Ohrid, North Macedonia, nestled on gorgeous Lake Ohrid was my primary destination for this Balkans trip. After an enjoyable one-night stay in Tirana, I was excited to get on the road to Ohrid.
Our driver, Edvin, picked us up promptly at noon at our Tirana hotel. I’d arranged an English-speaking driver via Daytrip.com for the 2.5 hour drive to Ohrid. David loves driving pretty much anywhere and I like being his navigator, but I opted against a rental car for a few reasons: notorious Albanian drivers and traffic cops, cross-border and potential one-way drop-off rental charges, and possible hassles crossing borders where we didn’t speak the language and where there have been local disputes. Super cheap buses and mini-vans were options, too, but we liked the idea of more comfort and more control over stops… and I read one report of fellow passengers with problems at the border causing delays for everyone else on a shared ride. No thank you.
Anyway, our drive went smoothly, Edvin spoke passable English, was very friendly and suggested a lovely stop at a restaurant beside a mountain river where he insisted we try rakia, the local eau de vie. The rakia made me shudder, but the setting was great.
(For the record, Edvin is only posing with my glass of rakia. He did not drink and drive.)
Picturesque Lake Ohrid straddles the border between Albania and North Macedonia and we got our first glimpse of it as we neared the Albanian-North Macedonian border. We remained in the car to cross the border which we did without incident, and without getting our passports stamped which made me wonder about potential issues when we left North Macedonia for Kosovo, but Edvin seemed unconcerned.
After less than an hour of driving past wooded countryside, small towns and orchards, we arrived at the upper gate which leads into Old Town Ohrid. A guard raised the boom allowing Edvin to enter when informed we were staying in Old Town. With both Edvin and I using Google Maps, he navigated the winding narrow streets down to lakeside Villa Lucija beside the small town beach. As Edvin stopped to unload us and our luggage, a woman appeared, loudly indicating that he couldn’t park there. We tried to make her understand what we were doing, that we were in front of our guesthouse, and that Edvin would move the car in a second if she would just go away. Albanian Edvin spoke only a little Macedonian and, of course we spoke none, but she finally left us in peace. Yeesh. It wasn’t an auspicious beginning, but after that first little misunderstanding, we met nothing but friendly, welcoming people during our time in Ohrid.
Our hostess, Lucija, turned out to be a cheerful delight. She lives on the ground floor of four-story Villa Lucija with a friendly white golden retriever. Our Room #7 was two flights of stairs up, on the same level as a communal kitchen. We had a large comfy bed, a sofa/bed, a seating area, a fridge, a modest but adequate shower room, and a balcony which faced the lake and the curve of Ohrid along its small port. We ate breakfast every morning on the spacious porch, lowering a wide awning to block the sun whenever we left. It’s hot in Ohrid in July, but that’s when the lake is most appealing. The powerful air conditioning in our room kept things nicely chilled, though, and a joy to return to after rambles away from the water.
We enjoyed lounging by the lake in the private area behind Lucija’s personal back terrace, but there’s also a lot to see in Ohrid. Ohrid boasts “365 churches, one for each day of the year.” I can’t verify that number, but we came across many tiny churches along the winding cobbled streets of Old Town Ohrid. In addition to those small churches, Ohrid is home to several larger churches and monasteries. Iconic St. Sophia Church sits a mere one minute walk from guesthouse Villa Lucija. St. Sophia is depicted on the 1000 Macedonian denar banknote and on the modern coat of arms of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. One of our evenings had us hiking up to the Church of St. John the Theologian (also “St. John at Kaneo”), perched on a point above the town overlooking the lake. A photo of this spot was one of those that got me planning this trip in the first place. [See lead photo above for my own similar photo.]
Getting to St. John the Theologian was half the fun: We walked along the Ohrid Boardwalk set above the water and running along the edge of a cliff to an area of restaurants, guesthouses and swimming areas to Restaurant Kaneo. We dined at a lakeside table at Kaneo Restaurant as the sun sank below the hills, enjoying pasta and fish and Macedonian wine and sharing tidbits with very polite cats. With plenty of light left in the summer sky, we continued our walk along the cliff base, past a pretty little waterside church before taking the rock paths and steps up the hill to the Church of St. John the Theologian. Sunset painted the western sky in shades of orange beyond the church and the still lake, a picture of serenity and beauty.
Another day, we walked up Old Town hills to an ancient Roman theater, then explored 9th century St. Clement’s Monastery of St. Paneleimon and adjacent Plaošnik archeological site. The rebuilt church was built by St. Clement, a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, on the foundation of an earlier Christian basilica, and dedicated to St. Paneleimon. The archeological site is still being excavated and rebuilt. A woman at the gate to the area offered to guide us and showed us a book she’d written on the site. The small book seemed impressively researched and was in English, but not wanting to get trapped into a longer-than-wanted tour, we opted to look around on our own. Since no one was manning the ticket booth, the guide told us to go on in. The church is pretty and similar to many we saw on this trip and the archeological site offered little in information, but we were good with that. Satisfied with our time, we continued on uphill to Ohrid Fortress whose ramparts rewarded us with great views of the lake, Ohrid, and the surrounding countryside.
