As local tourism grows like yeast, the local tourism business begins intensive preparatory works. The national tourism promotion agency „Keliauk Lietuvoje“ and tourism information centres review what news will attract tourists to travel in Lithuania this year. Among the intriguing offers are a sauna on the narrow railway rails, „Venice“ in Trakai and the first in the country museum on the water.
According to Snieguolė Valiaugaitė, „Keliauk Lietuvoje“ communication project manager, preparation for the tourism season started much earlier – this year, more events are expected in Lithuania than ever before: Kaunas invites to celebrate European Capital of Culture year, Alytus to celebrate Lithuanian Capital of Culture title, Trakai – its 700th anniversary and Lithuanian Karaim year, Šiauliai Chocolate Museum – a decade after its establishment, Vilnius is also starting to prepare intensively for its 700th birthday.
„It seems that this year, travellers will often have a question not about where to travel, but how to keep up to see everything. We are glad to see the recovering local tourist flows – it encourages tourism business to create. New places to visit for families, for nature and hiking trails lovers will open this year, new accommodations will also open their doors“,
– says S. Valiaugaitė.
More than 40 new ideas for trips in Lithuania in 2022. According to „Keliauk Lietuvoje“, the list of tourism news will expand as the season approaches, but several places to visit for the most curious „through the keyhole“ are revealed below:
NEW OBJECTS AND EXPERIENCES: WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN
Sauna on the narrow railway rails. A novelty of the summer season is a trip in the sauna to the pond. „We will install a wagon-sauna, and it will be possible to travel while heating in the sauna, and after going here, bathe in one or another pond and return to the starting point“
– plans Public Enterprise „Aukštaitijos siaurasis geležinkelis“ representatives. Follow the information here.
Museum on the water. The second life of the ship „Sūduvis“, which ended its military service, is a museum on the water. It will be the first this type of museum in Lithuania. The team of the Lithuanian Sea Museum plans to implement the transformation of the ship and receive guests in it from the second half of spring 2022. Follow the information here.
Gondolas in Trakai. This year is extraordinary for Trakai – the city will celebrate its 700th anniversary! On that occasion, some festive surprises await the guests of Trakai, among which is the opportunity to swim in the gondolas. Follow the information here.
A selfie with Thomas Mann. Until the end of this year, the Neringa Museums plan to present Vydūnas music bench, Vydūnas trail of light of thoughts to the visitors of the Curonian Spit or even invite them to take a selfie with Thomas Mann! Follow the information here.
Art in the dredger. On the left bank of the Nemunas, in the town of Zapyškis, the parked ship-dredger „Nemuno7“ will become a centre of art, creativity and culture, one of the brightest highlights of „Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022“. „Nemuno7“ will be equipped with an exhibition space and artists’ residences. The opening is planned for May 22nd. Follow the information here.
A bridge for which you can choose a colour. Last year, Jonava pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Žeimių street connected the residential area and Joninių valley with a sports arena and stadium. This year, before crossing this bridge you can change its colour according to your mood. More information here.
Back to the market of the past. Want to get to a marketplace of the late nineteenth-mid-twentieth century? You can already do this in Šilutė by using the „virtual reality“ binoculars near the Hugo Scheu Museum. They will take you to a realistically restored old market square with its surrounding environment and sounds. Try a virtual reality tour „Iš dabarties į praeitį: Šilokarčemos turgavietė“. More information here.
NEWS FOR LITTLE TRAVELERS
Animated heroes in Biržai district. Located close to Kirkilų observation tower, Kirkilų amusement park amazes with news annually. Travelling families will discover a new park of animated superheroes and sculptures here this year. Follow the information here.
Santa in the summer. From now on, finding out what Santa is doing in the summer will be possible in Rokiškis. The tourism and business information centre will encourage you to explore the Rokiškis region both in winter and in summer following Santa’s footsteps! The project „VasarOk su Kalėda“ will reveal plenty of Santa’s favourite pastimes, discoveries, tastings, activities or places suitable for workation. More information here.
Overnight stay at the Nature School. Two new Nature Schools should arise this year in the Curonian Spit – in Smiltynė and Nida. It is intended not only to set up laboratories but also accommodation places for children from further afield and to organize hikes to explore nature. Follow the information here.
THEMATIC HIKES, EXCURSIONS
In the footsteps of Mekas. Biržai region is the birthplace of the avant-garde filmmakers, brothers Jonas and Adolfas Mekai. This year, it is possible to book an excursion „Jono ir Adolfo Mekų keliais“ to the most significant places of the Mekai brothers’ lives in the Biržai region. Follow the information here.
