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Lithuanian landscapes & nature

Lithuanians are nature lovers. On our holidays, you can join them in celebrating their wild spaces, keeping your carbon footprint low as you go. Countryside-loving Lithuanians will show you how to forage safely, explore the forests, avoid the bogs, and take dips in the lakes. Here’s where to explore if you want to see Lithuanian nature and landscapes.

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Lithuanian landscapes & nature

Discover the folklore-rich forests of Lithuania, a country where natural beauty is enhanced by the long dedication of Lithuanian people to their nature.

Legend has it that the Curonian Spit was created by the giantess Neringa to protect Lithuania from the fierce storms cooked up by the dragon Naglis. Naglis wanted to marry Neringa, and when she rejected him, he took out his rage on the local fishers. Neringa gathered up sand in her apron and built a long barrier in the sea to protect the coast and its people.

The spit suits its legendary status: the Curonian Spit is Lithuania’s most-visited national park. It’s low, long and unusual. Amber washes up on its shore and pine forest grows right up to the sand. Perhaps it’s representative of what the country offers curious visitors – not soaring peaks or geologic marvels, but deep forests, strange sands, and mysterious wetlands.

The legend of Neringa lives on in the spit’s Hill of Witches. It’s a free sculpture gallery created by a forester and a collective of wood carvers in the 1970s. You might pop in for a visit if you’re cycling the Seaside Cycle Route that runs the length of the spit or visiting on one of our Baltic small group tours.

Legends live on in Lithuania. This was the last country to convert to Christianity in Europe. Its shady forests are good at keeping their old secrets intact – just as they hold trees that are hundreds of years old and darkness that is centuries long. A third of the land is tree-covered, including Curonian Spit National Park itself. Whilst famous for its sand dunes, climb an observational tower and you’ll see the fuzz of forest bristling at the edge of the sand.

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Lithuania’s landscape

Just as the country loves its folklore, it also loves its landscapes. With a small population, and a whole lot of forest, Lithuania is a great place for getting lost in the woods. Even residents of the (already remarkably green) capital can be out in the countryside in 30 minutes – and many do so, often taking to hikes in the forests or foraging adventures.

Lithuania is one of the few places in Europe where wild camping is allowed, alongside places like Scandinavia and Scotland. A Lithuanian friend told me she took herself off into the forests of the south or east of the country for a week and lived off the land, fishing and foraging her way around. She seemed surprised when I expressed disbelief that anyone could do so without falling foul of the wrong fungi. It’s very usual for Lithuanian families to pass on mushrooming knowledge and give their children an informal education on all things outdoorsy.

These forests are so vast that they hold more secrets than just fairy tales and legends. In Zemaitija National Park, you’ll find a now well-marked Cold War Museum. It’s housed in a nuclear missile base built in the 1960s, its 10,000 workers keeping it secret from the rest of the Lithuanian people.

Taken in a forest somewhere in Lithuania.

– The kind of caption you’ll get used to seeing when you’re looking at landscape photos of the country.

A quiet place – even in the Baltic summer

“Why visit Lithuania? Well, it’s a green country and we don’t experience overtourism,” says Saulius, getting straight to the point. Saulius Ruzinskas is the owner of Baltic Bike Travel, our Klaipeda-based Lithuania specialists.

From the early 2000s, Lithuania experienced high emigration levels and few foreign visitors – and the countryside emptied out as dairy farmers sold up to mass conglomerates and headed to the cities. This is changing as young people return home, and more foreign investment sees international companies set up office in the capital. Tourists who visit mainly come from Poland, Germany and Latvia, but in small numbers, and the countryside remains peaceful even in summer.

“We have really nice weather in the summer,” says Saulius. He’s speaking in mid-May, when they’re experiencing a mini heatwave of around 30°C. Temperatures are usually in the mid-teens at this time of year.

After a harsh winter, the Lithuanian summer feels like a blessing. Never getting too hot, you can cycle and hike even in the warmest month (August reaches an average maximum of 22°C in Vilnius).

In the winter months, the landscape is totally different; Lithuanians might skate their frozen lakes or go ice fishing. The winter can bring plenty of unsettled weather and cold temperatures. Spring comes late – daily highs staying in single digits from November all the way to March.

Seeking vantage points: from bog boardwalks to balloon rides

“We have really beautiful nature with lots of forest, rivers and lakes,” says Saulius. “It’s beautiful scenery.”

With no soaring peaks – the highest point in the country is Vilnius TV Tower – it’s a place for experiencing the joys of the lowlands. Dip into lakes in summer (or for the hardcore, in winter, preferably after a sauna), go on boardwalks over bogs, or enjoy a flat and leisurely bike rides.

