St. Naum from Ohrid: Boat, Bus or Tour?
5 min read
Twenty-nine kilometres south of Ohrid town, at the point where the lake meets the Albanian border, St. Naum is the day trip everyone ends up taking - monastery, springs, beaches, peacocks. The only real question is how to get there.
The boat: the way it is meant to be done
Boats leave Ohrid's harbour through the morning in season and take about an hour and a half down the full length of the lake, hugging the cliffs past Trpejca. You arrive the way pilgrims did for a thousand years - from the water, with the monastery's red brick rising over the trees. Most boats allow three to four hours ashore before the return, which is exactly enough for the church, the springs, a swim, and lunch.
Bus and car: the practical options
The coastal road bus is the budget route - around 40 minutes, several times daily in summer, passing Trpejca and Ljubanista beaches where you can hop off. By car it is a pleasant half-hour drive with parking below the monastery complex; combine it with a stop at Bay of Bones on the way back and you have built your own tour.
Once you are there
The monastery church of St. Naum holds frescoes and the saint's tomb - locals say you can hear his heartbeat through the stone. Behind the complex, the springs: dozens of underwater vents feeding glass-clear pools, best seen from the small rowing boats that drift over them. The resident peacocks own the grounds and know it. Beaches flank the monastery on both sides; the border fence with Albania is a two-minute walk and a favourite photo.