The Lithuanian past as a forgotten empire reaching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea is impressive and leaves plenty of sights for visitors to discover.

Lithuania is the most southern of the Baltic countries and differs from Latvia and Estonia because of its status as an independent superpower of Europe through centuries.

 

Vilnius

Take a romantic journey in Vilnius Old Town and enjoy the atmosphere of the city’s history from the 16^th  - 19^th centuries.

Vilnius Old Town has a unique character created by the abundance of churches and monasteries.

The winding roads take the visitors to exciting architectural and historic monuments like Vilnius Cathedral – build on the legendary site where pagan gods were worshipped and where Vilnius was founded in the 13^th century – Gediminias Castle on the hill rising above the city center, the gem of the Lithuanian Gothic – the elegant St. Anne’s Church – and Vilnius University, which is the famous center of science and enlightenment since its very foundation in 1579 and the Gate of Dawn with a miraculous icon of Virgin Mary.

 

Outside Vilnius Old Town a modern city with hotels, shopping malls and offices is rapidly developing like any other European city.

 

Con-ex Tours in Lithuania

 

Kaunas City Tour

100km from Vilnius is Kaunas – the second largest city and the capital of Lithuania between the two World Wars when Vilnius was invaded by Poland. The tour includes the main attraction of the Old Town: Kaunas Castle - at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers Nemunas and Neris where the town was founded, the Town Hall Square with the 15-16th century merchants’ houses situated around the 17th century white Baroque Town Hall, the Kaunas Cathedral, the Gothic Vytautas Church built in 1400 on the Nemunas riverbank. In Kaunas, participants have the opportunity to visit Chirlionis Art museum and the Devil’s Museum with a large collection of devil’s art.

 

Trakai Tour

The tour to Trakai, 28 km from Vilnius, is a journey to the ancient capital of the Lithuanian Grand Principality, famous for its redbrick Gothic castle of the early 15th century. The mighty fortress was built to protect against the Crusaders and later became the residence of Lithuanian Dukes. The castle is built on an island in the Lake Galve and now houses and interesting museum. The small town of Trakai situated mostly on a two kilometre long peninsula has numerous attractive old wooden houses, mostly built by Karaites, a Jewish sect invited to Trakai by the Duke Vytautas from Crimea and whose descendants still live in the town.

 

Druskininkai

Hidden in the forest on the river bank of the Nemunas is the resort of Druskininkai. The town was founded around the 13th century fortress and the name refers to the salty springs in the area. By 1837 the first guest arrived for health treatments and the resort is today one of the leading health resorts in Lithuania with numerous sanatoriums and health centres.

 

Curonian Spit

After crossing the Curonian Lagoon by ferry the Curonian Spit is reached. It is a sandy stretch of land, 98 km long and varying in width from 400 metres to a few kilometres, between the waters of the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. The place is a popular holiday site full of the sweet scent of pines and water. Formed some 6,000 years ago as sand accumulated in shallow waters near the coast, it is an extremely romantic area today with its fishing villages developed as resorts like Juodkrante, famous for the Hill of Witches, or Nida – the main destination noted for its magnificent 50 m high dunes, the Lithuanian Sahara, attracting visitors since the middle of the 19th century. The German writer Thomas Mann had a summer cottage in Nida, which now houses a museum and has remained a meeting place for writers and intellectuals ever since.

 

Klaipeda City Tour

The third largest city in Lithuania is the port town Klaipeda - Lithuania’s only gateway to the Baltic Sea. The city is 300km from Vilnius and has a long history since the times of fishing villages of ancient Balts and later the arrival of German Crusaders, who seized this land and later built their castle in 1252, later known as Memel.

Klaipeda City Tour includes the Old Town with merchants’  warehouses of typical German style with “fachwerk” half-timbered buildings, old Castle territory, Theatre Square with the Simon Dach Fountain – named after 17th century German poet. The participants can chose to visit other sights like the Clock Museum – displaying the whole history of telling time – or the Lithuanian Sea Museum and Aquarium where visitors can see seals, sea lions and penguins.

 

Hill of Crosses

12 km from Siauliai is one of the most unforgettable and emotional sites in Lithuania – the Hill of Crosses – a shrine for many Catholics. The hill is covered with more than 100,000 crosses in all sizes and made from all kinds of material.

The history of the hill dates back to 1300-s, but especially from the 1800-s crosses were put here to honour the dead after the rebellion of 1831 was suppressed by the Tsarist authorities. When Soviet authorities took power in Lithuania after World War II they tried to remove the crosses on many occasions. But overnight people always secretly replaced the crosses. Today it is a symbol of the spirit of the Lithuanian people.

 

Palanga

The most popular Lithuanian seaside resort, just 25 km from Klaipeda, boasting beautiful long white sand beaches, backed by dunes and pine woods. One of the most beautiful parks of Lithuania is also situated here, designed by the French architect Andre, with more than 150 different trees and shrubs. In the center of the park is a neo-classical 19th century palace of the noble Tiszkewicz family, now housing the Amber Museum, exhibiting a long history of amber – the Lithuanian gold – including large pieces of amber and some containing fossilized insects millions of years old.