Prespa Lake Tour

We can start the excursion by the car from the city of Pogradec or Korca. We will go on a boat trip on the Great Prespa Lake to Maligrad island in Prespa National Park, including a gentle walk to unique cultural sites. Maligrad is a small island (5 ha), in Lake Prespa, with many caves and a small cliff. Though the area is mainly sandy and rocky you can find several types of trees and a huge biodiversity. Starting from the village Pustec we will take a cruise to Maligrad island. There we will start a gentle walk to the famous cave church of St. Mary, a cultural moment of Albania that was built by Caesar Novaku, a local nobleman in 1369. We will see unique old fresco paintings as well as archaeological remains that prove very early settlements here. After climbing on to the top of the island we can enjoy a short picnic. Here is the opportunity to take some pictures, before going back and visit some more archeological sites on the island by boat.

General information

Length

57 km (1 hr) by car starting from Pogradec to Pustec.

27 km (36 min) by car starting from Korca to Pustec.

7.5 km (bidirectional, boat cruise + walk)

3 hours (1/2 hour boat trip, 2 hours visit at the island, 1/2 hour boat trip back).

*Prespa National Park

Prespa National Park covers a surface of 27750 ha and is the biggest National Park in the Balkans. It is located in southeast of Albania and on the border with Macedonia and Greece.

In the territory of the Park there are 12 villages. The Prespa National Park is part of the Korçë district. The entrance point to the Park is in Zvezda which is 25 km away from the border with Macedonia

The most impressive animal to be seen is the Dalmatian pelican, because it is an endangered species. In Prespa National Park you can find the largest colony of the Dalmatian Pelican in the world.

And of course, apart from 1130 different plant species there are animals like brown bear, wolves, foxes and wildcats.

There are also other attractions that can be visited, like the Treni cave (Small Prespa), Trajan Castle, the prehistoric living area near the lake and different churches in the mountains.