Lithuania Travel Forum

Friends!

We are visiting Lithuania for a little over then a week, having a rather tight schedule and mostly set route of roads we need to stick to.

My mother had been born in Lithuania but only spent time there as a child in the 50’s when everything was different… We (she and us, her sons) would like to include between the well known sites, and places we are scheduled to visit, some visits of nature sites, forests and nice lakes as to “feel” Lithuanian nature the way locals are doing when just heading for a half day nature trip, or picnic. We arrive in August and have a rented car (family car).

Our route, hence places we will have time to visit close to the roads, are:

Riga-Birzai-Pasvalys-Siauliai: one day from 8AM, ending in Siauliai. I know the area of Birzai and its sites, but rest of places I don’t.

In another day we head from Siauliai to Seduva, so have a few extra hours.

On the way from Siauliai to Palanga, we stop at “Plunge” and have some time to wander around.

Generally speaking we would like to take 2 picnics and short walks “on route” so look for a nice combination of forest, nature and most of all: easy to find place! Not nationally known famous park, just pure nature for someone driving a VW Passat, not hiking shoes…

I have a detailed Michlin map and am good with navigating and maps.

BTW: is it generally safe (for your somewhat new car) to stop near a local road and walk to places that era not in full view?

Thank you for all your help!

Hi,
Can anyone help me the following?
I have been working on my travel itinerary for Baltic nations and Helsinki
for August. Thanks to some members who responded to my inquiry
posted in this Forum, some of my routes have been fixed almost definite.

1) Bus route:a day trip from Vilnus to Trakai via Kaunas on 25th of August
I checked every likely website where I might find a proper bus schedule.
Unfortunately I have not got any luck yet. Is a day trip between these cities
possible? I think a day trip between Vilnius and Kaunas might be more than
enough in terms of consuming time for a day trip. So I added Trakai inbetween.

2) A day trip between Vilnius and Kaunas is not available?
I so found on http://www.eurolines.ee/en/node/150. It said as "No available
departure on day (2009-08-25)", which is unlikely to me...??

3) Coaches and minibuses serving a route between Vilnius-Kaunas
On the other website, I found an possible route above. I would like to know thier time schedule: how often; where to take(...may not be as at the same
bus station as at internationl bus station); the prices; time of the first and the last bus from each station; any advice I should take into account...etc.

4) About Euro currency to be used in Baltic states
As for traveling in the Baltic states such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,
are euro notes and coins available at present at any place, small shops and
local transport...etc? If so, paying in Euro is comparatively high compared with paying in the local currency?

5) Currency Exchange Booths
Are there Currency Exchange booths available right after I got off the international bus before moving into the first city of next country? I might otherwise get stuck there!

Any advise is much appreciated.
Thanks,

Kuniko

Hi!
I am going to Vilnius for the first time this summer to see the land of my grandparents. I am in desperate need of a tallit and was hoping to purchase one in Vilnius. I like the idea of being wrapped in a prayer shawl from the country that my family came from. is this possible? I mean are there any judaica stores that sell such ritual items, or am I better off buying a tallit in Poland when I am there? Thanks for any help.

Hi there,
I will be in Baltic nations and Helsinki in August.
Can anyone help me the following?.
As for traveling from Vilnius to Riga, I would like to stop at Siauliai
to see the Hill of Crosses for a couple of hours along the way.

The possible choices of the routes I have in mind are:
1) Vilnius to Kaunas - Siauliai to Riga... two days trip
Staying over night at Kaunas and departing next morning from
Kaunas for Siauliai to visit the Hill of Crosses for a couple of hours,
then moving on to Riga in the same day.
2) Vilnius to Riga via Siauliai... one day trip:
Leaving Vilnius early morning for Siauliai to visit the Hill of Crosses
for a couple of hours and moving on to Riga to arrive in a day.

Can I take either choice without any problem?
I should take either buse or train for this itinerary. Which choice is
better? How can I find proper time schedule at website?

I've checked website and found the given information might not be
appropriate to my inquiry. There must be some place where I can
get proper information... I have not hit the right one yet??

Many thanks in advance
Kuniko

Hello,

I am planning to travel to Lithuania and the other two Baltics this summer for one month. I just heard that the costs got fastly rised after EU membership there.

Could you please write me some sample costs in Lithuania in Euros please?

A cheap meal in a cafe
A good meal in a restaurant but not luxury one
A local beer in a bar
A vodka in a bar or club
A cheap but okay single room in a guesthouse or pension
A small, central apt to rent
Enterance to a museum
A botle of water in market
A bus drive for 5 or 6 hours

Thanks a lot :)

Alper

Hi. I am going to meet a friend in Vilnius in September time and do a Scandinavian tour with them. I can't find any rental companies that do one-way rent a car deals to the Latvian border. So I though of buying a cheap car there and using that for the whole - or some of - the trip. Would this be nearly impossible, a long process or what? I am an EU citizen.

Hi all,
I've been trawling Vilnius accomodation sites, and have shortlisted the following places. Can anyone comment on any of them? Have you stayed there? Would you recommend them? Are they value for money? Clean? Are all OK in terms of location/walking distance to old town centre?
Thanks everyone.

We are looking for middle-of-the-road accommodation - fairly cheap, like ~30-60 Euro per room per night, want a private room, and preferably a private bathroom, and a slightly better standard than backpackers like Filaterai and Lininterp.

IN ASTRA B & B - J.Basanaviciaus St. 3. Apparently ~ 58 Euro per night.

HOTEL AMEDA GUESTHOUSE - Latvių Gatve 27. About 30-46 Euro per night.

FLORENS B & B - Aušros Vartų gatvė, Senamiestis. About 55 Euro per night.

BERNADINU B & B Bernardinu str. 5. About 49-55 Euro per night.

Or the following apartments:

vilnius apartments/euapartments.lt - 50-65 Euro
Anre guesthouse - 55 Euro
Angelika's apartments
Eldorado apartments
Vilnius heart apartments

Thanks again

I am planning to arrive at the Vilnius airport on Thursday, 9 July at 23:00. What would be the least expensive way to get to the center of the city and what should I expect to pay?

I will take the train from the Vilnius airport to the terminal in downtown Vilnius. From the railway station, what trolley bus number will take me to the closest stop to the Holiday Inn, Seimyniskiui 1?
Thanks

what is the exact location of the church of st. bernardine in vilnius and thier email address and who heads the church, a bishop or a priest? who is he?

I'm sorry if aspects of this have been covered in other posts, but I need several specific questions answered at once.
I'll be travelling to Lithuania for a conference, and the easiest way to get my workplace to provide funding is by detailing all the Lithuania-related travel expenses (i.e., not australia-europe airfares, as we will also be doing our own travel in Europe, it becomes more tricky).
So I need a broad brush estimates of food, public transport, and getting to Lithuania from Western Europe, so that work will actually fund me. I've already figured out accom estimates .

Could people help me with any or all of these issues?

1. A broad estimate of how much food will cost daily? Costing down the middle I guess - we won't be restricting ourselves to tinned baked beans, but not 5-star restaurants each night either. Maybe simple continental breakfast, sandwich/Lithuanian equivalent for lunch, and a nice (but not pricey) restaurant for dinner, plus a snack and a drink or two.

2. Getting to and from the old town to Mykolas Romeris University (north of the river). On the map, it will probably be a 3-6km journey, depending on where we end up staying. I am assuming there will be some form of public transport - any ideas on how much this would cost daily (i.e. return trip)? Or else, approximates on taxi fares for a 3-6 km journey and back?

3. Getting from Western Europe to Lithuania. We'd like to go by train, and I see there is a route from Berlin to Vilnius through Warsaw. From my brief searching, it also seems I pay for the 2 separate legs to and from Warsaw. Warsaw - Vilnius I think is ~ 25 pounds/euros/50 AUD. But I saw in another post that booking a retun costs slightly less than oneway, around 20 Euro. And I think Berlin - Warsaw is ~90 Euro.
So would an approximate estimate of ~200 Euro be correct for the return journey? Or will a Berlin-Warsaw return fare be much less than the 2x oneway fares I have caluclated? I did look for return fares, but www.bahn.de wasn't that forthcoming.

Thanks so much for your help - any detail at all would be great!

