|
annatravel
|
Public transport in Lithuania
The most common transport for traveling in Lithuania is a bus. I think it connects the cities much better then trains. It also has a better schedule.
I've been traveling a lot by bus, including long distance trips, and found it very convenient and fast. You can get by bus almost where ever you can imagine, except for may be tiny villages consisting of three households in the forest.
There are also mini-buses which drive more frequently and for shorter distances. I've tried one going from Vilnius to Kaunas and I can say that it can be faster and stops where ever you ask the driver to, but it is really small and uncomfortable to be in.
Prices for buses and mini-buses are quite low for Europe, so you can see the most of the country with a small budget.
Taxis are also not so expensive. We have used taxi mainly for getting from Vilnius night clubs to the small village where we've stayed.
There is no metro in Lithuania.
More
|
|
annatravel
|
Being disabled in Lithuania
One of my friends had an accident before our planned trip to Lithuania, but he didn't want to cancel the trip, so he decided to travel with a wheel chair.
Although Lithuania improved a lot in being disabled friendly country, but still not enough to be comfortable for a wheel chair tourist.
We found out that there are not so many new trolley buses in Vilnius which have the lowered entrance. Old ones are still operating in the city and it is a big problem to get in. Not so many cafes and restaurants have entrances suited for disabled people and there bathrooms are not facilitated enough.
We have checked some disabled-friendly places in the internet but many of them occurred to be located on cobbled streets, so it is really hard to reach the building which is wellcoming wheel chairs.
Getting outside of Vilnius was even worse. The capital is the most prepared city - smaller town and village seem to have never heard about the disability problem.
More
|
|
4isabella
|
Winter eating in Vilnius
In Vilnius, we had a good night at Gabi, a small restaurant off Pilies Gatve in the Old Town. Walking up Pilies, watch out for the small lane that heads for St Anne’s Church, Sv Mykolo 6, and its on the right hand side. It specialises in Lithuanian food, cooked slowly. There was a log burner, candles and lots of excellent Svyturys beer to go with the menu of authentic dishes, including the famous cepeline, ground meat wrapped in shredded potatoes and steamed in the shape of zeppelins. These are filling and its amazing that some people eat 3 or 4, we could only manage one. Mushrooming is popular autumn pastime in Lithuania and I started my meal with boletus soup, beautiful mushrooms and vegetables. I had Chicken Kiev, not particularly Lithuanian but served with boiled potatoes to soak up the garlic. This has got to be the best country for potatoes, especially the deep yellow ones. To finish, we backtracked on the menu and had pancakes with cherries and sour cream. We wandered back along the lane to Pilies Gatve, the main tourist street in the Old Town and had coffee in one of the many kavine. When we had been here in September, the street was lined with tables and people eating and drinking at 11pm. Now it was frosty, Christmas lights were on and everyone was inside cafes that looked cosy and welcoming from the street.
More
|
|
4isabella
|
Klaipeda to Riga by bus
The Eurolines bus from Klaipeda in Lithuania, to Riga in Latvia goes from the bus station in the centre of town . Its cheap, (55 lita, 2007), comfortable and warm....sit back and tune into your ipod, and watch the scenery go by. It crosses the border after only about half an hour and the guards come onto the bus to collect and return your passports. Take some Lats with you so you can pay for the toilet and a coffee at the half way point in Laipaia. Its good to know also that the bus goes via Riga airport, a popular budget jet stop, so we think that this is the cheapest and easiest way to get to Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit. The trip takes 5.5 hours and Riga bus station in beside the huge indoor/outdoor market and just across the road to the fascinating Riga Old Town. We arrived fresh and keen to wander the streets, a better way to travel that the slow, slow trains.
More
|
|
4isabella
|
cycling in Klaipeda
Had a great day, hired a bicycle from the Klaipeda Tourist Information office in the old town (40 litas a day) and cycled north on the Lithuanian Seaside Cycle Route. Ask for the excellent trail guide and map booklet about the route that goes for 100 kms from Kaliningrad in the south up to Latvia in the north, called EU Cycle Route 10. We went from Klaipeda through the forest to the seaside hamlets of Melnrage I and Melnrage II, past forests with people gathering mushrooms to sell in the local market. Crossed the railway line at Giruliai and went down to the Baltic Sea where we had coffee and snacks while watching the waves. Another 6 kms on, we came to Karkle and had lunch in a cafe in the forest. Just a few other cyclists around and the best of all, it is flat! The biggest hill in Lithuania is only 292 m high and is far from the sea. Leisure cycling at its best.
