Tours in Ohrid

Start at the water. In Ohrid the lake is not a backdrop, it is the town's front room. By evening people drift down to the lakeside and stay there, walking the boardwalk, sitting on the stones, ordering one more coffee because nobody is in a hurry to leave.

The old town climbs from the shore in narrow, uneven lanes, and the climbing is the point. Churches turn up around corners, small and stone and quiet inside. The Church of Saint Sophia sits close to the water and rewards a slow look at its walls. The Church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon is a good place to begin, before the day heats up and the lanes fill. Higher up, the Ancient Theatre sits among the houses, and above it the walls of Samuel's Fortress give you the view everyone photographs: red roofs, the lake, and the far shore fading into haze.

Wear shoes you do not mind scuffing. The paths are steep and the cobbles are smooth, and you will want to stop often anyway. Follow the boardwalk along the edge of the rock toward Potpesh beach and you see the town from the water's side, with cafes and souvenir stalls tucked in along the way.

Ohrid's other landmarks are worth asking about too. The monastery church of Saint Jovan at Kaneo, perched above the lake, is one many visitors want to see, and so are the lanes of the old bazaar. If something is not on the list below, ask. A local guide can build a route around it. Struga, a short drive along the lake, is a calmer place, where a river leaves the water and cafes line its banks.