Sunshine at Lake Ohrid! That was really one of the highlights of our trip to North Macedonia. The best day in Ohrid coincided with a failed excursion attempt. All resulting in us staying put for a day. Sometimes you just have to take your vacation and travel as it comes. Not planning too much ahead and you might have some great times. For me, it is usually really hard to stay still in one place. But Ohrid had enough for me to be satisfied, especially with this sunshine at the lake. And who can complain about the scenery in this part of Europe?
A Failed Excursion Attempt
We had initially planned to go on a day trip to Bitola, a city not too far away. It is actually the third largest city in North Macedonia, after Skopje and Kumanovo. On the morning of our third day away we actually walked to the bus station. No, it is not located near the center of Ohrid. We were quite surprised to discover that there were very few buses to Bitola, there were buses either very early in the morning or around lunchtime. None of these options worked with our plan for a day trip.
With a quite outrageous proposal from a taxi driver, we headed back to the center on foot. The taxi drivers in Ohrid seem in general to expect a price of two to three times the amount compared to their colleagues in Skopje. It would probably have been cheaper to order a taxi from Skopje to take us to Bitola, even with the cost of the extra drive. That was a bit surprising.
Sunshine at Lake Ohrid
Missing the opportunity to go to Bitola instead meant an amazing day in Ohrid. We discovered new paths along the waterfront as we made our way towards Kaneo and the Church of Saint John the Theologian. The waterfront promenade along the cliffs really was beautiful. This is a part of the town just below the castle, a bit to the west of the center. It doesn’t take a long walk in this direction to forget that there is a larger urban area just a short distance away.
With the high mountains around the lake, it is the scenery that makes this place special. But this is also one of the deepest lakes in Europe and it offered a nice breeze on a hot summer day. Across the lake, it is on a clear day possible to see the shores of Albania. The mountains in the east separate Lake Ohrid from Lake Prespa, another large lake that borders North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. The mountains in between the two large lakes include Galičica with its highest peak Magaro reaching 2,255 meters above the sea.
We actually even took the opportunity to swim at Kaneo Beach after lunch. Swimming is actually not something we tend to do. But in the end, it was needed on such a sunny and hot day. When the evening eventually came, we sat down for some dinner and a few drinks at the waterfront. We also met up with a local tour guide. It was our hope that we could find a good option for a day trip to Albania. Our meetup did eventually not result in any day trip due to a problem with her car. Instead, we did get a lot of inspiration and tips about the area. Equally valuable and it is, of course, also interesting to meet a local. That is something that we do way too rarely on our travels. So something to consider in the future as well.
Join us and read more about our Balkan adventure here: Summer in Macedonia 2023