There are observation towers built across the national and regional parks – a common way to get some views in the absence of hills.

Another way to get a vantage point above Lithuania’s natural landscapes is to go by balloon. Vilnius is the only capital in the world that allows hot air balloons to take off from its environs. Trakai is another hot spot. This historic national park is crowned by a castle on an island, and you can reach it in silky silence, thanks to Lithuania’s first solar powered ship.

“It was pretty spectacular,” says Responsible Travel’s Nicola Keen, who took the boat, and then a balloon ride over Trakai. “It was my favourite place on the trip. It has lots of lakes and one of islands has a castle – it’s very fairy tale-esque.”

Towards the south of the country, the forest cover approaches totality. “On the sandier ground agriculture isn’t possible. Even the Soviets couldn’t make agriculture work there,” explains Saulius. “So close to Poland, it is 90 percent forest.”

Lakes, bogs & Baltic birdlife

Elsewhere, it’s bog – high, intermediate and low – that steals the show. Many of the country’s most important areas are wetlands, featuring peat that gets up to 10m deep and pocketed by lakes. Birds love these areas; parks in Lithuania are reintroducing the once common capercaillie. Whilst the birdlife makes short work of the peaty patches, you can get around by a Baltic staple: boardwalks.

Lithuania’s natural parks do a good job of conserving bird habitats, but some birds can’t be contained. Storks – the favourite animal, surely – routinely nest on chimneys and roofs. The country is on a migratory route.

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Places to visit for landscape & nature in Lithuania

Curonian Spit National Park

Totally unique, and uniquely threatened, this UNESCO-listed sand spit barely a mile wide would have succumbed to winds and tides if it wasn’t for human intervention. Despite being the sunniest part of the country, it’s an eerie place, only reachable by ferry, guarding the Curonian Lagoon on one side and at the mercy of the Baltic Sea on the other. Reforestation efforts have helped ensure its survival, as does your protected area entrance fees on our holidays.

Dzukija National Park

Among the millions of trees in Lithuania’s largest park are several hollow ones. These are the last remnants of hollow tree beekeeping, an archaic art once practised in these forests. Today, this river-crossed park is known for ethno-cultural curiosities like these, which you’ll find in the village of Zervynos. This alongside meadows and bogs and overwhelming thicket of forest, where wolves roam below the dark canopies of lichen-rimed Scots pine.

Nemunas Delta Regional Park

Lithuania’s longest river ends in a complex delta, where a wet network of reclaimed land and flooded meadows and waterlogged forest is an ecotourism hotspot brimming with birdlife. Silute has a white stork population; you’ll not only see them confined to the protected areas, but nesting on chimneys, too.

Trakai Historical National Park

Come here for serenity itself. Trakai Historical National Park is made up of a peaceful network of interlocking lakes, crossed by lazy sailing boats. From the hills on the shore of Lake Galve, your eyes leapfrog across a scattering of tree-covered islands, drawn to one topped with a striking castle built from red Gothic bricks. Trakai Island Castle is the reason that this national park is the only ‘Historical National Park’ in Europe.

Vente Cape

If you’re a birdwatcher, you’ll want to come here. Vente Cape is on the migration route that runs from the Arctic, down through Europe and on to Eastern Africa. Some days, three million birds pass overhead and some of them come down to the cape to rest – though they might find themselves caught in the nets of the ornithological station, where they’ll be ringed and released.

Exploring Lithuania’s nature responsibly

When it comes to experiencing nature the Lithuanian way, there are a few things you can do to make sure you make the most of your holiday while benefitting local people. Choose a small group tour like ours that doesn’t crowd the sites. On our holidays, you will travel with almost entirely local companies –a family-run boat operator to reach the Curonian Spit or a restaurant in an agricultural area with single-digit food miles. You’ll find rural populations are especially keen for visitors. Discover Lithuania’s smaller villages in our Baltic small group cycling holiday.

Our travellers also ask…

Is Lithuania a beautiful country?

Yes. Whilst we believe that no country is anything other than beautiful, Lithuania’s landscapes include lots of natural spaces, including vast forests, lakes and moorland, and a beautiful bit of Baltic coastline. As it lacks big mountains, Lithuania’s landscapes can be hard to appreciate in their full splendour – unless you take to a hot air balloon.

What wildlife can I see in Lithuania?

Whilst there are wolves, lynx, wild boar, elk, otters and beavers in Lithuania, it’s hard to spot wildlife in the dense forests. But if you head to the coast in autumn and spring, you’ll be able to see migrating birds.

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Written by Eloise Barker

Lithuanian landscapes & nature