Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, 3 day trip from Korça

To Lake Ohrid

So we had been having a wonderful time in Albania and were sad to be leaving Korça just as we were starting to feel at home, but our accommodation was already booked so we had no choice but to continue.  The journey to Pogradec is quite short, about 40 kms which we did in under an hour.  Our guidebook doesn't give the town much of a write up, but we stopped for lunch at the restaurant on a platform in the lake. It really is quite spectacular and the food is very good although trying to decipher the menu is a challenge. The waiter invited us to go to the kitchen to see what was on offer.

Macedonia

From Pogradec we headed to the Macedonia border control.  There were only a couple of cars there so it took us about half an hour to buy the green card for the car and pass through passport control.  However before we got through a policeman waved us to pull over.  We nervously handed over our passports again but he asked for the car documents.  Then he beckoned over his colleague to study the documents. Eventually he asked, "What is this Tata car?"   We told him that it is an Indian company.  "They make cars in India?" he replied incredulously.  :-)  

Only a couple of kilometres into Macedonia, St Naum Monastery is signposted down a narrow lane.  We were amazed to find a bustling tourist resort with souvenir stalls selling everything from Ohrid pearl necklaces to Barcelona FC beach towels, hundreds of people milling about along the beach, a wedding party in the middle of their reception and lots of people heading for the monastery which is now a posh hotel.  

The lake in the grounds of  the monastery is really beautiful, as are the gardens where peacocks roam freely. We only visited the tiny church  which has some impressive frescoes but I believe you can visit the monastery also.  NB.  There aren't any ATMs here but euros are accepted pretty much everywhere in Macedonia.

From St Naum to Ohrid is 30kms but takes about an hour.  Ohrid is a much bigger town than we had imagined.  This is one of the failings of relying too much on Tripadvisor.  We knew all about the things to visit in Ohrid (lots) but not a lot of the town.  According to Wikipedia,  it is the 8th largest town in Macedonia with 42,000 inhabitants.  In July it must be thousands more as the town is jam-packed with tourists.  The compact old town consists of narrow streets of traditional houses, restaurants serving local specialities, a few souvenir shops and even a couple of art galleries and museums. All  very pleasant . There is a thrilling boardwalk built over the lake, starting from just down from St Sofia church around to Potpes beach where you can find some of the best restaurants.  The walk at night, in darkness, with the waves lapping around our feet was quite amazing. (NB Ohrid is in the mountains and can be cold at night.)

The main drag, the Boulevard of the Macedonian Educators, runs perpendicular to the promenade and is lined with boutiques, fast food joints, souvenir shops, bright lights and loud noise.  Here, from early evening, there are so many tourists wandering up and down the street that you can literally hardly move. It is like Oxford Street on Christmas Eve. It is very much a family resort though.  A word of caution, I am pretty sure that a man tried to pickpocket me here.  

We visited the Santa Sofia and San Jovan churches, both of which have frescoes, and did the steep climb to the castle which was well worth it for more great views.  

Macedonia is different from Albania.  You notice that there is more money, the towns are more modern and tidier.  You would think that we would have been relieved, but the contrary was the case.  

Bitola   - Heraclea Roman site
On day 2 we had planned to go to Lake Prespa to check out the beach there, however having noticed ominous black clouds heading our way, we opted for Heraclea, a Roman site just outside of Bitola, 73kms and about 90 mins drive.  What a good decision that was!  I love Roman mosaics and these were among the most spectacular mosaics I have seen.  Be sure to get there well before the closing time as there is a lot to see, not only the mosaics but also a well preserved amphitheatre. The site appears to be semi-abandoned though, it looks like they ran out of money before finishing the project.
Although there was a big storm and it rained cats and dogs, 

the clouds eventually passed and the sun came out so we decided to have a look at Stenje Beach on Lake Prespa.  Again we found ourselves on narrow country roads but with gorgeous views of the lake.  The long, semi sandy beach is in a spectacular setting, surround by mountains.  There is a trendy glass fronted beach bar which is perfect for an early evening drink.

We stayed in Apartment Damjan in Ohrid in the old town, which was great.

Conclusion

Ohrid has a lot of interesting things to visit if you like history, the Lake is beautiful, although more expensive than Albania, it is still a lot cheaper than western Europe.  If you like the bustle of busy tourist resorts,  you will love it.  English is not so widely spoken and the cyrillic alphabet complicates meal times if you want to eat in traditional restaurants, although not so in the many pizza and pasta joints.  We all enjoyed our short time in Macedonia, Hercalea being the highlight, but we missed the warmth of the Albanian people. And the Korçe beer.

In hindsight, I wish we hadn't booked all of our accommodation in advance.  Yes we got good value but it was too restrictive.

Have a look at my blog here for more destinations:  http://dawnsbag.blogspot.com.es/2017/08/vigo-jewel-of-green-spain.html


check out my other blog Dawn's Bag, in which I record my travels:
https://dawnsbag.blogspot.com/2019/07/road-trip-in-romania-2019.html