The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
The crowd-free alternative to Lake Como
Mention Ohrid and you will be greeted with blank looks – but a new air route to the city could change that, says Paul Bloomfield
Before finding fame with owls and pussy-cats and pea-green boats, Edward Lear cut quite the dash in tourism marketing. “It is scarcely possible to dream of finer scenes than these,” he rhapsodised during his 1848 journey through the Ottoman Balkans. “Bright, broad and long lay the great sheet of water… Such sublime scenery… astonished and delighted at every step.”
That “great sheet” is Lake Ohrid, an enchantingly limpid mere shared between Albania and North Macedonia, where its namesake city overlooks the north-eastern shore. The poet waxed only slightly less lyrical about this venerable town, lauding its “exquisite street scenes”.
If that’s all still accurate – and I’m here to tell you that, for once, Lear wasn’t talking nonsense – why aren’t Brits flocking here instead of Como or Annecy?
Perhaps the spelling deters English-speakers. Forget horrid preconceptions, though, and work on pronunciation: insert a “C” between “O” and “H”, and you’re closer. Or recall, instead, its ancient Greek moniker Lychnidos – “City of Light”.
Now, with last week’s launch of twice-weekly Wizz Air flights from Luton, Ohrid looks set to step out of the shadows. True, Sunday and Wednesday departures mean a stereotypical weekend break isn’t on the cards. But then Ohrid is far from a stereotypical destination.
Its (mostly shingle) beaches have long drawn holidaymakers from across this landlocked country and, increasingly, the neighbouring region. Are there more tempting short-haul, sun-and-splash destinations? Of course. But are those overlooked by Roman amphitheatres, Byzantine churches, Ottoman mansions, Bronze Age stilt villages and bear-prowled forests? Not so much. Ohrid, meanwhile, is recognised by Unesco for both natural and cultural heritage – the incredible biodiversity of Europe’s oldest lake, and history stretching back millennia.
Ohrid’s compact old town is best explored on foot – albeit in sturdy shoes suitable for cobbles and climbs. Get your bearings from the burly walls of Tsar Samoil’s Fortress. The hulking hilltop bastion built by that Bulgarian emperor around the turn of the 11th century (though on much older foundations) offers commanding views across the terracotta-roofed historic quarter to the sparkling greenish lake and the mountainous hinterland – more of which later.
Wind south to the Plaosnik precinct, where ornate mosaics surround the foundations of a fifth-century basilica and the many-domed medieval Church of St Clement and Panteleimon. Beneath it stands by far the country’s most-Instagrammed sight: the impossibly picturesque Church of St John the Theologian, gazing across the glistening lake from its rocky bluff.
In high summer you’ll likely hear the city’s oldest highlight before you see it. From mid-July to mid-August the Hellenistic-era amphitheatre, built around 200BC then enlarged by the Romans, hosts music and dance performances during the annual Ohrid Summer Festival. Nearby, some of the finest medieval frescoes adorn the Church of the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos. For more spectacular Byzantine wall art, descend snaking alleys shaded by the overhanging upper storeys of Ottoman mansions – that empire ruled Ohrid for over five centuries from 1395 – to the superb Orthodox Church of Saint Sophia, dating back a good thousand years.
If sightseeing makes you snacky, fear not: across the flagstoned street you’ll find a cluster of restaurants serving traditional local dishes. North Macedonian cuisine is mostly familiar Balkan fare: flaky filo pies; red peppers stuffed or roasted into piquant ajvar relish; fetalike sirenje cheese; dark red vranec wine; and ubiquitous rakija moonshine. Ohrid’s speciality, though, is the endemic fish endorsed by our poetic guide: “The trout of the Lake of Akhridha are surpassingly fine,” lip-smacked Lear.
A worthy destination in itself, Ohrid is also a handy gateway to the country’s rugged south-west. Scoot south around the lake to find a reconstructed Bronze Age stilt village at the Bay of Bones, and some more enticing sunbathing and swimming. Likely spots include stretches of sand flanking the 10th-century St Naum’s Monastery just before the Albanian border, accessible by boat, bus or taxi from Ohrid.
From here, the road snakes east through Galicica National Park – pause for striking views back over Lake Ohrid, and to hike forested ridges inhabited by bears, chamois and quirky mole-rats – to Lake Prespa, shared with Greece and, again, Albania. Here you’ll encounter pterodactylesque Dalmatian pelicans and the islet curiously dubbed Golem Grad (“Big
‘It is scarcely possible to dream of finer scenes than these… delighted at every step’
City”), where tortoises, water snakes and cormorants thrive among the remains of more fresco-daubed medieval churches and Tsar Samoil’s summer residence.
Continue past gorgeous Pelister National Park, its slopes pocked with alpine tarns and profuse wildflowers, to Bitola. “A more magnificently placed city it is hardly possible to imagine,” declared Lear, who found “interest and beauty in profusion”. Poetic licence, perhaps, but there’s more Ottoman grandeur to admire here, plus the spectacular remains of Heraclea Lyncestis. Founded in the fifth century BC by Phillip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, the Romans added a theatre, and early Christians adorned it with exquisite mosaics.
Clearly, people from across the Balkans and beyond have been enjoying sojourns in Ohrid for centuries. It’s about time Brits also saw the light.
Wizz Air (wizzair.com) flies from Luton to Ohrid on Wednesdays and Sundays. Rooms at the Aleksandar Villa & Spa (aleksandarvilla.com.mk) cost from £83 per night
Covid rules Travellers over 18 must show proof of full vaccination, or a negative PCR test taken within the last 72 hours, or proof of recovery