Lithuania Travel | Adventure Travel with O.A.T.
Search for amber along the Curonian Spit, discover the Hill of Witches, and share a meal with a Lithuanian family.
In winter, Lithuania becomes a snow-lover’s paradise. The lakes, rivers, and vast forests of the countryside become a wide expanse of wintry beauty, encased in a fairy-tale covering of white. While temperatures often can reach below freezing through March, the country’s outdoors become an idyllic picture for the season.
The medieval charm of Vilnius’ Old Town is also encased in winter charm. Amid its cobblestone streets and warmly-lit boulevards, you’ll find mainly locals trudging through the streets. As Lithuania this time of year is far from a popular tourist destination, you will be able to experience life as Lithuanians do, without throngs of visitors. Expect your tourism dollar to also go farther at this time.
End of November through December: The Christmas Market in Vilnius brings a giant Christmas tree and street side vendors into the Old Town.
January 1: Flag Day commemorates the first time Lithuania’s tri-color flag was raised atop Gediminas’ Tower, the last remaining part of the Upper Castle in Vilnius, in 1919.
In December, Vilnius’ Old Town basks in the warm glow of the Christmas Market. Along with a Christmas tree—decorated differently from year to year—dozens of vendors in small wooden stalls pitch all types of wares. This is a great time to pick up classic holiday trinkets such as wooden dolls, hand-crafted ornaments, and more.
Delve into the mindset of the Lithuanian men’s Paralympic goalball team.
While cold temperatures will last through March, April’s mild climate will thaw the chill of winter, revealing at first the muddy signs of revived life. Then, the countryside blooms as plots of farmland, ensconced in lush forests, color the terrain in vibrant colors by May. The crocus, which buds in vibrant lavender and sunny yellow brings color to Lithuania’s country roads.
Lithuania’s elegant state bird, the white stork, returns in spring from its long winter migration. With the world’s highest stork nesting density, it’s not uncommon for their peculiar tapping sound—made by rapidly clicking the parts of their beak together—to fill the air.
As peak tourism season takes place in summer, spring is a great time to enjoy both Lithuania’s stunning natural beauty, and to wander its city streets in search of traditional fare. Though prices have risen since winter, your travel dollar will still catch a fair price for such delicacies as potato dumplings and sakotis, a butter cake made on a rotating spit that resembles an evergreen tree.
March: One of the most anticipated annual events in Lithuania, the Vilnius International Film Festival brings more than 250 films, and thousands of spectators, to celebrate independent cinema.
March 25: For Stork Day, children receive gifts allegedly delivered by the elegant bird, including chocolates, fruits, and dyed eggs, all hung on tree branches.
April: The Kaunas Jazz Festival takes over the town of Kaunas annually, inviting such industry giants as John Abercrombie and John Scofield—and players from more than 20 countries—to open air stages.
April 1: Užupis Independence Day is celebrated by the Independent Republic of Užupis, a small neighborhood in Vilnius. A largely bohemian artist community, the day is celebrated with film showings, art exhibits, and performances.
May 19: Street Music Day brings more than 5,000 musicians to nearly all cities and towns in Lithuania, turning their streets into lively parties of sound.
The Kaziukas Festival celebrates Saint Casimir Jagiellon (“Kaziukas” being a Lithuanian version of the saint’s name), who was son to famed Polish King Casimir IV. An arts and crafts fair, this event—held on the Sunday closest to March 4—turns Vilnius into a major destination for finding handmade clothing, toys, jewelry, and other goods.
Lithuania’s summer, while short, is generally hot and humid. July is the rainiest month of the year, so thunderstorms should be expected. Many Lithuanians and tourists will take to breezy Baltic Sea beaches. They will be crowded, but at dusk, the sky lights up in brilliant orange and purple hues, as if out of a painting.
With longer days and shorter nights, this is a great time to absorb Lithuania’s natural splendor. As in spring, much of the countryside is blooming with flowers, and covered in lush forests. Also, the country comes alive, as summer is packed with holidays and festivals, such as the Feast of Saint John, the GAIDA Music Festival in Vilnius, and more.
June 1: The Klaipeda Castle Jazz Festival brings mainstream and independent jazz musicians to a stage near the ruined Klaipeda Castle. The festival usually ends with an all-night jam session with the performers.
June 7-10: ARTVILNIUS is a contemporary fine arts fair, featuring modern painting, sculpture, mixed-media, and more.
June 16: Culture Night celebrates the works of Vilnius’ artist community. Walk the streets and stroll open galleries viewing the fruits of their work.
June 24: Midsummer Day, also known as the Feast of Saint John, is a Christian holiday infused with traditions from pagan beliefs. Celebrated by singing songs, jumping over bonfires, and floating flower wreaths down the river, this a great day to discover Lithuanian folk traditions.
July 6: Statehood Day is a public holiday celebrating the coronation of King Mindaugas in 1253, who was the only native monarch of Lithuania.
July and August: The Christopher Festival is one of the largest music festivals in the Baltics, featuring over 40 performances in Vilnius and the surrounding area. Performers include artists from virtually any music genre.
