Lake Ohrid is the most visited area in North Macedonia and the hotspot for international tourism. Well that does not mean it is crowed. The international airport of Ohrid just offers 2-3 flights per day and it takes about 2hrs to fly there. We got a rental car directly at the airport. The streets are ok, and good (slow) to drive, but everything takes a bit longer. The town Ohrid itself is the highlight in the region/country. It has a beautiful old city with a castle on top of a hill. There is a mix of Turkish and Balkan tradition, which is very when it comes to food :). Highlight for me was the St. John Church at Kaneo sitting above the lake. The first day we had already had the perfect light and a rainbow above the St. John Church. The lake itself ist he oldest in Europe. There are 2 more attractions, one is Bay of Bones, an ancient reconstructed settlement on a wooden platform. Second highlight ist the St. Naum monastary just at the border to Albania. We also did a tour to the neigbouring Prespa Lake. A very calm, but beautiful area. The villiages were still in pre season sleeping mode. And a so called „lost place“ can also be found at the shores of lake Prespa – Hotel Evropa. Sadly there was a lot of destruction – mostly not by nature. But there are no fences and nothing, it is possible to enter and just visit everything and walk everywhere. Even a totally destroyed bowling alley can be found. One 90min drive took us to Bitola and the ancient city of Heraclea. Bitola has a nice walking street and an old Bazaar but no comparision to Ohrid. Galicica Nationalpark was also a highlight for me. The street winding down to Lake Ohrid was absolutley stunning.
Enjoy the pictures