We spent our evenings exploring old Ohrid: its small cobbled roads; wide, stone-paved pedestrian street Sveti Kliment Ohridski with its shops, restaurants and bustling crowds; the waterfront booths, restaurants and jetties. All over town, shops offer delicate Ohrid filigree silver jewelry. The style is lovely, but we couldn’t help but wonder how any of the many shops distinguish themselves or earn a living with so much competition. On Sveti Kliment Ohridski, quite a few shops offer designer labels and prices at a fraction of what they’d cost in Western Europe. We had to assume they were counterfeit and refrained from buying, but I have to say they looked surprisingly legit with heavy tags, correct logos and the like that are a far cry from some of the counterfeit I’ve come across in Asia. On two evenings, we stopped to watch costumed dancers on an open stage participating in an International Folk Festival.
We spent a wonderful day on a boat tour the length of Lake Ohrid to St. Naum’s Monastery and the St. Naum’s Springs (also known as Black Drim Springs). We stopped en route at Bay of Bones for a short visit at a reconstructed Iron Age overwater town and adjacent museum of Iron and Bronze Age artifacts found in Lake Ohrid. There are several larger boats as well as small private boats offering tours of the lake. We were super happy with our choice of Armada, a larger boat with its long cushioned bench-style seating along the edge of an open, shaded upper deck facing tables and reclined chairs. There was also a lower, enclosed deck which remained empty as everyone wanted to be outside. Still, there was plenty of room and extra seats. Cocktails were showy, delicious and well-priced. We looked with sympathy at passengers on other large boats we saw, crowded into rows of open deck chairs who couldn’t move about or lounge around as we could nor enjoy cocktails and snacks on their very own tables. I highly recommend this tour and will post details below in the Practical Info section.
We had three and a half hours at our final destination and David and I went straight for a private twenty-minute rowboat trip around the springs, an absolute highlight. The springs actually come from underground rivers connecting Lake Prespa to Lake Ohrid. The water that bubbles up beneath the surface and that runs down the green banks is so purely filtered that it is drinkable. We gazed through crystal clear water at green water plants surrounding white sand patches where springs made small “volcanoes.” Small diving ducks darted to hide in plants along the bank as our oarsman rowed us slowly through the nature preserve. We spotted a “wild chicken” on a small log. I trailed my fingers in the cold water, breathing in the clean water-and-greenery scented air, loving every minute.
We lunched at a large open-air spring-side restaurant where a cheerful young waitress explained local dishes and shared her preferences. A turtle roaming among the tables gobbled lettuce leaves I offered much to the delight of a little boy. Hunger abated, we walked up to clifftop Saint Naum’s Monastery. The ticket taker at the small church at the center of the monastery courtyard waved me away when I tried to pay. I’m not sure why, but there was no charge. Faded and damaged old frescoes covered the walls of first room of the church, but perfectly restored floor-to-ceiling paintings of the saints with gilded borders adorned the domed innermost chamber. Outside, the courtyard offered spectacular views of Lake Ohrid. We lingered there, watching cormorants diving far below, the glass-like water making for perfect viewing both above and below the surface.
The cool waters of the lake enticed us away from the monastery. A rented lakeside “bed” provided the perfect spot to lounge about and people watch between times in the crisp lake waters. Too soon, it was time to head back to Armada for the return journey to Ohrid. Oh well, we traded one good time for another with icy piña coladas on the boat and Ohrid waiting in the distance.
Practical info:
This was my first time using Daytrip.com and I was really happy with them. Their prices were competitive with Viator, etc. They were quick to respond to questions and resolve any concerns or problems. For example, they quickly supplied me with a form for a custom trip when they didn’t offer a stop that I wanted. They were also prompt to send me a payment link when I was unable to pay by credit card for one of our three transfers. All three drivers we had on the Balkan trip were prompt, professional and knowledgeable. The cars were clean and comfortable. Daytrip.com brokers drivers all over the world. From the conversation I had with one of our drivers, the drivers are happy with their service, too.
I booked Villa Lucija (also “House Lucija”) on Booking.com via Topcashback. It’s not elegant, but it’s very nice and the location is as good as it gets. (Both Edwin and the driver who picked us up were impressed.) We loved it.
I booked the boat ride on Armada on Booking.com via Topcashback. You can buy tickets on site from vendors who were pretty much always at the dock or on the Armada website, but it was just so easy, quick and secure to book on Booking.com and the 1200 lek (appx. €20) pp price was the same. (And I could do it in the air conditioned comfort of our room.) Our cruise to St. Naum’s left Ohrid at 10:15am and lasted about 8 hours. Armada offers other cruises as well, including sunset and mid-lake swimming cruises.
We enjoyed dinner at Kaneo Restaurant, but were really disappointed on another night with inedible shrimp and overcooked Ohrid trout at Restaurant Kajche. Kaijche is beautiful, so maybe other dishes or just drinks would be better.
Credit cards were accepted almost everywhere in Ohrid.
Ohrid is proud of its water quality. We brushed our teeth and drank tap water at Villa Lucija and had no problems.
