Prespa Lakes
Prespa National Park, Part Of A Transboundary Protected Area: One Of The World'S Largest Breeding Colonies Of The Dalmatian Pelican, Byzantine Island Ruins And Hermitages · Psarades, Western Macedonia
The Prespa Lakes lie in a high basin at roughly 850 m in the far north-west corner of Greece, where the borders of Greece, Albania and North Macedonia meet in the water. Great Prespa is shared by all three countries; Small Prespa is almost entirely Greek and ringed by reedbeds. Together they form Prespa National Park, part of a transboundary protected area, and host one of the world's largest breeding colonies of the Dalmatian pelican, alongside great white pelicans, pygmy cormorants and herons. People come for the birds from March to June, for the tenth-century basilica of Agios Achilleios on its island reached by a floating footbridge, for boat trips from Psarades to cliff hermitages painted with icons, and for silence, bean stews and big skies. It suits birders, walkers, photographers and travellers who want somewhere very few foreign visitors reach. The honest caveats: it is small, remote and quiet; services are thin, winters are cold, and the pelican colony itself is off limits - you watch the birds feeding and flying, not on their nests.
Great and Small Prespa lakes, Florina; villages of Psarades and Agios Germanos; the lakes are shared with Albania and North Macedonia, Psarades, Western Macedonia, Greece
Open landscape with no gates: the villages, lake shores, the floating footbridge to Agios Achilleios and the viewpoints can be visited at any time in daylight. The information centre at Agios Germanos keeps seasonal hours, typically daytime and longer in spring and summer - confirm. Boat trips from Psarades run roughly April to October, weather permitting. Florina is about 45 minutes by car and Thessaloniki about 3.5-4 hours; a car is essential. Book rooms ahead for spring weekends and August.