Not as much to see as in neighbouring Ohrid (Struga (Macedonia))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Struga (Macedonia)
Date:	12/05/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting sights nearby

Disadvantages: Not a lot going on in this sleepy town

Having hitchhiked over the Albanian/Macedonia border late at night, I arrived in Struga fairly late and instead of soughting out accomodation, I couldn't really bothered and just decided to have a kip by the beach until sun rise, after all it was summer.

Waking with the sun light meant that I had plenty of time to explore Struga before heading up to the Mavrovo National Park, first stop obviously was the lake to have a wash/swim type thing, the shore was pleasantly quiet at this time but the water was a bit chilly (this would surely heat up later), views of Albania could be seen and I was busy looking at the little towns I'd visited the day before.

I'd read up a bit on Struga on the internet before because I knew it would be the first town I'd encounter. It didn't quite match my expectations, the centre is very nice architecturally but it is very small, there are several interesting churches but the focal point has to be the Crn Drim river running from the lake and splitting the town in two, there is a footpath on either bank and rows of trees, it's a popular place to hangout and I noticed that the so-called quiet town was getting rather packed as the day went on (I actually found Ohrid to be quieter.)

Struga is a bit of a poetry destination and the world's biggest poetry gathering is held in August, it was the hometown of the 19th century folklorists and poets the Miladinov Brothers and their former house is turned into a little museum. On the whole, there's not a lot to keep your attention in Struga itself though and the town is best used as a base to head off to the cave churches in Kalista and go hiking in Vevcani. The Macedonian countryside is beautiful and far superior to this rather lifeless provincial town.

Summary: A destination to be visited along with others