Lithuania travel guide

Visitors to the Spit spend their time swimming, boating, on forest walks, exploring the coastal villages or playing in the sand dunes - the tallest of which tower more than 60 meters above the waves. In winter, you can skate or try your luck at ice fishing rather than plunging into the water. While the forest walks, villages, and dunes might be covered in snow, these are just as lovely as during the summer months. The Spit covers 98 km and is just 400 meters wide at its thinnest, roughly divided equally between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad. The Lithuanian half is easily navigated on a bike; boasting a cluster of museums and the port on its northern tip while its only town Nida is 50 km to the south. The Spit is mostly undeveloped nature, which has earned to both the status of National Park and UNESCO World Heritage site. It is assessable by ferry from Klaipeda.

From a distance the Hill of Crosses doesn't look like much, just a small knoll with some crosses. But as you approach the collection of crosses, you will suddenly realise just how many crosses there are. The hill is literally covered in crucifixes of all sizes, materials and colours left by pilgrims through the last couple of centuries. It's estimated that there are more than 100,000 crosses - and more are coming every year.

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania, but the former capital is equally charming as Vilnius. The city center is dominated by the tree-lined pedestrian street of Laisvės alėja, which connects the grand St. Michael the Archangel Church to the picturesque historical Old Town 2 km to the west. At one end of Old Town, towards the river junction, stands the restored Kaunas Castle from the 14th century, which can be visited. As Old Town is packed with bars and restaurants, it really comes alive at night time, where (if weather permits) people sit outside in the cobblestone streets.

When you look out over the Kernavė Archaeological Site, you will only see a handful of hills, which once held forts. But this pretty area in the valley of the River Neris shows proof of human settlements for some 10 millennia, which is so unique that it became an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. There are simple wooden staircases to the top of the overgrown hills and a few information signs, but that’s all. The site is very understated with no entrance fee and hardly any road signs to reveal the direction to the site. For more indepth information visit the next door archaeological museum, which displays lots of artefacts from the site, like pottery, Iron Age tools, and silver jewellery.

Palanga Beach is Lithuania’s version of Costa del Sol. The long wide beach attracts both families, old couples and young partygoers. In high season during summer, it’s probably the most expensive town in Lithuania and it’s wisely to make reservation in advance for accommodation. The main strip, which runs perpendicular to the beach, is lined with restaurants, bars with tacky live music, and kitschy amusements. But outside the holiday zone, Palanga is surprisingly appealing with endless tracks only for bicycles and pedestrians through parks and forests. And then there is the beach, which is so wide and long that you can always pick a spot that suits you.

If you don't know what to do with an otherwise uneatable part of an animal, serve it with beer. In the Baltic region, the number one beer snack is pig ear. Just skin and cartilage - pickled, sliced and served with strong mustard. And it's actually not too bad.

Always wanted to visit a nuclear missile silo? Look no further, at the Museum of Cold War, you have a chance to do just that visiting its four underground silos. This base was the first underground silos in the Soviet Union. Between 1960 and 1978 it held enough firepower to destroy most of Europe, and it was the base that delivered the missiles to Havana during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today is open for history buffs and everybody else. You can roam around inside the secret bunkers, stare down into the silos themselves or just appreciate that the ancient equipment, which has been left behind, did not suffer any civilization-ending malfunctions. The base itself is hidden deep in the forests of Žemaitija National Park, itself a beautiful detour.

The picturesque Trakai Island Castle just has the perfect location. It thrones a small island in the pretty lake of Galvė, at a walking distance of the town of Trakai. The medieval castle was completed in 1409, but was totally renovated in the mid 20th century. It's a popular weekend destination for newly wedded couples and picnicking families - along with hordes of tourists during summer. There are lovely trails along the lake shore and even the town of Trakai has its charming corners of wooden houses and docked rainbow coloured rowboats.

While Tallinn has a pretty Nordic feel and Riga is a worn mix of Soviet blandness and ancient elegance, Vilnius has a more central European atmosphere. Less Soviet concrete and more enchanting plazas with grand churches connected with a maze of cobbled, narrow alleys, which of course is UNESCO enlisted. However, Vilnius does have its fair share of quirky sights, like the Frank Zappa monument (the man never went to Lithuania) and Užupis, an artist enclave with their own silly declaration of independence. The amount of local pubs and bars will make any beer drinking and potato/meat eating visitor happy and the locals - whereof a large portion are gorgeous women - are friendly. So there isn't that much to dislike about Vilnius.