Discover Ohrid, one of Europe's oldest lakeside towns

Sitting pretty as a sapphire between Albania and North Macedonia, Lake Ohrid is one of Europe’s most ancient lakes — estimated to be nearly 1.5 million years old — with human settlement dating back around 8,000 years. On its North Macedonian shore, the town of Ohrid provides plenty of cultural allure, with timber-building-packed streets leading to incense-scented chapels by day and cosy cellars serving local wine and cheese by night.

Ohrid’s historical Byzantine and Ottoman heart is car free, lending itself to slow exploration, while the steep hills rising from the shoreline add a dramatic backdrop. On cobbled Tsar Samoil Street stands the Robevci Family House, a 19th-century residence built for a wealthy merchant family. The plain exterior belies an interior stacked to the rafters with ornately carved wooden furniture, archaeological finds and silver artefacts from across the region.

Along the same street, silver filigree workshops sit alongside Ohrid’s famed ‘pearl’ jewellers. But these are no ordinary pearls — the artificial gems are crafted from the scales of a fish called the bleak (often incorrectly referred to locally as the ‘Ohrid trout’, an endemic, protected species) using a technique known to just two local families: the Filevs and the Talevs. Their workshops display case upon case of shimmering pearl strings glinting behind modest shopfronts.

Obviously, Ohrid trout isn’t on the menu in its namesake town, but there are a plethora of alternative lake-fresh fish to savour. Cross a wooden boardwalk from the lakeshore to reach Kaneo Letna Bavcha & Restaurant — a taverna-like establishment that appears to float above the lake’s surface — where traditional garlic-crusted belvica (a fish in the salmon family) and parsley-covered Ohrid carp are on offer. It’s a popular spot, so advance booking is advisable, particularly in the evening. At sunset, the nearby clifftop Church of St John at Kaneo becomes a focal point, as visitors and locals gather to watch the sun sink below the horizon. It’s not uncommon to see a would-be groom choose this moment to propose. The 13th-century chapel itself is also well worth a visit; its frescoes are unusually well preserved for a lakeside structure, surviving centuries of exposure thanks to the site’s sheltered cliffside position and relatively stable microclimate.

Boat trips to medieval Saint Naum Monastery, on Lake Ohrid’s southern edge, are another popular excursion. These journeys often include a stop at the petite Holy Mother of God Zaumska chapel, tucked into a lakeside cliff and accessible only by boat. Smaller, more intimate tours run at a slower pace, allowing time to take in the shoreline and watch daily life unfold.

On arrival at Saint Naum, you may well see lines of Orthodox pilgrims queueing, candle in hand, to enter. It’s one of North Macedonia’s most significant pilgrimage sites and the burial place of Saint Naum, who was alive during the ninth and 10th centuries and is credited with having helped to spread the Cyrillic alphabet across the Slavic world. Local legend even claims that, if you listen closely at his tomb, you can still hear his heartbeat.

A short downhill walk leads to a crystalline spring, one of 45 that feed Lake Ohrid. Collectively, they’re one of the reasons the 289-metre-deep lake is so clear, with visibility reaching around 20 metres. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Bay of Bones Museum, a replica of a prehistoric settlement of stilt houses, often visited as part of boat excursions.

Inside the reed-roofed huts, exhibits explore how communities between 1200 and 600 BCE lived beside Lake Ohrid, fishing its waters and gathering around campfires to cook their catch. For qualified divers, underwater excavations can also be explored through the Diving Center Amfora.

No trip to Ohrid would be complete without sampling its music scene. Along the waterfront, a variety of venues offer reasonably priced drinks and light bites alongside live performances from local musicians. These span everything from acoustic sets and traditional ensembles to rock and Latin rhythms.

For a quieter finale, kayaks or paddleboards can be rented to explore the shoreline around Kaneo and on towards pine- and plane-lined Labino Beach. Here, a sense of calm and stillness presides, just as it did 8,000 years ago.