Ohrid

The flat lower town is where Ohrid lives: a pedestrian bazaar street running down to the harbour, lined with jewellers selling the famous Ohrid pearls (made from fish scales and a closely guarded lacquer, not from oysters), cafés, bakeries and small shops. At its heart, in a little square, stands an enormous plane tree said to be around nine centuries old, its hollow trunk once home to a barber's shop. From the harbour the promenade follows the shore, with wooden boats offering short trips along the cliffs and longer runs to St Naum.

TipOhrid pearls are sold everywhere; buy from the long-established family workshops on the bazaar, which can explain how theirs are made.

Just above the lower town, St Sophia was the cathedral of the Archbishopric of Ohrid and holds some of the most important eleventh-century frescoes anywhere in the Byzantine world: solemn rows of saints and church fathers, scenes of the Ascension and a procession of angels in the apse. Under Ottoman rule it became a mosque and the paintings were whitewashed, which, ironically, helped to preserve them until restorers uncovered them in the twentieth century. Its fine acoustics make it a venue for concerts during the summer festival.

Near the upper gate of the old town, this late thirteenth-century church, also known as St Clement after the relics that were once kept here, is a showcase of brick-and-stone patterning outside and lively, expressive frescoes inside, signed by the painters Michael and Eutychios, whose names are among the earliest recorded of any medieval artists in the region. Next to it, a gallery holds a superb collection of icons from the Ohrid churches, and it is worth the visit for those alone.

Set into a hollow on the hillside between the old houses, Ohrid's theatre dates from the Hellenistic period, around the second century BC, and was later adapted by the Romans, possibly for gladiatorial games, which may be why it was abandoned and buried once Christianity took hold. It was rediscovered only in the 1980s and partly restored. Today the stone seats face the lake again and host performances during the Ohrid Summer Festival.

The walls and towers crowning the hill are named after Tsar Samuel, who made Ohrid the capital of his realm in the late tenth century, though the site was fortified long before him and the present walls have been heavily restored. Walking the ramparts gives the best panorama in town, over the roofs and churches to the whole northern basin of the lake and the mountains of Albania beyond. Bring water and come early or late: there is little shade on top.

On a terrace below the fortress, Plaošnik is one of the most important spiritual sites of the Slavic world. St Clement of Ohrid founded a monastery and school here in the late ninth century, and it became a centre of learning where thousands of pupils were taught to read and write. The church you see, with its cluster of domes, was rebuilt in the early 2000s on the foundations of Clement's church and holds his tomb. Around it lie the remains of an earlier basilica with fine fifth-century floor mosaics, some protected under shelters.

North Macedonia's most photographed building is a small thirteenth-century church perched on a rocky point above the water, a short walk down the path from Plaošnik or along a boardwalk and steps from the old fishing quarter of Kaneo. The setting is what makes it, especially in the soft light at the end of the day, though the interior keeps fragments of its original frescoes. Below the church, a few tiny beaches and lakeside cafés are perfect for a swim.

TipFor the classic view, look back at the church from the cliffside path just above it, at sunrise or sunset when the crowds thin.

About 16 kilometres south of town, at Gradište near the village of Peštani, archaeologists found the remains of a Bronze Age settlement built on wooden piles over the lake, along with thousands of animal bones, which gave the bay its name. Part of the village has been reconstructed on a platform over the water, with thatched huts linked by walkways, and a small museum displays the finds. Divers can visit the underwater remains, and a Roman fort crowns the headland above.

The mountain ridge between Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa is protected as Galičica National Park, a limestone landscape of meadows, beech woods and bare summits rich in rare plants and butterflies. A winding road climbs from the Ohrid shore to a pass where, on a clear day, both lakes appear at once, one on either side. Marked trails lead from the road to Mount Magaro, around 2,250 metres, and paragliding flights take off from the slopes above the lake. On the Prespa side, the park includes Golem Grad, an uninhabited island known for its tortoises, ruined churches and snakes, reachable by boat in summer.

TipCheck the park's website before driving up: vehicles pay an entrance fee, and the higher trails are best left until snow has cleared, usually by June.

At the southern tip of the Macedonian shore, close to the Albanian border, St Naum founded a monastery in the early tenth century, and his tomb still lies in the church, where visitors press an ear to the stone in the hope of hearing his heartbeat. The church was rebuilt in the sixteenth century and is richly painted. Peacocks wander the grounds, and below the monastery the springs that feed the lake rise in clear, icy pools; rowing boats take visitors through the reeds to see them bubbling up from the bottom.

TipBoats from Ohrid harbour run here in summer, a pleasant trip of around an hour and a half each way; buses and taxis go year round.

At the northern end of the lake, 15 kilometres west of Ohrid, Struga is where the Black Drim river leaves the lake on its way to Albania and the Adriatic. The town is less dramatic than Ohrid but relaxed and authentic, with a riverside promenade, cafés and beaches along the shore. Each August it hosts the Struga Poetry Evenings, one of the oldest international poetry festivals in the world, with readings on the bridges over the river. In the hills above, the village of Vevčani has springs, old houses and a famously anarchic winter carnival in January.

On the edge of Bitola, about an hour and a quarter by road east of Ohrid, are the ruins of a city founded in the fourth century BC by Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, which flourished under the Romans and as an early Christian bishopric. The highlight is the floor mosaics of its basilicas, especially the large mosaic showing the tree of life surrounded by animals, which is usually covered to protect it outside the summer months; there is also a small Roman theatre.

Bitola, North Macedonia's second city, was a busy Ottoman garrison and consular town, nicknamed the city of consuls, and its main pedestrian street, Širok Sokak, is lined with pastel nineteenth-century mansions and cafés filled from morning till night. It leads to the clock tower and the old bazaar, with a covered market and mosques. It's a good place to stop for lunch on the way between Ohrid and Skopje.

Just 15 kilometres south-west of Skopje, the Treska river has cut a steep, wooded canyon, dammed in the 1930s to form a narrow green lake. From the dam, a path runs along the cliff past the little church of St Andrew, and boats and rental kayaks continue upstream to Vrelo, a cave with stalactites and deep flooded passages. Several medieval monasteries cling to the slopes, and the hiking trails above are popular with locals at weekends.

TipGo on a weekday morning; at weekends the narrow road and the boats are busy. City buses run from central Skopje towards the canyon.

The fifteenth-century Ottoman bridge over the Vardar is Skopje's emblem and the link between the two halves of the city. On the south side, Macedonia Square is surrounded by the giant statues, neoclassical façades and fountains of the controversial Skopje 2014 rebuilding project, which divides opinion but is undeniably a spectacle. Across the bridge lie the old Ottoman quarter and the hill fortress, Kale, with views over the city.

One of the largest surviving Ottoman bazaars in the Balkans spreads over the north bank: a maze of lanes with craftsmen's workshops, tea houses, kebab grills, caravanserais and mosques, including the elegant Mustafa Pasha Mosque. The Daut Pasha baths now house the national art gallery, and the restored stone inns, such as the Suli An, are worth a look inside. It's the liveliest part of the city in the evening.