The Byzantine Churches of Lake Ohrid
Summary
Ohrid town has a pretty Old Town that is well worth a 2 hour wander through, a medieval castle with a set of walls that allow you some super views and various lakeside beaches that attract many local tourists. But it is the gorgeous views of the picturesque Byzantine-style church roofs overlooking beautiful Lake Ohrid that make it the highlight of North Macedonia and should form a key part of any Western Balkans itinerary
Part of a 2-3 week itinerary – the Western Balkans are a seriously underrated part of Europe and represent one of the best 2-3 week trips you can do in this part of the world with stunning castles and old towns, and some of the best coastline in the world all compactly housed within 8 countries. For the 2-3 week itinerary for the highlights and general tips for this part of the world, see this travel entry and where Lake Ohrid fits in – 3 week trip around the Balkans States
highlights
#1 The Church of Sveti Jovan peering over the cliff of Lake Ohrid
#2 Enjoying the beautiful terracotta roofs that are sprinkled all along Ohrid's lakeshore
#3 Climbing along the fortified walls of Ohrid's medieval castle
#4 Walking through the pretty Old Town and lovely little river inlets that are dotted all through Ohrid
#5 Looking a bit further out from the town to see the mountain-ringed lake heading off into the distance
#6 Popping to the lakeside beaches
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Lake Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone