Lithuania / Lietuvos Respublika – Let’s explore here

Lithuania is a small, low lying country in the Baltic region in the East of Europe. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill, at only 964 ft (294m) high. Over a third of the country is forested and there are lots of lakes and wetlands. Its neighbours are Latvia, Belarus, Russia and Poland, several of which it shares its long and illustrious history with.

Did you know that in the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe! At the time, it comprised all of the country that exists currently, plus Belarus, most of Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. They celebrate this fact a lot in Lithuania with many statues and buildings.

Current travels

We’ve created a blog for our visit to Lithuania. You may find it helpful, and you may pick up some tips, or more likely mistakes not to make that we’ve made 😉

On our current road trip we travelled from Vainode in Latvia towards Palanga and Klaipėda on the coast of Lithuania, before heading East to Kaunas. Kaunas was so lovely that we stopped over for several nights, using it as a base. From there we visited numerous small towns in the countryside, as well as the city of Kėdainiai and the capital, Vilnius, before moving on to Poland.

We’ve learned a lot about the Baltic states on this journey, and how they’re so different from each other. We’ve met loads of different people in Lithuania, almost without exception they’ve been super friendly and welcoming.

Our best places in Lithuania

Kaunas

We loved Kaunas so much, we stopped over for several days and used it as our base to explore the rest of Lithuania. It’s such a friendly and beautiful place. It’s a university town which was celebrating women in tech whilst we were there 🙂

Vilnius

Vilnius is a beautiful capital city that is really accessible. Parking costs €2.50 per hour in the centre when we were there. it’s an easy place to explore on foot, and there a lot to see!

Palanga

Although it was overcast and a bit chilly on the day we were in Palanga, it was clear to us that it’s a great coastal town. Lots of restaurants and Café’s, and the sand was lovely and soft. It was really busy when we were there as the weather was warm before we visited. There’s also a lot of wealth there, with plenty of supercars patrolling about – including a Ferrari that parked along side us – obviously in order to be cool 😉

Klaipėda

A coastal town that’s one of the last in Lithuanian before reaching etc Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. It was bustling with life when we were there – despite the look in these photos 🙂 Besides the ancient castle remnants, there’s a working port and a busymarina. We noticed lots of international restaurants and lots of smiling families.

Kėdainiai

Kėdainiai is an old town based just North of Kaunas. they’ve captured the essence of the old place really well. there were several schools visiting when we were there. The statue below is one of many that celebrates the long war with the Teutonic Order from Germany in the 15th to 17th centuries.

What’s it like to drive in Lithuania?

Driving in Lithuania is remarkably similar to driving in the UK, as they have many of the same stupid habits – such as everyone driving in the outside lane, when there’s masses of space in the inner lanes. Although they’re not as crazy drivers as the Latvians, there are some with the same crazy habit of driving up behind you way too fast and hovering 30cm behind in some vain attempt at intimidation presumably. In the main though, they drive in far more relaxed way that the Latvians, which is great, but not as relaxed as the Estonians – which they should aspire to do! 😉

There are some very strange roundabouts where you have to choose the correct lane way in advance of approach, else you won’t be able to exit where you want to. And quite often the right hand lane will suddenly stop and turn off with no advanced warning – many times we’ve seen Lithuanians themselves throwing their arms up in shock and waving about frantically trying to get back into a left hand lane to go straight ahead.

They also have a type of road where three lanes from opposite directions all merge into two lanes at the right angle to the two sets of 3 lanes – all at once!! So if if we were in 3 lanes turning into 2 lanes going left; at the same time people in three lanes opposite me were turning into the same 2 lanes (on their right)!! God knows who thought that was a good idea!! Chaos! Aside from some occasional barking of horns though, it’s mainly an easy affair.

We’ve also created a dedicated page to driving abroad, which you might find helpful 🙂

What currency do they use in Lithuania?

In Lithuania they use the Euro. The use of credit / debit cards is now widespread. Traveller’s cheques are accepted. There are lots of ATMs.

You should make yourself aware of the amount that your bank charges you for using credit and debit cards abroad. Often credit cards are cheaper for purchasing items directly, and for withdrawing cash from ATMs.

What language do they speak in Lithuania?

They speak Lithuanian in Lithuania. English is now widely spoken by the younger generations.

What time zone is Lithuania in?

Remember, when you’re planning your next trip to take a look at what time zone it’s in.

Do I need a visa to visit Lithuania?

We’ve created a dedicated, more comprehensive page on visas, which you should find helpful. Check it out!

Is wild camping legal in Lithuania?

Yes, wild camping is fine, although you should avoid national parks and natural reserves.

Is it safe to drink water in Lithuania?

Yes, it is safe to drink tap water in Lithuania. Bottled water is also readily available across the country. 

If you’ve got some awesome pictures, or some useful info that you’d like to share, let us know! 

And don’t forget to check out all the other pictures!