ANCIENT ROADS TO PRESPA LAKE

Ride from Krushevo to Bitola will take down Bushava Mountain, and across the waste fields of Pelagonia plane. Or, if we consider the different nationalities and cultures in Macedonia, this would be the ride between the Vlach community (Krushevo) and Macedonian community (Bitola). Historically, you will be riding through the land of kings: King Marco (12th century) built his walls and towers on the hills above Prilep; Tsar Samoil (10th century) died here from heart attack when he saw his defeated army coming back from Constatinopole; Perseus (2nd century BC) fought for the city of Stibera here, before he surrendered to the Romans…

Once you arrive Bitola, another 4km cycling will take you to Heraclea Lyncestis, the ancient city built by Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. Back in Bitola, only a few minutes walk from your hotel is the old town: Shirok Sokak pedestrian walkway lined with colorful neoclassical buildings, the Ottoman-era bazaar, the clock tower...

Cycling: 5h (62km, ascent 171m, descent 813m)

As you leave urban Bitola, you enter the old local road that used to connect Bitola with Prespa Lake in the times of Yugoslavia. Today it is rarely used, as it hasn’t been maintained since the opening of the new motorway from Bitola to Prespa, and it is still covered with cobblestone in parts. One part of this road is on the ancient route of the Roman road Via Egnatia, built over old Candavian Road some 2.200 years ago.

You will know that you are close to Lake Prespa when you notice the apple orchards around you. It is the region that supplies all of the Balkans with apples.

Unlike Ohrid Lake, Prespa Lake has only few commercial beaches (one of them by hotel Lakeview), as most of the coast is covered with reed – this lake is the refugee for many rare bird species. Some of them are threatened with extinction worldwide, such as the Dalmatian Pelican and the Pygmy Cormorant. They still breed here in large numbers and benefit from the extraordinary wealth of fish in the lake.

Cycling: 6h (50 km, ascent 752 m, descent 503 m)

Explore Prespa coast before you head home: you can relax on the beach at your hotel, you can cycle to the beach at village Stenje (6km), or, call us to arrange a boat to the big island in Prespa Lake. They call it “the Snake island” - it is home of few types of snakes, cormorants, turtles, rabbits… You will also find here the ruins from ancient Roman and Byzantine era.