If you're planning to head into Greece today, arm yourself with patience. At the „Bogorodica" and „Dojran" crossings, columns have been building since the early morning hours, and the wait to leave the country runs at around 40 minutes on the Macedonian side, the Auto-Moto Association of Macedonia reports. And that's the good number - on the Greek side the backup is twice as long.

That this isn't some random jam, the figures make clear. From yesterday to noon today alone, over 6,100 Macedonian and nearly 16,000 foreign nationals left the country through „Bogorodica". At „Tabanovce", heading toward Serbia, the wait to enter is also around 40 minutes - more than 17,000 foreign travellers came through there in the same window. Summer on the Balkans has its own soundtrack, and it's the slow rev-and-idle of an engine stuck in a column.

From the „Dojran" crossing they explain that the critical days are no accident: besides weekends, the biggest crowds come on the so-called round dates - July 20, July 30, August 1, August 10 - when the shifts in package-tour arrangements change over. Advice from the people who watch the border every day: avoid the early morning hours and the stretch after 6 p.m., when people are heading back.

Travel along the state roads, otherwise, is moving smoothly on dry surfaces. But the AMSM has two reminders that summer makes easy to forget. First - on the stretches through the basins and gorges (Katlanovo-Veles, Mavrovo-Debar-Struga, Vinica-Berovo, Kočani-Delčevo) there's a risk of rockfall, so watch your speed. And second - until August 31 the summer regime is in force, banning heavy freight vehicles over 15 tonnes during weekends and in extreme heat, with restrictions Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday through the day.

So if you've already set off - leave early, turn on the AC and get ready to wait it out. And if you can shift the trip to Monday morning instead of Sunday afternoon, the border will thank you.