Things to Do in Vilnius

At over 400 sq km (154 sq mi) and dense with pine, spruce and deciduous trees, Aukstaitija National Park is a real breath of fresh air.

The park’s forests attract deer, elk and wild boar but its biggest appeal, is its large number of lakes and rivers that make up 30% of the park’s total area. There are 30 rivers and 126 lakes in total and it is possible to explore many of them by boat or kayak. One of the prettiest lakes is Lake Baluosas, which has seven islands, one of which has a lake of its own.

There are over one hundred villages within the park, six of them protected as architectural monuments. Sights of interest within the villages include, the 19th century Ginuciai watermill, the bizarre Beekeeping Museum in Stripeikiai and an old wooden church (1750) and bell tower at Paluse.

AT 175m (574ft) the Ladakalnis peak offers breathtaking panoramic views of the forests and lakes below.

The country’s finest example of Italian baroque architecture can be seen at the Pazaislis Monastery and church in Kaunas, the largest monastery complex in Lithuania.

Built in 1662 by the order of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, four Italian architects designed the church and monastery, while sculptors of Lombardy completed the frescos and plaster casts.

Converted to an Orthodox church by the Russians in 1832, the church was also used as an archive, a psychiatric hospital and an art gallery in its time before being returned to the Catholic order in the 1990s and reconstructed to its former glory.

Every year, the Pazaislis Monastery plays hosts to an international music festival. If you visit during the summer months, you won’t be able to miss it.

Trakai is a historic city and lake resort 28km (17mi) west of Vilnius and is a popular day trip from the capital.

Dating back to the 13th century, Trakai was unusual in the fact that was inhabited by a number of difference nationalities simultaneously. Historically, Karaims, Tatars, Lithuanians, Russsians, Poles and Jews all lived in Trakai. Trakai Historical National Park was founded in 1991 to preserve the city as a center of Lithuanian statehood.

There are 200 lakes in the Trakai region and the town itself is surrounded by water. Originally settled by the Grand Duke Gediminas in the early 13th century (who built the Old Trakai castle, the remains of which lie under the existing 15th century monastery), Trakai passed to Gediminas’ son, who developed the town and built two additional castles.

Today, only the Island Castle remains and is the town’s main attraction, hosting the Trakai Castle Festival and a number of cultural events throughout the year.

The Curonian Spit is a 98km (61mi) long sand peninsula that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. This thin and curved piece of land has its southern half in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and its northern half in southwestern Lithuania.

Formed about 5,000 years ago from a glacier, winds and sea currents generate enough sand to keep the Curonian Spit above sea level. In fact, the spit is home to the highest moving sand dunes in Europe. With dunes as high as 60m (196ft) in some places, the width of the spit varies greatly - from a minimum of 400m (1,312ft) in Russia to a maximum of 3,800m (12,467ft) in Lithuania (just north of Nida).  

Nida is the largest town on the spit and a popular holiday spot for Lithuanian and German tourists. The spit’s best beaches are around here, along its northern shoreline.

Kuršių Nerija National Park was established in 1991 to protect the unique ecosystems of the Curonian Spit and Curonian Lagoon. Several ecological communities can be found here, from the spits outer beaches to dune ridges, wetlands, meadows, and forests.

The spit and lagoon are a popular feeding and resting ground for a large number of migratory waterfowl, and it is estimated that up to as many as 10 million birds may stop here during their spring and fall migrations.

Grutas Parks is a fascinating cultural center that exhibits Soviet era relics and statues in its museum and sculpture garden.

From 1989 to 1991, when Lithuania regained its independence, Soviet monuments were dismantled and dumped throughout the country. In an effort to preserve the monuments but with little money to do so, the government allowed Lithuanian entrepreneur Viliumas Malinauskas to open this self-funded sculpture park in 2001 near the town of Druskininkai.

Spread over 20 hectares (49 acres), Grutas Park has 86 monuments and statues set among re-creations of Soviet prison camps, guard towers and barbed-wire fences. Here you’ll find statues of the main Communist leaders and thinkers, including Lenin, Stalin and Marx, leaders of the Red Terror and the Red Army. The set-up is designed to help visitors understand the impact of Soviet ideology on the Lithuanian people.