Ohrid Lake | Travel Macedonia

Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world, being the oldest lake in Europe. It is one of the main attractions of Macedonia with the likes of Skopje, Matka Canyon, Vodno city etc.

Lake Ohrid is located in the valley between Ohrid and Struga. It was acknowledged as a world heritage site by UNESCO back in 1979. The city of Ohrid is very ancient. The amphitheatre that became a touristic attraction, used to be the place where the gladiator fights took place.

The city has many pretty looking stone buildings. Some streets are very narrow and have a distinct style. Thankfully the nation preserved the city's old look and did not make mistakes that may have destroyed the beauty of the place because Ohrid will give you the impression of being almost untouched at some parts, which would lead you to feel like walking in those streets back in the 80s or something.

Ohrid also has a fortress on the hill that provides with a great view overlooking the pretty looking small brick houses and buildings and of course the outrageous lake.

I walked the city, but before visiting the majority of the touristic attractions, could not resist watching the sun go down by the lake on a beach-esque area where there were some sunbeds too and you could just basically purchase your drink from the bars behind and enjoy your time by the lake with the amazing view "free of charge"

I went to visit the great Saint Clement church and it was pretty occupied since there was a wedding going on, so I did not really get in but it was a pretty impressive building with the outside appearance of it too. One of the most impressive parts of Ohrid city was hands down the fortress. You will be thrilled by the view you will get to see on top of the city climbing the fortress. The fortress is incredibly old, goes back in the history to 4th Century B.C... It is the ideal panoramic viewpoint of the city.

I was there for a little more than half a day and it became one of the most memorable parts of my small Balkan Trip. Along the way I met some fellow travellers, and one of them was going to Ohrid from Skopje just like I was doing, but we could not really see each other before actually going there so we did not make a plan of reunion, but what happened was of the nicest examples of travelling, I was walking down from the castle, to see the church, and while walking down, I bumped into my friend as she was on her way from the church to the amphitheatre, so we switched numbers finally and had a wine later in the evening at a restaurant&bar by the lake where we could see some cool swans. I had these type of incidents that are -to me- arrangements of the universe other than just being a coincidence, and these are what make travelling special, in addition, the spontaneity of travelling is just the most beautiful thing.

I had a bus at about 4 a.m in the night to go to Tirana, but I had about 5-6 hours to kill, I first needed to get rid of my backpack, I found a hostel around me on the GPS and went there to see if they could help me with that, and they actually did help me, and did not even charge me although I offered to pay. However, they were closing at 12 am, so I had to go there before 12 and pick it up. So I killed my time having beers, walking around etc. I won't lie, it got exhausting after a certain point. haha :)

Here is a 4-second video I put on Dtube not sure what happened to the longer version where I had the whole landscape of the heavenesque view :)

Now some photos of my time in Ohrid! Enjoy :)