5 Places to visit in Lithuania
Lithuania is a great place to visit for a week or two, especially during the summer months from June to August.
The country is relatively flat, with thousands of lakes dotted around the country. It’s easy to get around especially if you rent a car from Vilnius or Kaunas.
I’ve jotted down 5 places I’d recommend visiting when heading to Lithuania with photos I’ve taken from various trips there.
Vilnius
Vilnius is probably the best place to base yourself for a trip to Lithuania. It’s close to Kaunas, Trakai, and most of the centrally located lakes. The best area to find accommodation is anywhere in the area indicated in this Google Maps link.
It’s got relatively cheap accommodation, and I’d recommend staying at an Airbnb — You usually get an apartment/flat for 2 to 4 people, for the price of a hotel (You can use my link to get a discount on your first booking www.airbnb.com/c/lholland2 ). It’s a relatively small city, so you don’t need to stay bang in the centre.
You can spend a day or two walking around Vilnius’ old town. It’s small compared to other European cities, and the pace is nice and slow. There are some ‘tourist’ attractions (such as Gediminas Castle), but visiting the city is more about browsing through the old town cobble stone streets and chilling.
There are loads of interesting, somewhat ‘hipster’, new places to eat and drink constantly opening in Vilnius. One of them famously painted the Trump <> Putin graffiti outside it’s entrance. All well worth a visit. There is one small food market worth exploring called Halės Turgus and buying some smoked meat.
Vilnius is not really a shopping city, but Gedimino road from the main square is probably the closest thing to an ‘Oxford Street’.
I’ll publish a separate more detailed post about Vilnius.
Lakes
There are thousands of lakes in Lithuania. The great thing is THERE ISN’T really a ‘tripadvisor for lakes’ in Lithuania (I found this site, though doesn’t seem that good). This keeps the lakes reasonably uncrowded, whilst giving you that sense of ‘discovery’ when you find a hidden spot off the beaten track.
Having said that, here are a few lakes that we’ve gone to and would recommend visiting;
Grabuostas (The lake surrounds Obuolių sala, aka Apple Island). 1hr drive from Vilnius. Google Maps link here. This is one of our favourite places to go. Well worth staying on the island for a few days and rent one of their wooden cabins. During the day you can do all sorts of activities like; cycling, tennis, rowing, swimming etc…You can also rent a Lithuania BBQ (what I call a ‘shaschlike box’ )for a few euro and cook your own food which is awesome. A cabin for 2 costs around 35€per night. More info on their site here.
Lusiai (Close to the town Paluse). 1hr30mins drive from Vilnius. Google Maps link here. Reasonably quiet and comfortable. Straight forward to find the place. Great for rowing on the lake.
Asveja (Close to Dubingiai). 45min drive from Vilnius. Google Maps link here. This is part of a national park, surrounded by forest. Some roads that lead to places where to swim are not great for driving. Could be tricky to find the exact spot from where you can swim.
Trakai
Trakai is the location of Lithuania’s most iconic tourist attraction, Trakai castle. Google Maps link here.
It’s really close to Vilnius (36 mins drive), and well worth spending half or a full day there.
It’s nice to walk around the castle, and also the nearby town with loads of colourful houses. If you’re looking for a bit more adventure, you can rent rowing boats or sailing boats.
Here you can also find the typical kibinai being sold. They are typical ‘pies’ usually made with a meat filling inside. You should try tasting a few of them (My favourite is the pork one!)
There are some nice bars close to the lake where you can sit and relax for a drink as the sun goes down.
Worth highlighting that there are some good lakes to go swimming in the area close by.
Kaunas
Kaunas is the ‘other’ major city in Lithuania. People in Kaunas, say Kaunas is ‘the best’, people in Vilnius say Vilnius is ‘the best’. These two cities basketball teams are usually the most competitive, and most of the Lithuanian national basketball players would have played for one of the teams at some point in their carrier.
I personally find Kaunas has a bit less to do than in Vilnius. However, in the evening there is one area I’d recommend, Laisves aleja (Liberty Boulevard). It’s a long street with many restaurants, small bars, ‘discos’ and more..It’s usually bustling with activity on Friday & Saturday evenings.
Nida
I haven’t been yet to Nida, but all our friends who live in Lithuania go here virtually every summer. Let’s say it’s the ‘paradise’ of Lithuania.
I’d recommend Nida to people travelling to Lithuania for longer than a week, as it takes time to get there and come back.
From Vilnius it’s a half a day journey (~5 hour drive with a short ferry ride from Klaipeda to the Nida Curonian spit, google maps link here.)
From a geography perspective it’s interesting place for a few reasons;
It’s 100 km slither of land, similar to a sort of breakwater on the western coast of Lithuania. Some areas of the spit have got sand dunes very similar to a desert landscape. Lastly, the southern end of the spit is linked to Kaliningrad, Russia.
In summer it’s usually extremely busy, and some Lithuanians tell me they book one year in advance!
For anyone planning on a trip feel free to leave comments or questions below.
