Travel to Ohrid

When I first visited North Macedonia, local friends all recommended to travel to Ohrid, the lakeside town to the west. However, I did not have time during my first two trips. The roads are not great so it was a little to far. Luckily, for our trip in May 2023, we were able to start in Ohrid and make our way through North Macedonia to Skopje over five days.

There were more tourists than expected and many school groups in the small town. The lake is beautiful and large enough that it’s hard to see all of the edges. Half of it is in North Macedonia, and the other half in Albania. There are very tasty trout in the lake, and most of the local restaurants serve it.

During our one day stay, we did a lot of walking through the old town and up the hill. We saw many churches and read online that there are at least 365, one for every day of the year. The fortress at the top of the hill is worth the climb and has beautiful views in every direction.

Next time I travel to Ohrid, I would like to visit the Monastery Winery, located in the hills just outside of town. I tried some of their wine at Wine Berry and it was great!

Highlights

Lake Ohrid – nice path to walk along it including a boardwalk
Boat trips on the lake
Ohrid Fortress
Old city walls
Old Town
Green market
Homemade gjomleze, layered cake/bread
Pantaleimon Monastery
Ohrid Amphitheatre
Church of Saint John the Theologian
Church of Saint Sophia
Beach Potpesh
Statues and monuments near the lake shore and throughout the town
Chinar Tree
Mosque of Ali Pasha
National Paper Workshop
Robev Family House
Hristo Uzunov House

Before you go

Lake Ohrid is divided between Albania and North Macedonia
Ohrid has its own airport and can also be reached by car from either Tirana, Albania or Skopje, North Macedonia
Ohrid gets a lot of tourists, local and foreign, so travelling off-peak is preferable
Some roads leading to Ohrid are poor so allow extra time for driving
Reserve a table in advance at popular restaurants. Sometimes it is best to walk in to book a table for later, as they do not all have websites nor answer the phone
Ohrid has fresh water so there are mosquitos around, bring repellant
In the summer, the sun is strong so I recommend bringing sunscreen
There are at least 365 churches in the town, one for each day of the year

Transport

Ohrid airport is only about 20 minutes drive from the town. However, there are no taxi stands so I recommend that you book a taxi in advance. We used Naum at Ohrid Transfer Tours and he was reliable, helpful and friendly! As of May 2023, one way from the airport to town was about 13 euros
Also, if you fly into Tirana, Albania it is possible to book a taxi for pick-up at the airport and transfer to Ohrid for about 170 euros. I booked via Skopje Daily Tours who in turn booked Ohrid Transfer Tours. The journey is about 2.5 hours and crossing the border was simple for two UK citizens

Accommodation

We stayed at a very charming and simple hotel called Villa Dislievski, booked through Booking.com. The decor is very red including a painted red carpet on the ground leading to the building
The reception staff were friendly and helpful
Payment is with cash only in MKD or Euros, with a slightly better rate for Euros
There is no lift so you will need to carry luggage up stairs
Some rooms have a balcony/terrace and a kitchenette for coffee and tea
Disappointingly, the use of the hot tubs in some rooms had a surcharge of 15 euros
There is air conditioning

Grilled and fried trout from Lake Ohrid at Restaurant Kajče

Cheese toast and adjvar, Restaurant Kajče

Food

Our first dinner was at the lakeside Restaurant Kajče. It was very friendly and quaint. The servers recommended getting a platter of the Ohrid trout so we tried that. Both the grilled and fried trout were delicious, and the platter also had vegetables. We also tried the local Vinarija Ohrid Temjanika white wine, which went well with the fish.

After dinner, we had ice cream from Chocolate Plus on the main street. They have chocolate fountains and fancy desserts, but we just enjoyed simple ice cream.

For breakfast, we had homemade gjomleze from the local green market. I was determined to find the stall because it’s a very traditional dish from Ohrid that I wanted to try. However, I only found one lady who was selling it. It’s like a bread or cake that is made by baking thin layers of batter, a little at a time. I’ve made it once and it takes many hours! It’s soft and almost reminds me of a stack of crepes.

Our last meal was lunch at Restoran Čun with a beautiful view of the lake from the terrace. Unfortunately, we forgot to wear sunscreen so got very sunburnt! Luckily, before that we enjoyed a delicious lunch. We had a mix of fried cheese, shopska salad (tomato, cucumber, cheese and olives), grilled pork and dolmas. One of my favourite foods in the region are the dolmas, which are grape vine leaves wrapped around meat and rice.