Ohrid & Skopje, North Macedonia & Prizren, Kosovo

My time exploring North Macedonia and Kosovo was short but sweet. I was able to visit both large cities and small towns and the mix of the two was a lot of fun. From the lakeside town of Ohrid to the capital of Skopje and Prizren, the cultural capital of Kosovo, the time I spent there was enjoyable.

Getting to Ohrid, North Macedonia from Tirana, Albania was an easy four hour bus ride. When I first arrived I checked into my hostel and met some people from my room and we ended up talking for a while before a group of us went out to dinner together and then we went back to the hostel to hang out for the rest of the evening. It was a great start to my time in Ohrid. On my first full day in Ohrid I wandered around the town, exploring what there was to see and do. It was a small town and the weather was beautiful so I also wandered to the lake and hung out at the lake and took in the beautiful view of not only the water but also the mountains surrounding it. It was a lovely relaxed day. That evening I headed to my hostel to go on an evening sunset boat ride with a group of people from my hostel. Our group was big so we were put on two different boats. It was a really fun activity and in addition to the sunset boat ride we were also able to go for a sunset swim in the freezing cold water. After the boat ride a group of us went out to dinner together and then we all went back to the hostel where everyone hung out together. It was a super social evening and another fun time. The next day I spent some more time exploring different areas of the town and lakefront before spending the afternoon hanging out at my hostel talking with people there. The hostel I was at was really nice and was very social, so it was fun to hang out there and meet new people. That evening I went out to dinner again with the same group as the night before and then it turned into another night spent hanging out at the hostel with everyone. On my third and final day in Ohrid I spent the entire day at the lake after first visiting a church on a hill that overlooked the lake and then went to a small, quiet beach near the church. When I first got to the beach I spent some time laying out in the sun and swimming in the freezing cold water before I was later joined by three people from my hostel. The four of us spent a few more hours relaxing at the beach before heading back to the hostel and repeating the activities from the last three evenings. It was a really fun end to my time in Ohrid and I enjoyed meeting a bunch of new travelers.

The next morning I had an early start to the day catching a bus to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. I was only in Skopje for a short lunch stop before I continued on to another bus headed to Prizren, Kosovo. I arrived in Prizren in the evening and after checking into my hostel I headed out for dinner before going back to the hostel and calling it a day. The next day was my only day in Prizren so I made the most of my time and explored the city. Prizren isn’t very big but it is considered the cultural capital of Kosovo and was an important city in Kosovo during the Ottoman period. There were a lot of cafes and a river that ran through the city. It was such a charming city to explore, just relaxing and people watching. Since it didn’t take long to see the city, I ended up spending some of the afternoon doing admin work and some planning at one of the many pretty cafes. That evening I then went out for dinner and then packed up as the next morning I was leaving on an early bus back to Skopje, North Macedonia. A woman in my room at my hostel was also going to Skopje so the next morning she and I went to the bus station together and went together to Skopje. The bus ride back to Skopje was nice and easy and had beautiful views of the countryside and mountains. Since Skope was another city that I was told didn’t need much time to visit, I only spent one day there. On my one day in Skopje I spent the day walking around the city. While there wasn’t a ton to see in the city it was a nice city to visit and I enjoyed seeing different statues all over the city. There were two different bridges in the city that were lined on each side with a bunch of statues of different people. What I also enjoyed about Skopje was the mix of the ages of the buildings, from an old Ottoman era bazaar to the newer metropolitan style areas.

While my time in North Macedonia and Kosovo went by quickly, I enjoyed the time I spent there and I was able to see everything I wanted to see in each of the cities I visited. My favorite stop in the two countries was Ohrid; it was a nice, small town and Lake Ohrid was a beautiful large lake. It was such a relaxing town to visit and while it was touristy it didn’t feel over touristed which was nice.

“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”

- Anthony Bourdain