Top Ohrid Tours, Sightseeing & Cruises - page 3

If you’re up for a challenging adventure, then hike the Magaro Peak on this full-day excursion from Ohrid. With a private hiking guide, reach the highest peak on Galichica Mountain where you can enjoy stunning views of Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid as well as Macedonia and Albania. So get your adrenaline pumping and enjoy this moderate to challenging trek.

Once we arrive at Bitola, on the right, you can see Mount Pelister and Pelister National Park, which is the smallest but oldest national park in Macedonia. It is famous for its ancient Molika pine trees and many other different types of flora and fauna and it conserves some rare glacial lakes, the Pelister Eyes. It is a famous winter ski resort with hotels and ski-lifts. In Bitola we visit the church of St. Dimitri. Then we just have a quick glance at Yeni Mosque, built in 1559 which is now an art gallery, then the Yahdar-Kadi Mosque (built in 1562) and the Isak Mosque (built in 1508-09). At the heart of the town is the Clock Tower. The River Dragor runs through the town. Sirok Sokak (a long pedestrian area) is renowned for the beautiful old houses that belong to the 19th-century architecture. Bitola is a town of consulates, also the town where the Manaki brothers, famous for their pioneering work with the camera, opened their Studio of Art Photography in 1905.

Take a break from the city and spend a day in the mountains on this tour to Mavrovo National Park. Alongside a private guide, drive along the Black Drim River to visit small mountain villages, a waterfall, and the St. Jovan Bigorski Monastery. Drive past the Debar and Globocica lakes and take in the alpine scenery from various viewpoints during your tour.

Bitola, or also known as Monastir during the Ottoman Empire, was and still is an important town: It was established by Philip II, father of Alexander The Great; It is on the Ancient Roman Road of Via Egnatia; and it was the town where the international community decided to open consulates to the Ottoman Empire. Today, Bitola is a town with a wealth of cultures intertwined in its streets and residents. Likewise, the remnants of a once thriving Jewish community are scattered throughout the town, and blended in the everyday life as a memory. In this tour we visit the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Balkans, we walk through the old Jewish neighbourhood to see where the Jewish once people lived, visit the Old Bazaar to see where the Jewish people once worked, and we see the many monuments that the local people of Bitola enacted in memory of their fellow citizens. In the process we learn also about the rich history of Bitola and its tasty cuisine.

Perched along the shimmering shores of Lake Ohrid, this hillside city was created by a mosaic of civiliSations. From Byzantine to Roman, Ottoman, and Macedonian, each left behind stones, symbols, and stories. On this self-guided audio tour, you’ll move through layers of history, art, and legend – all packed into one unforgettable descent from fortress walls to lakeside cliffs. The tour begins high above the town at the Upper Gate and Samuel’s Fortress, where the views are as sweeping as the history. You’ll wind your way through cobbled streets and timeless neighborhoods, passing ancient theaters, hidden courtyards, and quiet churches still holding onto centuries-old secrets. But this tour isn’t just about ruins and relics. It’s about how the past still breathes through the present. The final stretch leads you to Ohrid’s crown jewel where time slows, the lake stretches wide, and you’ll understand why Ohrid is called the “Pearl of the Balkans.”