Destination: Lithuania

Odyssey travels by coach and occasionally uses local transport, including trains and ferries. Specifics are always outlined in your tour itinerary. Trains services link major cities, while bus services operate in nearly all towns and cities. Taxis are also available in cities, and can be flagged down in the street or can be ordered by phone.

In major cities, Odyssey stays in centrally located 3-4 star hotels, with easy access to public transport. In smaller towns or rural areas, we usually stay in family-run hotels or guesthouses. On our longstay tours, during which you spend the length of the tour in a single location, we use serviced apartments.

Odyssey always engages local guides with regional knowledge to ensure an authentic experience during which you can learn as much as possible about the history and culture of places you visit.

Lithuania is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, and covers an area of 65,200 square kilometres. Lithuania’s terrain features rolling hills, marshes and lakes, and sprawling forests, with 32% of the country covered by forest.

Lithuania has a continental climate, with cold winters and mild summers. Temperatures often drop below freezing in winter, so depending on when you intend to travel, check the weather reports and prepare accordingly.

Lithuania has 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. You can view the official list of the sites here (https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/lt). The listed sites include:

• Vilnius Historic Centre, the heart of old Vilnius featuring a dazzling array of historic buildings constructed in Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance architectural styles
• Kernavė Archaeological Site, a 194 hectare site which preserves hill forts, burial sites, and other archaelogical remains of Lithuania’s past
• Curonian Spit, a 98 km long sand dune peninsula featuring a unique geographical and cultural landscape

One of the biggest events on Lithuania’s annual calendar is the Song Festival, held in Vilnius. Bringing together 30,000 singers from across Lithuania, the Song Festival features many folk songs native to Lithuania and unites the nation in song and harmony. Užgavėnės is an iconic festival that is held during the seventh week before Easter, whereupon revellers don mythologically-themed costumes, cook and eat traditional pancakes and burn an effigy of winter (‘morė’). Other notable occasions include Statehood Day, which commemorates the crowning of King Mindaugas in the 13th century, and All Saint’s Day in November, whereupon graves are cleaned and decorated with flowers and candles.

• History of Lithuania, by Alfredas Bumblauskas
• Experiencing Lithuania: 3rd Edition, by Columbia J. Warren
• Vilnius: City of Strangers, by Laimonas Briedis
• Whitehorn’s Windmill, by Kazys Boruta

Befitting its cold climate, Lithuanina food is hearty and filling, with root vegetables, meat and starch all central to Lithuanian cuisine. Soup dishes are popular, including betroot soup, a warm soup made out of beetroot, onion, carrot, and meat stock, and chilled borscht, made out of betroot, kefir and hardboiled eggs. Potatoes are frequently employed as a key ingredient in savoury dishes, including potato pancakes, kugelis (a baked potato pudding often served with lingonberry jam or sour cream) and the national dish, cepelinai (dumplings made from a mixture of raw and cooked potato dough filled with pork meat and covered with sour cream and bacon sauce). Beer (alus) is the most common alcoholic beverage in Lithuania, while production and consumption of midus (a variety of mead made from honey) is said to go back thousands of years. Coffee and tea are also widely consumed, though both are usually served black.

Generally speaking, Lithuania is very safe to travel in, though always exercise common sense while travelling.

Whenever you travel overseas, it’s always wise to take an appropriate travel adaptor. Lithuania’s electricity supply runs at 230V and 50Hz. Lithuania uses both the Type C and Type F electric plugs, so make sure you have the right travel adaptor with you.