The Most Remote Corner of Greece
Western Macedonia in winter, the lakes frozen, the mountains white, the Byzantine churches silent on their promontories, is the least visited and most atmospherically intense landscape in Greece. Kastoria, built on a promontory into its namesake lake, contains 72 Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches within a radius of two kilometres, the highest density of Byzantine religious architecture in the world outside Constantinople and Thessaloniki.
Prespa Lakes
The Prespa Lakes, a tripoint where Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia meet in a reed-fringed wetland, are home to the largest Dalmatian pelican colony in Europe. The village of Agios Germanos, home to the Prespa Society ecological station, is the base for lake bird-watching programmes and boat tours. FFGR Greece deploys a Range Rover SV for this remote terrain.
Two-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Kastoria, Byzantine churches, the traditional mansions of the arkondes, dinner at the lake's edge. Day 2: Prespa Lakes, dawn bird-watching by boat, the abandoned Macedonian village of Psarades, lunch at the lone taverna, return via Florina.
