6 reasons to go to Lithuania this summer season....

Caught for summer excursion concept? Lithuania has loads to provide, from wild, dune-backed seashores to even wilder galas. And, with the USA gearing as much as having a good time 100 years because the recuperation of independence (in 2018), there’s never been a better time to visit.

The centenary music pageant (in the capital Vilnius, June 2018), an extravaganza of folks tune, dance, art, and dress, will shape a first-rate part of the commemorations – however, there are masses more to hold you entertained this summer season.

From café lifestyle in Vilnius to road artwork in Kaunas, and from peace and quiet on the coast to adventures deep in the woodland, here are seven reasons why Lithuania have to be your next ride.

1.For midsummer madness

Lithuania kicks off pageant season with national celebrations for st john’s day (June 24), additionally called a day of dew, which has been celebrated on midsummer’s eve for centuries.

Locals stay up till dawn, taking uptown and village squares, or heading to the nation-state wherein bonfires are lit, herbs amassed and dew accrued – magical powers can be harnessed, it's far believed. Of direction, all this is skilled in opposition to a backdrop of feasting, drinking, music and barefoot dancing.

2.For a glimpse of records

Kernavė, 40km northwest of capital Vilnius, is a quiet spot for a maximum of the year. But this wealthy archaeological website online involves lifestyles whilst lots descend for the summer solstice.

3.For a tradition restore

The metropolis has been an established favorite for stag and fowl dos way to the reasonably-priced, flowing booze, not to say the craft-beer revolution (coconut milk stout, everybody?). However, Vilnius is a vacation spot for an excessive way of life too.
Lithuanians are eager theatre-goers and a night time at the opera in Vilnius – in a landmark seventies constructing, its imposing concrete and glass facade belied by using a luxurious, mild-stuffed interior – will simplest set you again round 20€.

4.For comfort food

All this modern taste-making is a global faraway from the stodgy however enjoyable mainstays of traditional Lithuanian cuisine.

The food right here is famously spud-primarily based – and you may understand why comforting specialties such as cepelinai (stuffed potato dumplings in a zeppelin shape) are still a company favored, mainly within the icy-bloodless wintry weather months.

Some other antidote, have to you want one, to trendy small plates and amuse-bouches comes within the shape of 1/2-moon-shaped pastry parcels, kibinai. Those are a specialty of the minority Karaite population in lakeside Trakai, 25km from Vilnius.

5.For escapes to the countryside or coast

Trakai is the smallest of 5 national parks in Lithuania; at the other end of the size is dzūkija countrywide park, additionally within reach of Vilnius via train or car. The huge roads, rolling fields, dense forest and secluded houses you’ll bypass en direction deliver to thoughts the incredible open areas of North America.

You could find out dzūkija’s pine forests, crystal-clear springs and conventional wood houses strolling or choose one in every often marked cycle routes. Foraging for mushrooms and berries has constantly been criticized for the sparse population right here, as cultivating the sandy soil is a war. Come in overdue summer or early autumn and you’ll come across locals selling lately gathered bounty – or you could hunt on your own (following the same old precautions).

6.For twenty-first-century art

While reconstruction work is underway at Vilnius airport this summer season, a few flights could be redirected to Lithuania’s 2d town, Kaunas (which should be to your itinerary anyway).

Down through Kaunas citadel, at the confluence of the enemas and Neris rivers, an empty shoe manufacturing facility is the website online of an experimental art movement, ministry of Fluxus (fxm). The big “old sensible man”, a crouching, crimson-clad figure protecting one outer wall, is certainly one of many examples of road artwork in Kaunas.

Check out the courtyard gallery kiemo galerija, an ever-expanding open-air exhibition area, wherein Banksy’s have an impact on is evident within the collection of graffiti and installations. A new, accessible street artwork city guide may be ordered for collection at Kaunas traveler workplace.