More
|
|
4isabella
|
Hill of Crosses
Just outside the town of Siauliu in the north of the country is one of the most amazing sights in LIthuania. Kryziu Kalnas or Hill of Crosses is literally that, a small hill that is covered with tens of thousands of crosses, some large, some tiny, some wood, some metal, some placed straight and strategically and many haphazardly balanced or hung from other crosses. Its always been a place of importance but the significance grew during the Soviet Occupation as a symbol of resistance to the regime. People went to extraordinary lengths to place crosses, dodging Soviet guards during the night and forcing the authorities to take the threat to their aetheism so seriously that they regularly bulldozed the crosses, only to have them spring up again. Now it's frequently visited by people from all over Europe, by local wedding parties in stretch limos. Pope John erected a special cross in 1993 to mark Lithuanians everlasting faith through times of adversity. Catch the number 2 bus from Siauliu bus station and ask to be let off 10 minutes outside town, walk along the road lined by poplar trees for 10 minutes and you can't miss this extraordinary sight. Free entrance ofcourse.
More
|
|
acmilan1
|
Vilnius transport: The Trollybus.
Transport in Vilnius is an interesting topic. The main form of transport is via 'troleibusas' (trolleybus) which run exceptionally frequently around the city centre stretching in to the neighbouring districts in the suburbs of Vilnius. The run on electricity and the journey occasionally be lethargic and a long drawn out affair, yet if you get on the trollybus at a decent time, hopefully not early morning or evening, the trip will be quite pleasant and fast. The ticket prices are a good buy at 1.10LT (about 22p) and you are best off buying in bulk. The tickets can be bought from kiosks which are situated outside of all bus stops. The trollybuses also run around other places in Lithuania, particularly Kaunas.
More
|
|
annatravel
|
Dining and coffee chains in Lithuania
If you don't have time to check each and every restaurant on your way, then the choice of the restaurant belonging to the local chain is for you
One of them is Cili. I think it is the biggest in Lithuania and can be found in any big city and represented in every shopping mall on outskirts. It has four different restaurants:
1 .Cili Pizza (Italian cuisine) - very good choice of pizzas and pastas with some Lithuanian transformed recepies. The atmosphere is always cozy. The one in Europa Shopping Center in Vilnius is situated on a high floor and has a nice terrace for warm days (with blankets for windy meals). Try their dumplings! They are delicious. Chocolate cake slice is huge and very tasty.
2. Cili Kaimas (Lithuanian cuisine).It is decorated in a country style (Kaimas means village) with local music. Potato pancakes are great!
There is also Chinese branch and Coffee places. I didn't happen to discover them but I suppose that if to judge the chain by two first restaurants, then these two also should keep up to the standards.
The other chain is Fortas. They also have Pizza Fortas and Dvaras (Lithuanian cuisine).
Pizza restaurants are almost the same type as Cili. I really like lasagna there (in Palanga on the main Basanavicus street).
Dvaras has a great atmosphere of national Lithuanian hospitality. Waiters are dressed up in national clothes. Sometimes they have live concerts of local music in Vilnius restaurants. Try mushroom soup served in bread loaf. It tastes good and looks nice.
(Right in the city center you will find it on Pilies street, 16).
Double coffee chain of cafes is almost everywhere. They have good choice of coffee drinks and super-tasty deserts! Cheesecakes are great.
Presto is also a chain of cafes and they offer different coffees and a choice of teas. Though, mate-tea was not strong enough for my taste.
More
|
|
annatravel
|
Lithuanian cuisine
Lithuanian cuisine is quite fat and dishes are very nourishing but it is also very tasty. There are really many different things to try once you come to Lithuania. I would recommend some. One of the most famous national dishes is Cepelinai. It is made of grated potatoes formed like balls with meat inside. They are boiled and served with sour cream sauce and bits of bacon. I think two of them are enough to make you feel full.
Next interesting potato dish is Vederaj - potato sausage. When I've tried it for the first time, I didn't really know what I was eating and it tasted quite good. It occurred that the sausage has the natural covering - pig’s intestine.
They also have lots of different potato pancakes with good sauces.
Try cold beetroot soup. If you have ever been to Russia or Russian restaurant, you have probably already tried Borsh - beetroot soup. So the one you will taste in Lithuania is kind of a cold variation of Borsh. It is delicious! Everyone normally likes it (which is not always the case with that pig potato sausage).
Mushroom soup also would be different from the one you normally get somewhere is Western Europe, where it is normally a thick soup (potage, puree soup). In Lithuania it would be a clear soup with mushrooms and dressed with sour cream.
Cottage cheese is very popular there. Lithuanians make different kinds of cottage cheese: sweet, sour, with different feelings.. I really love the cottage cheese which you can buy in every supermarket: it is sweet and filled with peaces of colourful fruit jelly. Lithuania has many other local dairy products to offer, all of them are good.
For a drink try some local Beer. There are too many brands and it is hard to recommend as different types satisfy different tastes. Lots of good vodka and strong drinks. Try "999". It is a spirit made of 999 herbs.
More
|
|