By the way, I will of course look into all of this myself more thoroughly later, I'm not being lazy, but for now I just need quick and approximate estimates, to guarantee the funding in the first place.

someone mentioned 'rafting from kaunas to nida', i've not read it in any tourbooks. is it for real? how many hours on the raft? to help me decide whether i can stomach it. where can we prebook? i'll be there in early august 2009, and don't want to be squeezed out by the hordes of people.
where to find info on wooden cabins to stay in nida, once there?
thx! rose-marie

hi everybody, i am georgian student, we are 12 students coming to klaipeda for a month in may 4, so we need to rent 2 or 3 appartments in the center of klaipeda, i have asked for help to a lot of agencies by the internet but nobody answered, so if somebody can somehow help us please answer

hello we are 12 students coming to klaipeda in may for one month so we need to rent 2 or 3 flats in the center of the city, in a price rabge 300-750 euro i have contacted to some rental agencies by internet but nobody answered please help me

hi i need to know can i get to klaipeda by train from riga and what is the train cost

Dear Friends

I am planning a 4-5 day visit to Lietuva about late May – after a short work visit to Riga. I plan to visit certain main cities and few smaller places, where I have specific intension in visiting. I will be driving a rented car, thus need a raw estimation of the average driving time between the following places (average day with "normal" traffic).

Siauliai-Riga airport

Siauliai-Palanga (in a route that passes Plunge, where I might need to visit).

Klaipeda-Vilnius through Kaunas city (what is the estimated driving time between Klaipeda and Kaunas? As I might only have time to visit Kaunas "on the way").

Vilnius-Panivezys-visit to the area of Birzai-Riga: The main question – could this visit take place within one day, all during light hours? How fast are the border procedures in the Li-Lat border on this road?

Also: The maps show a secondary road leading from Lithuania to Latvia near Birzai – is this an active border cross, or would we need to return to the main road from Panivezys to Riga to cross? Does anyone know if there are convenient hotels near Birzai or in that town in case I might need to "break" this journey (Vil-Riga) into 2?

Thanks in advance!

I have looked at the Vilnius website regarding public transportation, not much there in the way of help. I need to go from the airport to the following hotel Martialis Viesbuttis Hotel, located at Bistrycios Str. 13. Directions by public bus from the airport would be greatly appreicated. Thanks.

I have been looking on the DB site and the PKP website regarding train travel from Vilnius to Warsaw. I can find the schedule but no prices are given. Would appreicate a ball park figure for this trip, 2nd class is fine. Thanks

We will be visiting Lithuania for the first time this spring. My wife will be searching for info about her family (Charlonis), a name which is extremely rare in the US, perhaps because of spelling variations. We also want to sightsee in Vilnius and Kaunas(possibly the origin of her family). Would you recommend getting a guide to help us do this kind of thing? We don't speak Lithuanian but usually do well in other European countries with basic phrases. How much would a guide cost? Is it a bad idea? Thanks for your help. Jerry Horn

I am likely to visit Kaunas in April/May. I am a book-lover so need to know good book-shops in Kaunas (also Vilnius)where English books can be obtained/purchased.

I am coming to Panevezys in April, 2009 to do some family history searching.
Does anybody know somebody who does this regularly, so that some preparatory
has been done?
Robert Schlachter

Just curious what the apartment rental costs in the old city is for say, a nice apartment with a nice view of 60-70 square meters as well as one that is 90-100 square meters?

Are there any English-friendly websites commonly used to find an apartment in Vilnius?

This summer we would travel to Lithuania. Who have tips about the best route from Berlin (BRD) to Vilnius? What's the best route trough Poland?

Greetings! In January, I am planning to drive from Tallin(n) to Riga and then on to Vilnius and Warsaw. Any suggestions about road conditions, services, etc? Thank you.

I hope to visit a friend in Klaipeda in January, but have limited time. Can anyone please tell me the options available for travel from Kaunas airport to Klaipeda, or maybe to another place near to Klaipeda. Thank you, Dave (dagofin)

Going to lithuania on the 27th dec arriving into vilinus. can anyone tell me if there is a train or bus that goes to klaipeda at around 9pm.

Hi all!
I am going to visit your city after Xmas. Could you help me to find the plan of Old City.
Could I buy or take it somethere?

My friend and I are going to Klaipeda for 3 days in October. We would like to see the Curonian Spit, and we are wondering what is the easiest way getting there? We would also like to visit Nida and Palanga - are they worth a visit and what is the "must sees"?

Do you have any other recommendations for things to see in the Klaipeda area, places to eat, shopping and spa treatments?

And what is the weather like these days? Should we bring a warm coat, scarf etc?

I am travelling to Nida on the Curonian Spit in Lithuania next summer to explore the beaches and nature. Do I need a visa if I want to continue to Kaliningrad? Is it easy to get one on the border?

When is the Capital city Days festival?