Lake Ohrid — Attraction in Municipality of Ohrid

Honestly, went there this year late august/early september because serbia/macedonia border had no restrictions pass, otherwise id probably went to croatia or somewhere seaside. How glad i am that didnt happen. For 10 days i tried to find any reason why i should enjoy sea more that ohrid lake, and, honestly, i couldnt find a single one. It has everything. First of all, lake is huge. Its around 400 km sq, so you have same feeling like when visiting a big bay, you can see the shore far away in the distance, and you deffinitely have that open water sensation. Water is the clearest i have ever seen, anywhere, river, lake or sea, and i have seen my fair share of them all. It cant be described with words, and pictures dont do it justice either. All i can say is, youll be surprised how clean it is, no matter what you expect. There are lots of beaches. There is plenty of room as well since there are beaches throughout whole shoreline. Ill admit, it helps we visited near the end of a season, but i cant see beaches here being too crowded anytime, even july. That being said, there are a couple of small city beaches that we probably got to enjoy much more than we would had we come in peak of the season. Regardless, whether you like sand or rocky beaches, towel or beach chair, youll have your pick. Nature is also amazing, there is a national park we sadly didnt have time to explore enough, but for me, small forest near old town was enough to take my breath away. Speaking of old town, i usually find these dissapointing almost anywhere i go. Not this time. It really is a place where people live. Apart from one district where pretty much all shops are located, the rest is just beautiful, authentic houses. Some of them you can rent (whole or a room), but they all make you feel like this old town is a real place, not something put together for mass tourism, designed to get money from you. Also, im not religious, so i dont spend much time of my sightseeing on churches, but there are a few that are real gems. Especially st jovan kaneo. My 2nd favorite moment was swimming alone at 9am in cristal clear water, raising my head and seeing that church on the edge of the clif. Breathtaking. Favorite was spring of crni drim river, but thats all ill say, this needs to be experienced first person without spoilers. All in all if your idea of vacation is active one, that includes activities like swimming, hiking, sightseeing, and straightup enjoying on the beach, then all i can say is, you have to visit ohrid. Trust me, you...

Lake Ohrid is a pleasant lake that aside from being big and blue is surrounded by scenic mountains, something that always is a plus in my book.

When I was there, during a heat wave in July, the water was pleasant to swim in. Aspiring swimmers might find it useful to know that algae and mud are abundant along the shores. This does not prevent bathing/swimming in any way, shape or form - but it is good to remove expectations of fine-grained sandy ocean beaches before arriving at Ohrid.

The principal town of Ohrid, has a feel that is not dissimilar to that of resort towns on Spanish islands. Sprawling restaurants and boat ride companies along the sea-front and busy shopping streets further inland. That is probably a good thing for most, for people seem to love those places.

Walking westwards from the centre one finds two of the major Macedonian postcards; the Ohrid boardwalk and the Church of St John the Theologian. Both of these are worth seeing. The fortress on the top is, if possible, even less impressive on the inside than on the outside and can in my view be skipped without fear of remorse.

I stayed on the eastern shore, some 10 km south of Ohrid town, and would do so again, as I have a strong unlove for tourist towns, despite or perhaps because I'm conscious of being a tourist myself.

The eastern shore was also convenient for several mountain walks starting from the lakeshore - or from the mountain pass between Lake Ohrid and...

Lake Ohrid (Macedonian: Охридско Езеро Ohridsko Ezero [ˈɔxridzkɔ ˈɛzɛrɔ] is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species.

North Macedonia's side of Lake Ohrid was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979, with the site being extended to also include the cultural and historic area of Ohrid in 1980. In 2010, NASA named one of Titan's lakes after it. In 2014, the Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Reserve between Albania and North Macedonia was added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.Albania's side of Lake Ohrid was also designated UNESCO world heritage status in 2019. North Macedonia's portion was designated as a protected Ramsar site in 2021, passing all nine criteria for...