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.