"Ohrid" a Ohrid Travel Page by Pijlmans

The fact that both the lake and the town of Ohrid are under the protection of UNESCO should say enough. The lake is one of the oldest in the world and the town itself is precious. The Galicica National park is around the corner.

Lake Ohrid has nice beaches, quiet ones and beaches with bars and music. The quiet beaches can be reached by foot (or buy or rent a bike, depending on how long you´re staying). For the more trendy beaches, take a cab and ask for the "Gradiste" beaches.

The main sights of Ohrid can be seen within a day. But remember, besides these few sites, Ohrid has a lot more churches and monasteries to offer. Several of them are in the tip section below. A convenient tour that takes you in a circle along the most interesting sites could be:

1) The statue of Kiril and Metodi in the centre of Ohrid near the lake, teachers of the Glagolitic script and and fathers of Slav literary culture. The Cyrillic script is named after Kiril (Cyril). On the square there is also a statue of their pupil, St Clement.

2) Follow the street next to the lake into the old town of Ohrid to the Church of St Sofia.

3) Walk up from St Sofia to the Roman Amphitheater near the Upper Gate.

4) See the late 13th-century church Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos and the Icon Gallery.

5) Visit Tsar Samoil's Fortress .

6) Walk down through the forest to St Clement´s Monastery Church, dedicated to saints Clement and Pantelejmon. This is a new and beautiful church, completed in 2002. It stands next to the ruins of the original St Clement´s monastery school at Plaosnik. Plaosnik now is a rapidly growing excavation site.

7) From there, descent to the Church of St Jovan at Kaneo, a breathtaking church on the cliffs above the lake. This church also features in the Milco Mancevski movie "Before the Rain".

8) Just below the entrance to St Jovan Church, the very small Cave Church St Bogorodica can be found next to a scenic willow tree in the water.

9) Back in the centre of Ohrid, on the Krusevska Republika Square, a fountain and a 900-year old plane tree can be found. The story goes that this hollow tree housed a barber´s shop and later a very small cafe.

After this, just wander off through the old part of town.

Struga, Kalista and Radozda are villages on the west shore of Lake Ohrid and Vevcani and Gorna Belica are located more land inwards.

On the east side of Lake Ohrid you can visit the villages Lescoec, Velestovo, Konjsko and Pestani. An interesting 6.5 km hike takes you from Ohrid to the villages Ramne and Velgosti.

Lake Prespa and its uninhabited island Golem Grad are on the other site of Galicica National Park.

See my travelogues below for 2 hikes near Ohrid!