Ride.
- Length: 60 miles
- Time: Two hours and a half to one day
- Start: Anywhere on loop
- End: Anywhere on loop
- Suitability: Any bike A2 and above
Places of interest:
Ohrid, North Macedonia
Struga, North Macedonia
Buqez, Albania
Tushemisht, Albania
Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species.
North Macedonia’s side of Lake Ohrid gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1979, with the designation extended in 1980 to include the cultural and historic area of Ohrid. In 2010, NASA honored it by naming one of Titan’s lakes after it. The Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Reserve between Albania and North Macedonia joined UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2014. Albania’s side of Lake Ohrid received UNESCO World Heritage recognition in 2019, and in 2021, North Macedonia’s portion became a protected Ramsar site, meeting all nine criteria for the designation.
In Albania, the coastal portion of the lake holds Managed Nature Reserve status. In North Macedonia, a portion of the lakeside is part of the Galičica National Park.
The towns situated at the lakeside are Ohrid and Struga in North Macedonia along with Pogradec in Albania. The lake is otherwise surrounded by settlements in the form of villages and resorts in both basin countries.
