CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Prizren it runs 453 km to Prizren; allow about 11 h 11 of riding. It goes by way of Dlaboka Reka, Rrajca, Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid and back through Rrajca. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,500 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses Kosovo, North Macedonia and Albania - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 85 km this is North Macedonia Mavrovo and Galicnik Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
In the middle of Prizren's old town, behind a wall and a fence, stands a brick-and-stone church whose bell tower rises above the rooftops. This is the Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Bogorodica Ljeviška in Serbian, one of the most important medieval monuments in the Balkans. It was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century under the Serbian king Milutin on the site of an older church, and its interior was covered with frescoes that are among the finest of their time.
Read the complete Church of the Virgin of Leviša write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of the Virgin of Leviša is where the day begins. Next is Dlaboka Reka.
Few borderlands in the Balkans feel as folded and unhurried as the country around Peshkopi, in the Dibra mountains of north-eastern Albania. Across the frontier the same people are Macedonia's Dlaboka Reka, the Deep River, and the double name tells you the story: a Slavic and Albanian valley land cut through by a political line that locals still cross for weddings and markets. The Black Drin runs through the region, the great peaks of the Korab range stand along the border, and Mount Korab itself, at 2,764 metres, is the highest in both Albania and North Macedonia.
Read the complete Dlaboka Reka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dlaboka Reka comes up 63 km in. Next is Rrajca.
Rrajca is a village in the hills on the western side of Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia, a short way from the small town of Vevčani, and the point lies in a rolling country of orchards, beech woods and pastures just above the lake. The hills here belong to the Jablanica range, which forms a rugged wall between Macedonia and Albania, and the sound of cowbells and the smell of woodsmoke in the evenings are part of daily life. The village has a mixed population, and the local name in Albanian, Rrajcë, reminds you that this is a border region where Macedonian and Albanian cultures live side by side.
Read the complete Rrajca write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
126 km in you reach Rrajca. Next is Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid.
Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in Europe, perhaps a million years old or more, a deep, clear basin shared between Albania and North Macedonia, and this point lies on the Albanian side, close to Pogradec. The lake is so old and so isolated that it has developed its own species, with dozens of fish, snails and crustaceans found nowhere else. The most famous is the Ohrid trout, locally known as koran, which is protected and appears on menus with some controversy. UNESCO listed the lake and the town of Ohrid together for their natural and cultural heritage, and the Albanian shore is a part of the same landscape.
Read the complete Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid, about halfway. Next is back through Rrajca.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rrajca write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Rrajca sits at 251 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dlaboka Reka.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dlaboka Reka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Dlaboka Reka comes up 314 km in. Next is Church of the Virgin of Leviša.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Virgin of Leviša write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of the Virgin of Leviša closes the day.
Church of the Virgin of Leviša → Dlaboka Reka is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Dlaboka Reka → Rrajca is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Rrajca → Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid → back through Rrajca is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rrajca → back through Dlaboka Reka is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Dlaboka Reka → Church of the Virgin of Leviša is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.