Glasses clink and cutlery scrapes the plates at a pavement café by the side of the lake. People drink Aperol and espresso and take bites of pizza, their heads turned towards the peacock-green water and the villa-dappled hills that frame it. The scene wouldn’t be out of place in Lake Como – but I’m 1,300 miles away from northern Italy, in a pocket of southwest North Macedonia called Ohrid (pronounced och-rid).
Slowly inching onto the radar of UK travellers thanks to a selection of recently introduced direct TUI flights from Manchester and Gatwick, the town of Ohrid and its namesake lake have vital statistics that actually outshine their famed Italian counterparts.