To the interwar bank. A new excursion „Kur kvepia pinigais“ is presented in Kretinga this year. It is a unique opportunity to get to a no longer working bank, to see the banker’s apartment and secret cash vaults. Follow the information here.
Around Klaipėda – differently. „Time sometimes walks like a slow giant, leaving behind its back only the ruins in city streets and people’s lives. And sometimes it can be small, small like an atom, that neither man nor the city can notice it like that“. In June-September, the „Taško“ theatre invites you to a different acquaintance with the port city, presenting a cycle of theatrical-historical excursions around Klaipėda. Follow the information here.
At Vytautas’ wife. Travellers around Jurbarkas will be able to try educations and theatrical meetings with 15th-century music „Vytautas Didysis Veliuonoje“. During it, you will meet Ona Vytautienė, the dames of the palace, the knights of the Lithuanian and Crusaders order, etc. Follow the information here.
The path of Pacai. It will be possible to get to know Vilkaviškis better by following the new route „Pacų kelias“. Apart from the Vilkaviškis district, it will also cover Prienai and Suwalki county in Poland. All objects and activities related to the traces of this family on the Lithuanian and Polish border will be marked by a metal lily from the coat of arms of the Pacai family. In the Vilkaviškis district, you will find a metal lily in two places – near Vilkaviškis Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Alvitas St. Anne’s Church, in Prienai district – in five locations. Follow the information here.
In the traces of Karaims history. 2022 is the year of the Lithuanian Karaims. Therefore, the Trakai tourism information centre has created a virtual route „Karaimų istorijos pėdsakais“ in Lithuanian, English, and German languages. In the spring, metal info boards will mark the route – after scanning the QR code it will be possible to learn more about the object related to the Karaim community. Follow the information here.
ADVENTURES FOR THE TONGUE. GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCES
Floured histories. In Sodeliškės manor (Biržai district) – a new educational program „Vėjo malūno paleidimas“. During it, you will visit the only operating windmill in Lithuania built in 1924 with 9-meter-long wings, you will get acquainted with the history of the construction and restoration of the windmill, the principles of its operation. The miller himself will narrate and show how the grain is ground. Each will be able to bring back freshly ground flour. Follow the information here.
Tasting at the manor. Ilzenberg manor (Rokiškis district) will invite you to a picnic on an electric catamaran in Ilgis lake to taste the products of Ilzenberg manor. Follow the information here.
Dried snacks. Next season, „Džiovinukas“ company production space and a vegetarian food café will be created in Jurbarkas. Tastings-educations will take place here, during which it is introduced how dried snacks are made – natural delicacies from fruits and nuts. Follow the information here.
Dzūkai’s banquet. „Dzūkija manor“, famous for its grated potato pancakes, (Alytus district) will present a new educational program „Senieji dzūkų vakarojimo papročiai“. Follow the information here.
EXPERIENCES IN THE NEW MUSEUMS
Revived mirrors. On January 13 this year, a museum was opened to commemorate and perpetuate the fights for freedom and its victims. In the building’s basement of the former NKVD, KGB and other structures preserved torture chambers, where the stories of freedom fighters are heard. Interactive and modern expositions have been installed over the two floors of the building. Sounds and historical images can be heard and seen in the museum: motifs of the past and the present, post-war songs and memories of those who fought for the freedom of Lithuania intertwine in the aged mirrors. More information here.
Šiauliai from a bird’s eye view. The symbol of Šiauliai is St. Apostles Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, after renovation will invite everyone to the observation deck equipped in the 65-meter-high tower. It will be possible to admire the city panorama from it. The tower will also set up a gallery of archaeological finds and ecclesiastical works of art. Follow the information here.
Museum of wooden urban architecture. This year, the museum of wooden urban architecture will open in a wooden house, revived for a second life, in Vilnius on Žvėryno Polocko street 52. Follow the information here.
Even more retro cars. The museum of ancient technology, opened in Sodeliškės manor (Biržai District) in 2019, has significantly more than 600 various exhibits. Another building with a new vintage car exhibition will open at the beginning of the summer. Follow the information here.
The resurgent Jewish heritage. This year it is planned to open the Švėkšna Synagogue (Šilutė District) after the renovation. A reconstructed yeshiva – rabbinical school, to which students flowed from all over the world, will open its doors in Telšiai. Follow the information here.
