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Sveiki atvykę į Lietuvą
Country28 places · 73 museums
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★ Has its own city story
A baroque capital, an island castle, the dunes of the Curonian Spit and one of the oldest languages of Europe.
Lithuania was once the largest country in Europe, the Grand Duchy that reached from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Its language is one of the oldest living Indo-European languages, close to Sanskrit. Walk the baroque old town of Vilnius, cross the bridge to Trakai Island Castle, see the dreamlike paintings of Čiurlionis in Kaunas and the dunes of the Curonian Spit. Plan your museum days on museumtickets.com, then try cepelinai and the pink cold soup of summer.
A pagan kingdom, a great duchy and a nation that smuggled its own books.
Mindaugas unites the Lithuanian lands and is crowned king; he is the only king Lithuania ever had.
See it at: Palace of the Grand Dukes of LithuaniaGrand Duke Vytautas and the Polish king defeat the Teutonic Order at Žalgiris (Grunwald).
See it at: Trakai History MuseumLithuania and Poland join in one state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
See it at: Palace of the Grand Dukes of LithuaniaThe Russian Empire forbids books in Lithuanian in Latin letters; book smugglers carry them in from Prussia for 40 years.
See it at: Lithuanian National MuseumLithuania declares independence on 16 February 1918; Kaunas becomes the temporary capital.
See it at: Vytautas the Great War MuseumLithuania is occupied by the Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany, then again by the Soviets; the Jewish community of Lithuania is almost destroyed.
See it at: Museum of Occupations and Freedom FightsUnarmed people defend the TV tower and parliament in Vilnius; Lithuania's independence is soon recognised.
See it at: Museum of Occupations and Freedom FightsA rebel leader, a writer of village life, a famous archaeologist and the first woman president.
A young noblewoman (1806–1831) who led a unit in the uprising of 1831; she is remembered as Lithuania's Joan of Arc.
Julija Žymantienė (1845–1921) began writing at fifty and became the great storyteller of village life and women's lives.
See it at: Žemaitė Memorial MuseumArchaeologist (1921–1994) born in Vilnius who became famous worldwide for her studies of Old Europe and its goddesses.
In 2009 she became Lithuania's first woman president and served two terms.
A painter of music, a sculptor and a man who collected devils.
Painter and composer (1875–1911) who painted 'sonatas' and 'fugues'; the father of Lithuanian modern art and music.
Cubist sculptor born in Druskininkai in 1891, who later worked in Paris and New York.
Lithuanian-born filmmaker and poet, the godfather of American avant-garde film; there is a centre for his work in Vilnius.
Landscape painter who collected devils; his collection grew into the Devils' Museum in Kaunas.
Zeppelins, pink soup and a cake baked on a spit.
Large potato dumplings shaped like zeppelins, filled with meat or curd and served with sour cream and bacon.
A cold soup of beetroot and kefir, bright pink, with cucumber, dill, egg and hot potatoes on the side.
Crescent pastries filled with meat, from the Karaim people of Trakai.
A tall 'tree cake' with branches, baked layer by layer on a turning spit over the fire.
On Christmas Eve families share twelve meatless dishes, among them small poppy-seed biscuits with poppy milk.
Masks to chase winter, palm bundles and the shortest night.
Masked people chase winter away, a fight between fat Lašininis and thin Kanapinis, and a straw figure is burned; everyone eats pancakes.
The big St Casimir's fair in Vilnius old town, with crafts, wooden spoons and verbos, bundles of dried flowers for Palm Sunday.
Bonfires on the shortest night, wreaths floating on rivers and the search for the fern flower.
Thousands of singers and dancers in Vilnius; UNESCO lists the Baltic song festivals as intangible heritage.
A quiet family evening of twelve dishes and old customs to tell the future.
The old town is large; plan a whole day on foot.
Trakai is a short bus or train ride from Vilnius; go early to avoid crowds at the castle.
Take the ferry from Klaipėda to Smiltynė to reach the Sea Museum and the dunes.
Many museums close one or two days a week; check before you go.
On museumtickets.com: 73 museums with photos, the way there and the museums nearby. Save your favourites in the free Culture Passport and, where the museum offers it, pay your admission in advance.
From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.
Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.
From the temples of Malta to the Wall in Berlin: Europe is one big cultural family. One site to plan your museum days, in your language.
