Bitola to Prespa Lake

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.

Bitola is the former city of consulates and embassies, today one of the most beautiful cities in Macedonia which managed to maintain its 18th and 19th century neoclassical architecture and monuments. While in Bitola, don’t miss:
- Shirok Sokak – a pedestrian walkway in the center of Bitola, lined with colourful, romantic neoclassical buildings and lively cafes.
- The Old Bazaar – get the sense of how the bazaar felt long time ago, when it boasted over 900 shops selling everything: from soap, silk and gunpowder, to farm animals. Among the centuries old shops you will find pleasant little squares with fountains and Ottoman time monuments.
- Heraclea Lyncestis – archaeological site of the ancient city founded in the mid 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great.
- Museum of Bitola – among the many archaeological exhibits and ethnographic materials, you will find here the exhibition hall of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern Turkey, who lived and studied in Bitola.
- The Ethno museum in village Podmochani, with impressive collection of over 2000 exhibits: jewelry, guns, old coins, and over 160 different Macedonian traditional costumes from various regions of North Macedonia.
- Birdwatching in Prespa Lake. If you have the slightest interest in birds, you will love it! With 279 bird species, of which 143 species nest in this area! Prespa is home to the largest colony of Dalmatian Pelican in the world, with over 1400 pairs. Other important species which reproduce in the reed beds of Prespa are: Little Egrets, Great Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Black-crowned Night herons and Pigmy Cormorants.

Available on request

INCLUDED IN PRICE:

• Detailed cycling route descriptions and maps
• Local safety information and contacts
• Stand by support
• Organization and logistic by Macedonia Travel

NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE:

• Meals
• Personal medical and travel insurance (mandatory)
• Any extra expenses not mentioned under ‘included in price’

Options & Supplements:

• Arrival / departure transfers available upon request
• Rent of bike: from 21 € /per day
• Luggage transfer
• Accommodation in Bitola
  Family traditional hotel: from 25 € / per person / sharing double room;
  Single supplement: 15 €
  4* hotel: from 35 € / pp / sharing double room;
  Single supplement: 20 €
• Accommodation in Oteshevo:
  Family hotel: from 18 € / per person sharing double room;
  Single supplement: 8 €

By bus:
from Skopje to Bitola: Daily
Price: 8€ (430mkd) / per person / one way
From Oteshevo to Skopje: no bus service
Available transfer from hotel Lake View to Resen (17km). Few bus companies operate from Resen to Skopje daily.
Please contact the agency for current bus schedules

By train:
from Skopje to Bitola: Daily
Price: 5 € (314 mkd) / per person / one way
Please contact the agency for current train schedules

Private transfers:
Available on request

Available on request