The roads around Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia are stunningly beautiful. We first drove along Lake Ohrid in Albania, and have now rolled into the North Macedonian side. Here are several nice towns and villages along the lake, and the nature is lush and intensely green.
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Macedonia - in name conflict with Greece
Macedonia (later renamed North Macedonia) is a relatively small and mountainous country, with about two million inhabitants. The country gained independence from Yugoslavia 1991, and is one of the republics that never suffered from war but became relatively poor. Ever since its creation, it has been in a heated name dispute with Greece.
"This is because 'Macedonia' was historically a much larger area, most of which is in present-day Greece. The Greeks believe that Macedonia's name is an attempt to steal the history of the entire region. This is why, in political contexts, the country has been forced to use the long and complicated name "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
Lake Ohrid - on the border between Albania and North Macedonia
Located on the border between Albania and North Macedonia, Lake Ohrid is an ancient and deep lake. The lake was formed about 2-4 million years ago, making it one of the oldest lakes in the world, along with Lake Tanganyika, the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Lake Baikal.
Lake Ohrid is the seventh deepest lake in Europe, with a depth of 289 metres. The lake is known for its rich wildlife, with around 200 endemic species (i.e. species that are only found in a specific geographical area). Lake Ohrid is also home to the delicious trout (Ohridska Pastramka) which is only found here, and can be found in many restaurants around Lake Ohrid. Lake Ohrid has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
Beautiful roads around Lake Ohrid
Over the past few days, many of you will have read and heard about the refugee crisis at the border between Greece and North Macedonia and on the road to Serbia. Most of the refugees come from Syria and are trying to enter the EU via Hungary.
We have not seen any of this, but drove a quiet and pleasant road north along Lake Ohrid. First on the Albanian side and through the border control into the Macedonian side. What we have seen so far of the country is beautiful nature and relatively modern houses and cities. The mountains rise high around Lake Ohrid and the vegetation is dense and intensely green. The communities look prosperous, and around the lake you see one small cosy bathing place after another.
Places to visit around Lake Ohrid
If you are travelling around Lake Ohrid, there are several great places to visit! On the Macedonian side, we can recommend a visit to the historic the city of Ohrid, the smaller but the charming town of Struga and at the interesting museum Museum on water. On the Albanian side, we have not seen as much, but we have visited an old-fashioned village and a nice campsite.
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Maggan and Ingemar says:
Oh how exciting.....now there will be new countries for us too. 🙂
Looking forward to the next post 😀
25 August 2015 - 19:21
Alexander Lucas says:
Nowadays Wizz flies directly from Malmö to Ohrid. I live on the west coast and it's better to fly to Skopje and take a bus for a couple of hours to Ohrid. However, the return journey is to Malmö and train the last part....
21 March 2019 - 20:11
Åsa says:
You'd love to get down to that beach!
25 August 2015 - 19:44
admin says:
Maggan and Ingemar, yes we find it exciting too! 🙂 And we update of course!
Åsa, there were some people swimming down there... but we didn't understand how they got there! 😉
25 August 2015 - 21:07
BP says:
Not sure why, but the second picture reminds me of a village in Austria.
It's nice that you write some background information about that particular country, which one rarely hears anything about except in the context of football, where the country is not a success, and right now because of the migrants and the border situation between Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
PS. You seem to be very lucky with wifi, thankfully.
Tomorrow or the day after, check with me to see if you can find your houseboat in Pampas Marina which we checked out today from the wonderful Hornsberg Strand. DS.
25 August 2015 - 21:14
Mr Leif Berglund says:
Now you are very close to camping Sunrise if you are not already there, hope it works with the mail from Sweden. The campsite you were at yesterday or maybe rather the site at the beach restaurant we also stopped at together with a couple from Austria in a small van. It is never crowded on the campsites in these countries!
Do not miss the city of Ohrid which has a very long and interesting history, it was old several thousand years before Sweden got its first city and old already when the Vikings were out on their raids. It resembles a town on Lake Garda such as Lazise, and has been characterised by many cultures and many religions. Already when the Romans arrived, the city had a long history.
One thing that becomes clear when travelling in the Balkans is that everything is not as touristy and not as standardised as you are used to in Western Europe, you have to do some research yourself and ask around and be an active tourist, but if you do that you get a good return and many great experiences!
25 August 2015 - 21:32
admin says:
BP, maybe it's the mountains that remind you of Austria? And maybe the houses are a bit the same size and so on? I actually don't think we are lucky with WiFi, it seems to be standard in these countries. Much better than in e.g. Italy! Oh what fun with our boat! Will peek of course!!! 🙂
Leif Berglund, we are at camping Sunrise now! Very cosy and nice! We have also eaten good lamb at the small restaurant. The mail has not arrived yet, so we will see if it can be waited for. We already noticed today that the green card is important. They grunted at the border that we can only be in the country for five days 😉 We have driven through Ohrid, but maybe we can get there and take a closer look too! Thanks for some more info! The fact that everything is not fixed suits us quite well I think 😉.
25 August 2015 - 21:47
Discovering The Planet says:
What a great summary you made of Macedonia Helena. It will be super fun to follow you during your trip in my beloved homeland and hear your perception of a country completely unspoilt by tourism, yet :) ....
25 August 2015 - 21:48
Christine - 29GRADER says:
Exciting, interesting and beautiful! Will be fun to see and hear more. 🙂
25 August 2015 - 23:23
Mr Steve says:
Exciting. Macedonia, this relatively unknown country, is currently in the news daily because of the chaotic refugee situation in the area. Just yesterday I saw extensive reports from there. There is undeniably reason to think a little extra for those of us who can freely cross borders and have a safe place to come home to.
26 August 2015 - 7:29
admin says:
Discovering the planet, oh so nice to hear from you Daniela that you think the summary feels right and good !!!! 🙂 Feel free to contact us if you have any tips about Macedonia! 🙂
Christine, we will come back with reports! 🙂
Steve, we in Western Europe are doing really well! We have been thinking a lot about these refugees who had to leave with their families and children. What a terribly vulnerable situation. Of course, we are also thinking now about which paths to take, etc. We will follow the news reports.
26 August 2015 - 7:29
Ama de casa says:
The lake was very beautiful even from the Macedonian side 🙂 .
26 August 2015 - 9:40
Marina says:
It will be great fun to see more from here and I really appreciate following you on your journey in unknown territories in Europe. By the way, thanks for the information about the name, nice to have it explained why that long harangue needs to be said at regular intervals.
26 August 2015 - 10:36
admin says:
Ama de casa, yep, just have to agree on that one! 🙂
Marina, yes the name was unclear to me before too, you learn when you travel! 🙂
26 August 2015 - 10:40
Ditte says:
Beautiful! And Nakrdonia seems exciting! I see reports from there several times a day and the pictures are not so beautiful. And the refugee situation is not beautiful....
It is very exciting to follow your journey through Macedonia.
26 August 2015 - 21:21
admin says:
Ditte, we are aware of the flow of refugees through the country, and it is of course terrible that it has to be that way. We haven't seen any of it though.
27 August 2015 - 7:45