally written tips.
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johngayton Aug 4, 2011 at 7:08 AM

Nicely written Fergy.