A Ticket for Summer Travel – New Routes Across Lithuanian Regions

Nature, nostalgia, tranquility, summer, comfort, safety – these are the keywords of travel in Lithuania, captured in a local tourism study. Of the 2.6 million domestic tourists who spent at least one night traveling within Lithuania last year, nearly half did so to discover new places and explore their homeland. One in six travelers most often miss having planned routes and maps.

That’s why, on the initiative of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, the national tourism promotion agency "Lithuania Travel, together with local tourism information centers, is gifting travel enthusiasts a “travel ticket” – new routes across Lithuania’s regions.

For the first journeys of the season, you can discover:

• Dzūkija, with the route “Chronicles of Southern Lithuania: Druskininkai–Varėna–Lazdijai”
• And Aukštaitija, with the route “Through the World of Aukštaitija: Kaunas District–Jonava–Ukmergė”.

“Before getting to know the world, we must first get to know our own country well. Tourism is a key factor that can reduce regional disparities and strengthen local potential. After all, in the shadow of big cities lie revived landmarks, authentic experiences and stories, undiscovered natural oases, incredibly diverse local community initiatives, and regional culinary discoveries. Moreover, traveling through small towns teaches us the principles of slow and sustainable tourism,” notes Agila Barzdienė, Vice Minister of the Economy and Innovation.

Spending time in nature, in fresh air, visiting natural attractions or relaxing by bodies of water remains the main draw for travelers, both according to national and global trends. For local tourists, other important activities include dining in restaurants and cafés, visiting cultural sites, wellness experiences, educational activities, and entertainment.

These are precisely the activities featured in the new travel routes:

• The “Green & Slow” section invites travelers into nature,
• “Culturally” leads to manors, museums, and experience spaces,
• “With Family” highlights places engaging for children,
• “Wellness” encourages discovering local saunas and swimming pools.
• Routes are also enriched with “Bon Appétit” and “Sweet Dreams” recommendations – suggestions for where to eat well and rest, and where to meet and connect with locals.

“The local tourism survey revealed a tendency to travel along ‘familiar routes’ – that is, most often to regions that are close to home, familiar, or connected to personal ties. This creates travel patterns, while some regions of Lithuania remain largely unvisited. For example, residents of Panevėžys admit they rarely travel to Southern Lithuania, and people from Vilnius are not well acquainted with the cities of Northern Lithuania. These ‘undiscovered regions’ accumulate in travelers' minds as places they should visit one day. But it takes a clear push – emotional, practical, or social – to turn that intention into an actual trip. We truly hope that the new routes created by ‘Lithuania Travel’ will help reduce the blank spots on the map of Lithuania, and that tourists will be satisfied with their discoveries and the impressions they bring home,” says Neringa Sutkaitytė, a local tourism expert at the National Tourism Promotion Agency ‘Lithuania Travel’.

According to her, the “Chronicles of Southern Lithuania” route features not only the well-known sights and must-see attractions of the region but also hidden gems of Dzūkija, such as:

• A hike with residents of an ethnographic village in Varėna district along historic partisan trails,
• The “Art Laundry” — an arts and culture space set up in the former laundry of a children's sanatorium in Naujieji Valkininkai,
• The Marcinkonys railway station gallery,
• A café located in a former railway water tower,
• A walk-in wooden sculpture dedicated to M. K. Čiurlionis, and
• The Antanas Česnulis Sculpture and Recreation Park in Druskininkai.
• To experience Dzūkija’s nature therapy, visitors can:
• Relax in riverside saunas with natural cascades in the Karolis Dineika Wellness Park,
• Or walk the Žiežulis nature trail, which ends with a swim in Lake Žiežulis.
• Meanwhile, the “Through the World of Aukštaitija” route offers surprises such as:
• The “Million Needles Spa” in Kulautuva,
• The “Barefoot through the Junipers” park, which includes a rabbit farm and barefoot walking trail,
• And a local gastronomic experience — the Steamed Fat Rooster educational activity at a countryside homestead in Vilkija eldership.
• In Ukmergė district, visitors can explore a town built in Lithuania’s largest meteorite crater,
• While in Jonava, you can stay overnight at a guesthouse on an alpaca farm and spend time surrounded by these exotic animals.

The routes are designed for 2–3 day trips.

While the majority of local tourists (84%) travel by car, train schedules are also included in the routes thanks to a partnership with LTG Link.

You can find the routes on ‘Lithuania Travel’ website here.