This short article is about which of the two alternate routes around the lake you should take to Albania after visiting the city of Ohrid. On the other hand, if you have the idea to visit all the settlements around the lake, this article will clarify which cities you should visit.

Reminder: In order to be able to change countries, make sure that you have green insurance from your preferred car rental company. Also, be sure to specify the countries you will enter. Some car rental companies do not allow entry to every country. Because Yugoslavia disintegrated, there are still frictions between some countries such as Serbia and Kosovo. I will not go into detail here. I will open a separate page and place a link here. If you have any questions about this until you create that article, you can send us an e-mail from the "contact" section.

Let's get back to the matter at hand. So what are our alternatives?

The first alternative is to go through the Struga route. I am attaching the picture of the route below. 

Alternative Route 1:

The second route is to follow the Sveti Stefa route. I am attaching a picture of the route below. 

Alternative Route 2:

So which route makes more sense under these two conditions? 

We visited the centre of Ohrid on the first day by coming from the Prespa lake side, on the mountain road where the "Galičica" National Park is located, and the next day, after visiting all the locations on the Stefi Stevan route, we spent a good time at St. Naum Monastery and returned back to Ohrid and experienced the evening atmosphere.

In the morning, we entered the country of Albania via Struga > Radolishta > Frangovo > Mali Vlaj and Qafasa Border Gate in order to see the cities on the other side of Ohrid. 

However, the route named "Alternative 1" was actually inefficient. It is much more logical to leave the border gate on the side of St Monastery and cross into Albania. Let me briefly explain the reasons for this.

Why should you not prefer the "Alternative Route 1"?

First of all, there is no touristic point worth seeing in the settlements after Struga on the route in Map 1. Actually, there are, but both their numbers are very few and these locations are very far from each other. In addition, it was necessary to cover a lot of extra distance to reach these points. As a result, the efficiency rate per unit time decreased.

On the other hand, Struga cannot be considered a tourist spot on its own, but since it is close to Ohrid, it is worth seeing if you have time. In fact, if you have limited time, you may not even include Struga in your route.

And finally, in addition to all these disadvantages we have mentioned, this route does not go along the shore of the lake, so you will not see any lake view.

Why should you prefer Map "Alternative Route 2"?

If you are going to walk around the lake or to cross the border crossing to the country of Albania after sightseeing, be sure to cross through the "St. Naum" Border Crossing. Because this route has more visiting points compared to the "Alternative Route 1".

In our opinion, St. Naum Monastery alone is enough to choose this route. On the other hand, the road to St. Naum Monastery runs along the lake shore and the view of the lake and trees is very pleasant. 

Conclusion 

If you landed at Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport and rented a car or if you came by car via Skopje, the first location will be Struga>Ohrid>Sveti Stefan>Dolno Konjsko>Lagadin> Peshtani> Museum "The Bay of Bones"> Trpejca>Ljubanishta>St. Naum Monastery will be the last point. From here you can either turn back and end your trip or if you want to cross the border crossing "St. Naum" into Albania. 

In fact, our full route for Macedonia is quite detailed. For those who like to visit the country you will visit in detail, this route you will see in the link is the ideal route, I recommend you to take a look.

Finally, if you are not crossing into Albania but still have some extra time left, you can enrich your trip by continuing on the road belonging to the "Galičica" National Park and passing around Lake Prespa.