Skopje and Lake Ohrid
Skopje's bazaar and the Matka canyon, then two nights on Lake Ohrid with the churches of the old town and the springs of Sveti Naum.
Skopje → Matka → Ohrid → Sveti Naum → Skopje
- Duration
- 4 days / 3 nights
- Group
- Small group, up to 12
- Language
- English · Serbian
- Countries
- North Macedonia
About this tour
Four days that fit into a long weekend. Skopje gets an afternoon and a morning: the Ottoman bazaar and the Stone Bridge, the fortress, the strange new neoclassical centre, and the Matka canyon half an hour outside the city. Then the road crosses the mountains to Ohrid.
Ohrid is a UNESCO site twice over, for the town and for the lake, and two nights give it the time it needs: the churches and the fortress on foot, the boardwalk to Kaneo, and a day to the southern end of the lake, where the Sveti Naum monastery sits above springs you cross by rowing boat. Swimming is possible from June to September.
Route map
Day by day
- Day 1Skopje, both banks of the VardarMeet at 14:00. A walk from the new centre, with its statues and the Archaeological Museum, over the 15th-century Stone Bridge into the Old Bazaar: the mosques, the hans, the Daut Pasha hammam gallery and the Kale fortress above. Dinner together in the bazaar.Airport transfer · 20 km · about 30 minOvernight: Skopje
- Day 2The Matka canyon and the road to OhridMorning at Matka: a boat on the lake between the cliffs to the Vrelo cave, and the path along the water to the monastery of St Andrew. Then west across the mountains, with lunch in Kičevo or Struga, to Ohrid. Evening on the lakeside promenade.Skopje → Matka → Ohrid · about 190 km · 3 h 15 of drivingOvernight: Ohrid
- Day 3Ohrid and Sveti NaumThe old town on foot: St Sophia, the ancient theatre, Plaošnik and St Panteleimon, Samuel's fortress and the boardwalk to the church of St John at Kaneo. After lunch, along the eastern shore to the Sveti Naum monastery near the Albanian border, a rowing boat over the springs, and time to swim or sit in the gardens with the peacocks. Return to Ohrid by boat when the water is calm.Ohrid → Sveti Naum → Ohrid · about 60 km · 1 h 20 of driving, or 1 h by boat backOvernight: Ohrid
- Day 4Back to SkopjeA free morning in Ohrid for the market or a last swim, then the drive back to Skopje. The tour ends at Skopje airport or your hotel by about 14:00. Ending at Ohrid airport is possible on days with flights.Ohrid → Skopje · about 170 km · 2 h 30Tour ends
What's included
- 3 nights in 3- and 4-star hotels, double room with breakfast: one in Skopje, two in Ohrid
- Licensed English-speaking tour leader for the whole trip
- All transport by air-conditioned minibus, including airport transfers on days 1 and 4
- Boat trips at Matka and over the Sveti Naum springs
- Entrance fees for the Ohrid churches, Samuel's fortress and the monastery
- Welcome dinner on day 1
- Small group of no more than 12 guests
Not included
- Flights to and from Skopje
- Lunches and dinners other than the welcome dinner
- Travel insurance, which we require for all multi-day tours
- Personal expenses and gratuities
- Single room supplement, quoted on request
