Prespa Lakes

Great Prespa and Little Prespa lie at about 850 metres in the mountains where Albania, Greece and North Macedonia meet, separated by a narrow isthmus and connected underground to Lake Ohrid through the karst, and together they form one of the more important wetlands in the Balkans: the world's largest colony of Dalmatian pelican is on the Greek side, with birds ranging across all three sections, along with pygmy cormorant and a long list of others. On the Albanian side the villages of Liqenas and Zaroshke sit on the shore, and on the island of Maligrad stands a fourteenth-century cave church with frescoes, reached by boat. The area is a transboundary park and is quiet, with little development on any side.

The landscape

• Dalmatian pelicans - birds ranging across a three-country wetland.
• Maligrad island church - a fourteenth-century cave church with frescoes.
• Two connected lakes - Great and Little Prespa across three borders.
• Underground link to Ohrid - karst channels connecting the lakes.

When to go

April to June and September to October for birds. A day. Boats to Maligrad are arranged in Liqenas and depend on weather. Winter is cold and the lakes can freeze at the edges.

Good to know

Boat trips to the island are informal and depend on finding an operator. There are no hides and birdwatching is from the shore. Facilities on the Albanian side are minimal. Roads are slow. Water levels have dropped in recent decades.

Nearby

Korce is south-west; the Greek and North Macedonian borders are close.