A lot of you don’t know anything about this little beautiful country that is my home. I bet if you love traveling, first you travel abroad more and only then in your own country. Sometimes it is wrong because every place in the world has something to offer. Lithuania is not an exception. Here I will try to give idea what you can do in different parts of Lithuania. Of course, the main one is capital Vilnius and Trakai but in the south or west of Lithuania you can do many interesting things!

Capital Vilnius

Most of the tourists do not have any expectation about Lithuania and most of the time they are impressed. Vilnius is a historical capital of Lithuania, founded in XIV century. It is the only capital in baltic states that was founded by its own people. Riga was founded by Germans and Tallinn is a ”danish city”. City plan is from XIV century so I highly recommend to enjoy narrow streets of the old town, grab a coffee or ice cream and go to get lost! Don’t be afraid to enter courtyards in the old town – most of them are open and you can see how locals are living or maybe some sculpture or just a nice garden. Go to see panorama of Vilnius on top of Gediminas hill or St. John church belfry – views are amazing!
Of course if you want a guided tour – please contact me and we can arrange it.

The lake city – Trakai

Lithuania is famous for lakes because we have so many of them. And there are more cities that are called ”Lake city”. Trakai was the second capital of Lithuania before Vilnius was founded. We rebuilt the castle that is in the middle of the lake. In total there are 5 lakes in Trakai, all clean and perfect for swimming if you come on a hot summer day. During the winter time you can do ice skating on the lake. Trakai is the city of Karaims and Tartars because our Grand duke Vytautas brought them from nowadays Ukraine when he was expanding Lithuanian lands. Imagine, in XV century Lithuania was the biggest country in all Europe. And at that time Vytautas was staying in Trakai castle where you can go now, visit his room and hear stories about his glory. Or just enjoy nature and water only 30 km from Vilnius. When you get there – you must take a picture with the castle from the area you see in the below picture. Even locals do that every time they come.

South of Lithuania

South of Lithuania is famous for mineral water spa, mushrooms and berries because there are many forests. Also there is a Grutas park, so called ”Soviet theme park”, where you can find all different kind of statues that were standing during soviet times. Interesting to see how Lithuania has changed. Druskininkai and Birstonas are perfect for relaxing in a hotel with spa. In Druskininkai you will find a water park and snow arena – everyone will find what to do in there.  Nature is also beautiful, forests, swamps, Cepkeliu reserved area where you can see various species of birds and plants. Easiest way to reach it is with a car or private guide, otherwise you will visit only cities itself.

West of Lithuania

Some people don’t even know that Lithuania has a seaside. Our beaches are one of the best in Europe with amazing white soft sand beaches. The only negative thing about it – water is almost all the time very cold as it is a Baltic sea. You should definitely visit Curionian spit – this tiny land strip that you reach it by ferry from Klaipeda. It is fun to rent a bike and bike to Nida (60km) and then go back by bus. This could take 3 days. A hill of witches is worth a visit – many wooden handmade statues of witches and other mythological characters. Also dead dunes are beautiful and in Nida the big Parnidzio dune is amazing.
Klaipeda city is the only harbour city in Lithuania. It has german architecture and is very cosy to spend few hours in there.
Palanga is more of a party town, with nightclubs and restaurants. Also busy beaches during the summer – Lithuanians love this destination.

North of Lithuania

It is worth visit on your trip to Latvia as it is on the way. One of the most interesting point of interests is Hill of Crosses. There you can find more than 200 thousand crosses on one hill! It is very important for resistance as soviets were destroying crosses but every night people were bringing new ones. So it lasted few days that during the day crosses were destroyed and then during the night new ones replaced them. Lithuanians do have a strong will when they want to. Hill of crosses is close to Siauliai, the city of sun. (saule is sun in Lithuanian) It is one of the biggest cities in Lithuania, has a nice lake in there but not so many points of interest. In that part of Lithuania you can find some manor houses that have been rebuilt.
Birzai is one of the cities in the north of Lithuania. It has a castle, the longest bridge on the lake and beautiful nature around it.

Also, across Lithuania you can find many manor houses – some are beautifully renovated and you can have excursion or even some activities there. Check Pakruojo dvaras. 

This was just a brief guide to Lithuania. My goal is to tell you that Lithuania is not only Vilnius and Trakai – we have a lot more to offer. Will update you after some of my explorations too!
Let me know if you travel to Lithuania and need some advices!

A guide to Lithuania @ Fly Mild - Fly Mild - Find best deals and tips for your trip