Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between Macedonia and Albania, and is (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The strikingly majestic mountains surround the crystal clear waters of Lake Ohrid, which boasts the title of Europe’s deepest and oldest lake. I visited Ohrid at the beginning of my trip through the Balkans, and 13 countries later, it remains truly unforgettable. Ohrid is easily reached by car from Tirana and Skopje, but it is easily accessible by public transport as well. My boyfriend and I took the bus from Tirana, Albania to Struga, Macedonia. Keep in mind the bus company will say the ride takes about three hours, but in reality it’s going to be closer to five when you take border control into account! The border crossing was very extensive, since apparently Albania is the country to go to for drugs. We saw no evidence of this in Tirana, but it was clear border control was very strict. We had to disembark the bus, go through passport control individually, board the bus again, only to pull into a large warehouse, where the entire bus (including the undercarriage) was searched. We all got our bags searched by an officer, and only then, were we allowed to enter into Macedonia. It all went very smoothly, but it was a process that took almost an hour! Struga is just inside the border of Macedonia, so we got dropped off in town at the bus station. From there you have two options: either take a taxi waiting outside the bus station to Ohrid, it’s about $10 USD for a 20 minute drive. The other option is a ten minute walk into the town, to get a mini-bus to Ohrid, which is cheaper with tickets being about $1. My boyfriend was in favor of taking the taxi because of sheer convenience, but my budget traveler sensibilities demanded we wander around town in search of the cheaper option. We tried to board the tiny bus, but found out they would only take MKD, so we had to find an ATM, then attempt to board a second time. We saved a few dollars, but if you’re not hard pressed for money then taking a taxi is much easier!
Rick and I are huge advocates of Airbnb, so we searched for some properties in Ohrid, and found the perfect spot! It’s amazingly affordable, and is literally ten steps away from the lake. We had a private two bedroom to ourselves, and enjoyed every moment. You can find their listing here! This meant that every day, multiple times a day, we ran out to the lake and happily leaped in. My boyfriend even bought a snorkel, so we explored the depths of the lake. Rick is an underwater adventurer, so he dove under multiple times to discover a wide variety of treasures including: an unopened bottle of vodka, a traffic cone with mollusks attached, and thirty cents in change. We’re rich now! Not to mention our incredible hosts, they truly went above and beyond by inviting us to spend the day with them. We spent the day hiking mountains, exploring monasteries, eating delicious pizza, swimming at a secluded beach and watching an international dance festival! Does it get any better than that? I think not. Details on this perfect day in Ohrid outside of the city center can be found soon in a future post.
Ohrid is a small town that acts like a city! Far from being a sleepy little place, it comes alive in the summer. Every evening there are people filling the streets of the old town with gelato or popcorn in hand, locals selling homemade cheese and pastries, live music from street musicians and bold performances on stage. Medieval churches, traditional houses with red roofs, monasteries and open air ruins can be found deep within the old town as narrow streets wind away from the main stretch. The seafood here is supposed to be some of the best in the region. Apparently Queen Elizabeth will only eat fish from Lake Ohrid, so clearly it has the Queen’s stamp of approval!
Samuel’s fortress dominates the skyline, standing watch over the city. It’s a very uphill walk to reach the fortress, but well worth the half an hour trek. On the way uphill, we saw the ancient amphitheater that hosts a wide variety of shows, unfortunately it was reserved for an event, so we weren’t able to see the performance, but it would be incredible to see. Samuel’s Fortress was once the former capital of the first Bulgarian Empire in the 10th century, but it was built on top of ruins that dated back to the 4th century. The ruins have a mystical quality to them, at sunset the sky burns in a fiery glow and illuminates the entire fortress. It’s strikingly beautiful, and the views overlooking the lake and the town below is not something that can be forgotten. The fortress closes at 1900h (7:00pm), but sometimes the guard will be stubborn and attempt to close it earlier so he can leave. Don’t back down though, and demand that he let you through! American stubbornness comes in handy here, and the sunset is well worth the rudeness. There are also a number of paths that wind through the hills beneath the fortress that are wonderful to explore, there’s weekly yoga sessions at sunset on these trails, along with a serene pebbled beach below that is usually very secluded.
Rick and I spent three days in Ohrid, while that was a good amount of time to see everything important – we agreed that we could have easily spent a week there exploring all the hiking trails, beautiful beaches and talking to the friendly locals! We were sad to go, but looked forward to our next adventure in Skopje. The adventure got off to a rough start when we discovered all the buses to Skopje from Ohrid were completely booked until late, late in the evening. However, a little bit of haggling later, we got a private, two-hour taxi to Skopje for about the same price of two bus tickets! Find out about the rest of our stay in Skopje, during the insanity of the World Cup 2017.
The adventure continues!
Lexi
