Maqedoni e Veriut, Ohër

Ohrid, Saint Naum & Drilon 1 Day Tour

This full-day, 10-hour guided tour from Tirana crosses into North Macedonia to explore Ohrid, one of Europe’s oldest cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The journey continues through Galičica National Park to the clifftop Saint Naum Monastery on the shores of Lake Ohrid, before returning to the Albanian side for a final stop at Drilon National Park. Prices start from €55 per adult. The tour operates daily, children travel free, and the itinerary brings together four distinct stops across two countries in one guided day.

Who This Tour Is For

Ohrid is one of the Balkans’ most remarkable cities, with a compact old town filled with Byzantine churches, medieval fortifications, and cobbled streets overlooking one of Europe’s oldest lakes. The city became an important centre of Orthodox Christianity and Slavic literacy from the 9th century onward, and its remarkable concentration of churches, monasteries, and cultural monuments makes its historic centre particularly rich to explore.

Around 30 kilometres along the lake from Ohrid, close to the border with Albania, Saint Naum Monastery occupies a rocky promontory overlooking the water. Surrounded by peacocks and spring-fed pools, the monastery offers a peaceful and highly photogenic setting that feels very different from the busier streets of Ohrid’s old town.

This tour is designed for travelers who want to experience North Macedonia without arranging their own transport, border crossing, or itinerary. It combines Ohrid’s UNESCO-listed historic centre with the monastery and lakeside landscapes of Saint Naum, followed by a final stop on the Albanian side. It is well suited to culture and history enthusiasts, first-time visitors to the region, and travelers based in Tirana who want to explore one of the Balkans’ most celebrated destinations in a single day.

Tour Highlights

• Samuel’s Fortress, with panoramic views over Lake Ohrid and the surrounding mountains

• The Plaoshnik Academy Complex, the site associated with the first university in the Balkans

• The Church of Saint Sofia and its Byzantine frescoes

• The Church of Saint John the Baptist, Sveti Jovan Kaneo, perched above Lake Ohrid

• Scenic drive through Galičica National Park

• Saint Naum Monastery, with its clifftop setting, spring-fed pools, and resident peacocks

• Final stop at Drilon National Park on the Albanian shore of Lake Ohrid

• Cross-border day trip covering two countries in a single guided experience

Good to Know Before You Book

Duration

10 hours

Starting price

From €55 per adult

Group Size

Minimum 2 Travelers

Pickup

Tirana at your hotel

Best for

Culture and history lovers, first-time visitors, cross-border explorers

Group Size

Price

Per

1 Person

€170

Per Person

2 Persons

€90

Per person

3 Persons

€70

Per person

4+ Persons

€55

Per person

Group Rates

Prices may vary depending on the final group size, date, availability, and booking conditions. The current published website price should therefore be used as the reference starting rate.

Children Policy

Children aged 0–2 years travel free of charge.

Children aged 6–12 years pay 50% of the applicable tour price.

Children aged 12 and above are charged the full adult price.

Payment and Booking

Full payment is required when confirming the booking. Payment can be made by credit or debit card through a secure payment link provided during the booking process. Once the booking is confirmed, travelers receive a tour voucher containing the final confirmation, tour manager and customer care contact details, as well as other useful information for the trip.

Cancellation Policy

Liberty Travel does not charge a cancellation fee for tours and excursions cancelled due to force majeure or circumstances beyond the traveler’s control. For standard cancellations, the tour can generally be cancelled up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, minus any applicable administrative fees.

Early Morning - Departure from Tirana & Drive to Ohrid

The tour departs Tirana at 8:30 AM, heading east and then north through the Albanian highlands toward the North Macedonian border. The drive follows a route that rises through mountain terrain before descending toward the lake basin, arriving in Ohrid in time for a morning guided tour of the old town.

Late Morning - Ohrid Old Town: Samuel’s Fortress, Plaoshnik & the Churches

The guided visit to Ohrid begins at Samuel’s Fortress, the medieval citadel built by the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel at the end of the 10th century on the ruins of an earlier Hellenistic fortification. The walls enclose the highest point of the old town and offer sweeping views across Lake Ohrid and the surrounding mountains.

From the fortress, the tour descends to the Plaoshnik Academy Complex, the site of the church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon and one of the most significant early Christian and medieval sites in North Macedonia. Saint Clement of Ohrid established a literary and theological school here in the 9th century that is widely regarded as the first university in the Balkans.

The walk continues through the old town, taking in the Church of Saint Sofia an 11th-century cathedral whose interior frescoes are among the finest surviving examples of Byzantine art in the region — and the Church of Saint John the Baptist (Sveti Jovan Kaneo), the iconic 13th-century church perched on a cliff directly above the lake, one of the most photographed landmarks in the entire Western Balkans.

Midday - Drive Through Galičica National Park to Saint Naum

After the old town visit, the tour follows the western shore of Lake Ohrid south through Galičica National Park a mountainous protected area straddling the border between North Macedonia and Albania, known for its biodiversity and its dramatic views over both Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa simultaneously from its higher ridges. The drive through the park is scenic throughout and offers some of the best lake panoramas of the day.

Afternoon - Saint Naum Monastery

Saint Naum Monastery sits at the southern tip of the North Macedonian shore of Lake Ohrid, on a rocky headland just a few hundred metres from the Albanian border. Founded in the 9th century by Saint Naum of Preslav, a contemporary and colleague of Saint Clement, the monastery’s setting is genuinely extraordinary: peacocks wander the courtyard, spring-fed pools of crystal-clear water emerge at the base of the cliffs below, and the lake stretches north toward Ohrid under the mountains. The current church dates largely from the 17th and 18th centuries and contains well-preserved frescoes and the tomb of Saint Naum himself.

Late Afternoon - Drilon National Park & Return to Tirana

The final stop before the return journey is Drilon National Park, a small but beautiful park on the Albanian shore of Lake Ohrid near Pogradec. Fed by underground springs and surrounded by old plane trees, Drilon is a place of calm after the busier monastery visit a chance to sit beside the water, enjoy the lake views, and take in the quiet before the drive south back to Tirana.