Living it Up in Ohrid
Ohrid was definitely bigger, busier, and pricier than Struga itself, though still so very affordable from a Canadian perspective! We decided early in our accommodation search that Ohrid was too big of a city for us to want to stay there, opting for the smaller Struga. And while we LOVED doing day trips to Ohrid, which we did many times, we definitely are grateful we chose to stay where we did. It was a short and easy 20-minute car ride from our apartment into downtown Ohrid, closer than driving to many of our friends’ homes back in London!
Ohrid was a beautiful city, with so much history and culture, as I talked about in a previous post. But it was also a fun place to visit, full of nature, hiking, walking trails, beautiful lakefront boardwalk, cafes, shopping, and so much more! We visited Ohrid so many times and enjoyed so many different things that I couldn’t possibly talk about them all in one post. But, here are some of our favourite highlights!
There was a fortress sitting atop a large hill at the edge of Ohrid. I wrote in more detail about the fortress in a different post, which was magnificent. As well as the Church of Saint John the Theologian on this hill a little distance from the fortress. But the hill itself was just spectacular! A couple of times, we parked on the west side of the hill and hiked up and around to explore. There were a multitude of paths up there, some paved and some forged by repetitive pedestrian traffic, so that exploring all over was possible.
There were stunning views out towards Struga and towards Ohrid itself, and there were areas where you felt deep in the trees and connected with nature. We spent hours up here hiking, feeling like we were in the middle of nowhere. Yet, when we were done, we could stop at the church up here to drink some of the cool spring water from a tap on the side of the church or walk five minutes down from the church to some beautiful lakefront cafes and restaurants. It was amazing!
And stop at a couple of these cafes we did! We enjoyed some amazing food and drinks while the girls played in the water, played with some cats they found, or read their books. There’s something about sitting on a waterfront café or patio that we just can’t get enough of. There’s something so peaceful and magical about the water.
There are two ways to enter Ohrid from the hill, walking up along the fortress and into the old town area or walking along the waterfront boardwalk. We did both, multiple times! Though our favourite was the gorgeous boardwalk they had that led into the quaint old town streets and then into the waterfront section of Ohrid. There were tons of amazing little restaurants and cafes in the old town. We only managed to stop at a couple to try.
One that we stopped at was a beautiful little waterfront property with a huge Wisteria tree that just ramped up the already beautiful water views. We got the most amazing food and drinks, including a negro shot. Which we will definitely be making back home! Jon and the girls have been addicted to the local, negro candies since we were in Montenegro and we always have TONS of them! I had assumed they would be black licorice flavoured when my hairdresser offered me one in Kotor. But it’s far more complex than that. There’s a minty, lemony, black licorice, and almost eucalyptus taste to the candy. It is impossible to accurately describe! They are delicious and also extremely helpful if you have a sore throat with the cooling menthol feel in them. Anyway, the shot was delicious. We poured some into our macchiatos, which was even more delicious! The food here was also all authentic Macedonian food and was unbelievably yummy!
The other place we stopped in the old town that we must mention was Bacchus Wine Bar. We did a tasting flight with four types of wine. There were options for three, four, or five types of wine. Our tasting started with a glass of local rakija, which is a strong spirit made from grapes. I am not great with strong spirits like brandy, whiskey, etc. And have had some rakija I cannot stomach. But this one was smooth and quite tasty and I actually enjoyed my glass of it! Then we got four local Macedonian wines. You could specify the exact wines, but I just asked to try one white, one rose, and two red – all dry, of course! Then let them choose which wines from those categories. Our flights also came with a yummy charcuterie board, which helped appease the girls. They also gave the girls free non-alcoholic drinks, which was so kind. We spent a couple of hours here tasting and enjoying the various drinks. They were all amazing and we bought our favourite red wine to bring with us. The waiter was soooo amazing and we had the greatest time listening to him explain a lot about the history and politics of Macedonia to us. We learned a lot about rakija, wine, and Macedonia during our time here.
There were, of course, tons of other beautiful little cafes and spots we stopped at for amazing food or drinks, but it would take pages more to go into them all! So I’ll move on from food now!
While we loved hiking the large hill on the west side of Ohrid, we also loved the boardwalk they had along the waterfront area and to the east. We would park our car down to the east of Ohrid and walk into town along the boardwalk. Sometimes stopping at a gorgeous little waterfront café, sometimes just walking to enjoy the beautiful walk. It was a quick and beautiful 15-20 minute walk to get into the marina area in the centre of Ohrid. The girls loved seeing all the swans and fish in the water, as well, and fed them bits of breadcrumbs that a lady gave them who was sitting and feeding them herself.
There were tons of boat tours you could do on Lake Ohrid. We were tempted by a semi-submarine tour, but never had the time to try it out. But we did a sunset cruise one evening on Boat Armada. It was sooooo beautiful. The couches and benches to relax on were so comfy. The cruise was 1.5 hours long and we had beautiful views. We loved seeing the church, fortress, and Ohrid from our waterfront vantage point. And the sunset was spectacular! Photos cannot capture how beautiful it was! The cruise also included a free glass of champagne for Jon and me and a glass of orange juice for the girls. At a total cost of $30 CAD for our entire family, it was also insanely affordable. We were tempted to do it a second time, but it never quite worked out due to the weather, unfortunately!
The evening we did our sunset cruise, we got back onto land and found a DJ set up near the waterfront with a large dance party going on in the streets. The event was free for anyone in the area to stop and enjoy. So we did! We joined in and had the best time dancing. The DJ was magnificent, blending from song to song quickly and seamlessly. These unexpected little finds can always be the most amazing and fun experiences!
Ohrid has tons and tons of shopping in the main downtown area. We had a blast going in and out of the shops, searching for our perfect magnet from Macedonia, and buying a few Turkish food delicacies to enjoy back at our apartment. We found new dresses and cardigans for our growing girls, and got a couple of new tank tops and t-shirts for Jon and me from my new favourite Serbian store, Extreme Intimo (I found this shop originally in Kotor and am in LOVE with their clothes!), and just generally enjoyed browsing for a bit. We aren’t big shoppers and are buying basically nothing since we only have two suitcases for our family of four for the entire year. But every so often it’s fun to just poke around local stores!
Ohrid was such a fun and lively city. We had the best time visiting here regularly. It was fascinating to see it go from quite a sleepy, quiet town when we first arrived in mid-April to extremely busy by mid-May when we were leaving to head to Greece! Hopefully one day we will make it back here again to do another sunset cruise!