Early August: Held near Zarasas Lake in northeastern Lithuania, the Rock Nights Festival attracts musical acts from Europe and beyond to an outdoor venue. For two days the once-tranquil area turns into a continuous concert full of young people enjoying rock and heavy metal music.
Usually held in the beginning of August, the Klaipeda Sea Festival brings thousands of people to the small seaside town of Klaipeda. A carnival, street concerts, and vendors offering local food and crafts—as well as bars and restaurants that stay open late—turn the town into an outdoor party.
As temperatures quickly decline in September, blazing orange, golden brown, and fiery red ignite the countryside in brilliant fall colors. Yet, snow often begins falling in October, so it’s important to get outside as much as you can before the quickly-advancing cold. It’s also a great time to watch white storks as they migrate south for the winter. They fill the sky with chaotic flying patterns, creating a dizzying display of nature’s grandeur.
Fewer tourists mean your travel dollar will be more valuable this time of year. Vilnius especially is beautiful, as the medieval charm of the old town—mixed with fall colors—creates a rustic scene worthy of a stroll or two.
Mid-October to November: The GAIDA Music Festival makes Vilnius host to leading acts in contemporary classical and avant-garde music, and is arguably one of the largest celebrations in Europe for the art form.
November 15: The Mama Jazz Festival in Vilnius is one of the premiere festivals for the genre in Europe. Major performers such as pianist Chick Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin—among many others—make this gathering a world-class event for jazz lovers.
In mid-October, the Festival of Lights turns the Neris River in Vilnius into a pathway of luminescence. Street vendors and performers fill the streets, but the true spectacle is in the artistic light displays covering the foliage, glowing sculptures, and hidden installations in the surrounding forest.
For centuries, Vilnius has been a truly diverse city, with Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Muslims all sharing the city before World War I. To stroll its cobblestone lanes is to witness both the pride and pain of its many cultures. Pride fills the traditional artists’ workshops and the family-owned restaurants that line the streets. Painful reminders of the past are found in historic KGB torture cells and the ghettos where Nazis forced the Jews to assemble. Happily, visitors today find a thriving city small enough to boast a village feel, and the chance to walk the lanes of Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or ascend the TV Tower, with its rotating observation deck. One of the city’s crown jewels is Vilnius University, founded in 1579. Home of the nation’s first printing press and its oldest library (housing millions of books), the university draws students from around the globe to join a student body now numbering 21,000.
In Northern Lithuania, a powerful testament to the endurance of Catholicism has covered a country hillside for nearly 200 years. Locals began erecting crosses here after the 1831 uprising that deposed the Russian tsar. The upright crosses were soon joined by small crucifixes and rosaries, often strung like garlands on the larger models. Some are plain, some lettered with the names of lost loved ones, and others decorated in folk-art style. In the 20th century, the Soviets put up barbed wire to keep locals out. That failed, so they added soldiers—which failed too. Even periodically bulldozing the crosses didn’t help, as locals would immediately replace the icons. Today, an estimated 200,000 crosses cover the hillside, in a tangle that seems to grow out of the earth like shrubbery, and when the wind blows, it makes an eerie tinkling wood-and-metal music.
The crown jewel of Lake Galvė is an island topped with a red-turreted Gothic Castle straight out of a fairy tale. Trakai Island Castle was started in the 14th century and finished in the 15th, originally to guard against incursions by German knights, but it eventually settled into a more regal role as the residence of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. It was known for its early version of forced-air heating, its secret passages, and an interior that was lush with murals, stained glass, and wood carvings. Over the course of its history, it kept changing personality, at one point used as a (very elegant) prison and then even abandoned for a time. Fortunately, the local population of Karaims, descendants of Turks who came here from Crimea in the 14th century to guard Trakai, have kept its history alive, and its splendor has been restored. Lithuanian concerts and festivals are held on the grounds and visitors comes from all over to see one of the nations’ most beloved buildings.
The Genocide Museum is a sobering entryway into the darker side of Lithuania history. In rooms that served in turn as quarters for Tsars, Polish occupiers, the Gestapo, and the KBG, memorials detail the imprisonment, suffering, and death of Lithuanians swept up in the Soviet genocide and the Holocaust. The basement contains cells and an execution chamber where more than a thousand civilians were killed by the Soviets. Across several floors, the personal effects, stories, and photographs of victims bring the story close to home. There is also a collection of documents highlighting the efforts of the resistance movement known as the Forest Brothers. The museum’s holdings continue to grow as locals come forward with their own donations of relevant personal objects they want to preserve, a reminder that their story is still being told.
A wooden church built here in the 15th-century burned down in the 16th and was rebuilt at the dawn of the 17th—only to burn down once more 20 years later. The third building was begun in 1668 and took eight years of constant labor to finish. Its funder, a military leader named Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas, thought of it as a monument to (and future mausoleum for) himself, more than as a grand religious edifice. But grand it is: With 2,000 stucco figures, 13 Baroque chapels, a crystal chandelier resembling a ship, and countless frescoes and paintings, its holdings could compete with many a museum. Now considered a national treasure, it also serves Pacas’ wishes: he was buried under the threshold, and his family coat of arms greets you as you enter the church.