Tour de Ohrid

Tour de Ohrid – or a round tour around Lake Ohrid: for us the most beautiful and picturesque road-bike tour in Macedonia (partly in Albania).

This wonderful tour has been high on our agenda for a long time, and it has finally come true. Finally we can say that we know the entire Lake Ohrid – along and across. The 100 kilometers may seem daunting at first glance, but we enjoyed literally every kilometer.

Tour:

We start the tour from Ohrid. We cross the old bazaar and join the old road to Struga. It is still early and the temperature is great – we are flying towards Struga. On the bridge of the river Drim we make the first short break and drive to the village Kalishta. Here we split into the highway for Border Crossing Kjafasan. There is a possibility to continue to the village Radozhda, but for that we need MTB bikes because from the auto camp Treska where the asphalt ends there is a steep off-road path that joins the highway to Albania (on another occasion). The first ascent (out of a total of 3) towards the border crossing begins – we climb approximately 300 m. and we arrive at Kjafasan.

There is no waiting at the border crossing (Kafasan) this time – there is no waiting line for bicycles. We enter Albania and drive along the ridge – a beautiful panorama of Lake Ohrid. We arrive at the crossroads where the road divides for Pogradec and Tirana and here we drive downhill to the village Lin – the road is ideal, freshly paved, wide and driving is a pleasure, taking into account the respect of all road users. After a total of 30 km we arrive in the village Lin and we fly to Pogradec where we arrive after a total of 50 km. In Pogradec it is full of tourists and on the beach we make the first big break. Here Ohrid Lake is unrecognizable – wide and tidy sandy beaches and countless cafes and bars. But the absence of reeds and sand has taken its toll – the waters of the Ohrid Lake are muddy and dirty. Although we brought swimsuits with us – this is definitely not the place to try them on.

We continue to the border crossing St. Naum and we drive by the lake. Along the entire Albanian side, the beaches are lined with artificial sand and degraded to the point that we do not even think to stop – we miss our natural beaches and clean green water. If anyone thinks of doing the same in Macedonia, our warm recommendation is to visit the Albanian shore of Lake Ohrid beforehand – the idea will pass quickly. After passing a total of 55 km. we arrive at Border Crossing St. Naum – we are the only ones in the passage.

Because this tour is a real pleasure for us (not a competition), the visit to the Monastery of St. Naum is more than necessary. For the first time we enter the complex by bicycle and the formalities such as entrance, parking, etc .. are absent. We immediately find a place to enjoy by the cold spring waters – time for a coffee break and cooling off. The rest is necessary for us because in front of us are the other two steep climbs near the village Ljubanishta and the village Trpejca. We will drive through Trpejca in the hottest period of the day.

We are heading to the village Ljubanishta and next station – village Trpejca. We drive uphill and on a rather narrow road with a lot of damage. Unlike Albania – here our participation in traffic as cyclists is not respected at all (Macedonian traffic culture in its true light). Carefully and with fear we arrive in the village Trpejca – hustle and bustle of unprecedented proportions (car on car / towel on towel). But that does not affect us at all – we get off the bikes on the beach and then enjoy and swim in the beautiful green waters of Lake Ohrid. Because we did not look like domestic tourists, the attention of all tourists was turned to us: maybe if we spoke German / English we would find a free table in the crowded cafes .. But we are not the desired guests: we cooled down and continued to Ohrid. We pass Gradishte, Peshtani, Lagadin carefully and finally enter Ohrid. A tour to remember!