With Macedonia within sight across the lake, it's easy to travel between Pogradec and Ohrid, stopping off at the beautiful Sveti Naum monastery, right next to the Macedonian checkpoint.

There are rumours of a new ferry service between the two towns starting in summer 2009, but till then the easiest way is to take a taxi to Ohrid, costing 2,000 lek or 500 lek in a shared taxi, taking under one hour.

You can also take a taxi to the border (200 lek), walk across the 500m of no man's land, and hop on a bus (or an infrequent ferry) to Ohrid at Sveti Naum (the bus runs every two hours, costing 120 denars).

Coming from Ohrid, you can expect taxis to be waiting on the Albanian side of the border between 09:00 and 19:00 (16:00 in winter); alternatively walk to Tushemist village (10 minutes) or Drilon Park (15 minutes) and catch the bus to Pogradec there.

Note that most foreigners entering Albania need to pay a €1 land border fee (leaving costs nothing); ask for a receipt. The border crossing is open 24 hours per day.

When travelling on to Skopje, check out our online and print Skopje In Your Pocket city guide.