Lake Ohrid has a few quiet beaches but more and more beaches with music and bars. The rise in tourism means that the beautiful shores of the lake are being commercialized. Parking near the beaches often is not free anymore and will cost you a couple of euros for the day. Most beaches consist of pebbles.
Below is an overview of some of the beaches along the lake, from Ohrid in the north-east to the Monastery of St Naum in the south. If you want to combine relaxing at the beach with some sightseeing, see here for the sights along the road from Ohrid to the Monastery of St Naum.
Below the hill with King Samoil’s Fortresses there are some small and quiet hidden beaches that can only be reached by boat or by foot.
– Kaneo beach, next to the cave church St Bogorodica and near the Church St Jovan. Very rocky. There are several other city beaches in the center of Ohrid.
If you walk south from Ohrid along the lake you will pass a high bridge and military camp and find the beaches:
– Military Beach, just after the bridge. The beach has a well kept grass field. The first part of the lake is with stones and it is hard to walk into the water. After that the soil is muddy with waterplants. No loud music, no commercial beach-chairs, one of my favorite quiet beaches where you can just lie on your own towel (N41.10317 E20.80714).
Between the Military Beach and Gorica 1, there are several beach clubs such as Cuba Libre and Kadmo.
– Gorica 1, relatively quiet beach. There’s a bar with beach-chairs, but you can also lie on a grass field on your own towel. One of my favorite beaches. The first part of the lake is with stones, after that the soil is sandy (N41.09177 E20.79978).
– Gorica 2, with bars and music
– Gorica 3, with bars and music
– Slavija, with bars and music
The beaches below are best reached by car, (mini)bus or bike. (Mini)buses frequently go from Ohrid to St Naum and back.
– Metropol
– Granit
– Lagadin
– The village Peshtani
– Gradiste, at a camping site. You have to pay for parking and to get to the beach. The camping has several beaches, connected by a little bridge along the rocks. These beaches have bars and music and are very popular among young people. Parties with DJs are frequently organized here.The Cave Church St Bogorodica can be found here as well.
– The fisherman’s village Trpejca has a long, narrow beach. You can get a boat to take you to more isolated beaches and arrange to be picked up later.
– St Zaum Church with a small beach, which can be reached by boat from Trpejca or Ljubanista. The location and the church alone are worth a visit. You can also reach St Zaum with a short hike from Trpejca, but the trail may be a bit overgrown at the end. There are some small quiet stony beaches along the trail as well.
– Ljubanista, at the camping site Sveti Naum. You have to pay to enter the site by car. According to me the best beach of the lake, since it consists of sand and has a beautiful location, still without loud music last time we visited. The lake is shallow and the soil is sandy. Probably the best beach for kids. The only disadvantage is that it is in the south at the other side of the lake. It is about 30 km from Ohrid, will take you 30-45 min to get there by car. Getting back to Ohrid in the afternoon can take a lot longer, since this road gets very busy…
– Beach near the Monastery of St Naum. Not a particularly clean beach, but thanks to the boulevard with its stalls for the tourists it has a good atmosphere. But when you’re in this area, I would prefer the beach of the campsite at Lubanistha.
Other beaches:
– Beach of the town Struga (north part of the lake).
– Beach of the village Kalista. On the north-west side of the lake.
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