Looking at the current weather in Europe experiencing major heatwaves, with storms, winds and floods in some places, I was thinking how weird the climate has become nowadays. I travelled to some of the Balkan countries during May this year and most of the days it was gloomy weather or raining pretty much the entire day. In the UK June was quite hot and dry, July was really wet and August is so far hanging between both.
Anyway coming back to my travel to the Balkan countries, I travelled mostly by train starting from Slovenia (a country I have been to previously) to Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia. I visited a lot of places in these countries during this Balkans trip but one of these places which stood out for me and I really enjoyed was Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia.
North Macedonia was the last country on my Balkans trip. This is where I spent the longest duration of my entire journey and I am really glad that I had planned it that way. There are many sights to cover in this country. I travelled to Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, then to the towns of Bitola, Heraclea and finally to Ohrid.
I was quite surprised to see tourists from far away countries like Honduras, Brazil, Philippines and many others in North Macedonia. The cities and sights were not over crowded so I could enjoy everything at a relaxed pace.
I thought of writing this month’s travel story about the last part of my Balkans journey in North Macedonia at Lake Ohrid. After having visited various cities next to huge lakes in mainland Europe, I was mesmerised by the beauty of Lake Ohrid, which is one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes. Every part of Ohrid city and Lake Ohrid is spectacular. If you have visited other cities near lakes in Europe like Lake Como or Lake Lucerne, I can tell Lake Ohrid will not disappoint you at all.
The wide curved promenade along the lake with mountains on both sides feels as if they are hugging the lake. It was a great place to enjoy both the sunrise and sunset. I stayed at one of the hotels along the promenade so could spend more relaxing time sitting on one of promenade benches enjoying nature. One end of the lake has huge reeds and many birds were perched on these. I am not much of a bird watcher, but I enjoyed watching them as the overall scenery made it totally worthwhile.
Lake Ohrid spreads across Albania and North Macedonia. Ohrid and Lake Ohrid are UNESCO Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites. For local sightseeing, first I took a 20 mins boat ride to the bottom of a hill side from where it was a short uphill hike to St Johns Macedonian Orthodox church situated on the cliff top. The views of Lake Ohrid and the city from up there is gorgeous and luckily the weather was perfect on the day of my visit.
A short walk from St Johns church is the ancient theatre of Ohrid which is the only Hellenistic styled theatre in North Macedonia. Built in 200 BC the theatre is located between two hills which kept its acoustics unaffected by the winds.
Continuing my walk, I passed the Old City Walls and reached the old town part of Ohrid. The narrow cobbled streets are lined with houses most of which are now protected buildings and listed as Cultural Heritage sites. Even the lampshades in the old town streets are uniquely designed.
The most famous of these houses is the Robevi House of the well known Robev family built in the traditional Ottoman Turkish house architecture style. Robevi House and many others Ohrid houses are now museums with displays of North Macedonian artefacts.
Also in the old town are many churches. I visited the Church of Saint Sophia which houses many arts from the medieval period. I even spotted a tortoise in the lush green gardens outside the church. There a beautiful model of the church inside a protective case outside the church.
From here my walk finally brought me to the lively city square which has multiple cafes, restaurants and shops selling everything from souvenirs to traditional items.
I ended my day by taking a walk along the promenade enjoying the sunset at Lake Ohrid. With beautiful memories of this place I continued my journey through the Balkans. I will write about the other places I visited during my Balkan journey hopefully in the near future.
HELPFUL HINTS:
- Though Ohrid has an airport, it is better to fly to Skopje, capital of North Macedonia and travel to Ohrid by bus or car.
- It is best to stay near the promenade as most hotels have balconies to enjoy the lake views.
- Ohrid is famous for it fish restaurants with dishes made using fresh fishes caught from the lake.
- Walking in Ohrid involves going up and down on slightly hilly terrains and cobbled streets so comfortable shoes are a must.
- Do try the delicious food from small bakeries. Fresh bread, savoury and sweet items are all tasty and quite filling.
- Macedonian Red wine made using Vranac grapes are well known and quite good.
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