Museum in the former missile base. On February 16, 2022, commemorating the Day of Restoration of the State of Lithuania, after the reconstruction, the Lithuanian Museum of freedom fights and exile will be opened at the Kopūstėlių Base (Ukmergė District). The founders of the museum are a non-governmental organization „Miško broliai“. The museum is supplemented with a huge expositional-educational space with the exposition of the first infantry regiment of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas in 1918. Follow the information here.
Scriptorium. At the end of the summer, it is planned to set up a transcription room, as in the medieval monasteries „Scriptorium dominicani“, in the restored barn of the former Palėvenė Dominican monastery (Kupiškis district), where it will be possible to learn how to write with a goose feather. Follow the information here.
90s automobilism and new exposures. Molėtai technical museum has further expanded its territory – the museum supplemented by two new 800-square-meter exhibition halls, an exhibition „Automobilizmas Lietuvoje – 90“ is being created in one of them. Joris Šykovas, one of the co-authors of the exhibition „Rūšių atsiradimas. 90-ųjų DNR“ at the MO Museum, took care of the architectural and design solutions here. This year, an exhibition of fire trucks and equipment will be installed in the other hall-hangar. More information here.
NEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEISURE IN FRESH AIR
Around the meteorite crater. Ukmergė town Vepriai is famous for being located in the crater of a meteorite itself. Before this tourist season, it is planned to introduce a new route „Gamtos ir kultūros paminklai Veprių krašte“ to visitors, which will help them get better acquainted with the most famous objects, such as Vepriai Manor, Slabada Mound or Vepriai Kalvarijos. Follow the information here.
Adventures routes. New orienteering routes will appear near the city of Varėna from May – 3 of them will be in the nearby forests (Family, Children’s and Adventure routes), and one will lead through the city’s objects of attraction. Follow the information here.
Renewed mound. This year, beautified, newly arranged and adapted for a convenient visit, Punia mound (Alytus district) will greet tourists: equipped observation and recreation areas, which provide more opportunities to admire the views of the bends of the Nemunas and Punia pinewood opening from the mound. After going down to the Nemunas by renewed paths and stairs, it is possible to walk around the whole mound using terrace stairs. Another surprise awaits you at the foothill – a tiered spring of Nečiuikai, to which an equipped trail also leads. More information here.
Thematic guides for families and star researchers. This year, Molėtai tourism and business information centre plan to surprise families and star researchers with special route offers. After escaping from the lights and bustle of the big cities, here open the expanses of sky and holiday spaces. New tourist guides for families and star researchers are what makes Molėtai region unique. Travelers who choose each route will find exclusive offers – for starry nights, trips with little ones or various opportunities to become explorers. Follow the information here.
Water bus. A water bus transporting people from the Biržos bridge up the Danė River to the Tauralaukis micro-district should start in Klaipėda. Six pier stops are planned (piers and coasts are still being installed). It is planned to have 3 water buses that will run 12 trips a day. Follow the information here.
Park for a whole day. This year, the „Žalvario parkas“ located in Molėtai district, often called Lithuanian Disneyland, will offer not only to travel cheerfully but also to picnic. Many gazebos will emerge here, therefore apart from walking, swimming and swinging, park visitors will be able to cook food and have more privacy. Follow the information here.
FOR THOSE WANTING TO SLEEP NOT AT HOME
In Kaunas. The „Magnus Hotel“ is undergoing a complete renovation and will open its doors in May 2022 as the „ibis Styles Kaunas“. The apartment type „Berman hotel“ is scheduled to open in April. More information here.
Near the sea. The new four-star hotel „Victoria“ will open its doors in Klaipėda (Accor group hotel). And the operating „Michelson Boutique Hotel“ will open an annexe in a renovated warehouse of the River Danė. More information here.
Interwar villas. The novelty of Kaunas is, opened especially for the year of the European Capital of Culture and offering accommodation, authentic interwar villas with art deco interiors. More information here.
Treehouse. Another glamping in Lithuania will start its first summer season – a treehouse for two „Gabalėlis dangaus“ in Aleksandruvka, in the „Myliu kaimą“ animal farmstead (Kaišiadorys district). More information here.
Italy in Dzūkija. Rural tourism homestead „Perlytė Dusia“ apart from offering visitors to rest in differently decorated according to the four seasons tents, invites tourists to the main building of the homestead, which is prepared every year according to a new theme. As stated by the hosts, the upcoming season will be dedicated to Italy! More information here.
The national tourism promotion agency „Keliauk Lietuvoje“ prepared the information based on the material of tourism information centres. Check the websites of the tourist information centres for more information.