A nice suggested route through the three Baltic countries

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From 2019’s first edition of Alpentourer magazine

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It’s a shame that from Kaunas, route does not take one further South to Druskininkai.
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Although with a bit of imagination and a day to spare, it isn’t all that far, about 100km/65 miles away from Kaunas or Vilnius. Druskininkai is a very small town and once upon a time, when Lithuania was part of a Soviet Union, was a destination for many to visit who were health conscious.
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The town literally surrounded by pine forests, full of wild berries to pick and eat till you sick of them. Same can be said for mushrooms if you know where to look and come at the right time. Said forests have a hard tarmac cycleways to Grutas village, Grutas Parkand a magnificent Lake, and many other places of interest like Švendubrė village, etc.

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There are plenty of lakes to offer, some are in town and some of which are secluded and are of the beaten track.
This lake is my all time favourite. It takes 20 minutes to drive/ride from the main road via sandy fire track.
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If you have time to spare, it is recommended to take a boat trip to Liškiava from the pier in the town centre on a river Nemunas.
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Failing that, you can reach Liskiava by road in only 15-20 minutes. But boat trip is recommender for a more relaxed day trip.

After all that, there is plenty of local ( from all over Lithuania) cold bier or lager to choose from in any supermarket, restaurant or hotel bar. From the photo bellow you can tell which beer is more popular.
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Druskininkai is one of many little gems this tiny little country has to offer, which if you got blinkers on, can be crossed from any end in under a day.

Places I personally recommend to visit, are Trakai Castle and boating on a lake.
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As well as Curonian Spit (a UNESCO world heritage site) and historic fishing villages along the way to Nida where you will be treated to a huge sand dunes where from the top you can see Baltic Sea and mainland Lithuania. One will need to use a short 10 minute ferry crossing from Klaipeda, and just to worn you there is a toll booth just a short distance from the ferry for those who intend to use motor vehicles.
It is recommended to hire a bicycle and explore the area that way, there are plenty of segregated cycle ways that are well laid out one offer plenty of opportunities to stop at many points of interest, refreshments and seaside lunch/dinner.
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Thank you for taking the time to post the advice, EVskij.

I think the idea of the article in ALPENTOURER was to link the three capitals together. But, as I can’t read German, I am never quite sure. The magazine had some great pictures in it, of what is a beautiful (and maybe quite ignored) part of Europe, with some interesting history. I like the Baltic region, having been lucky enough to go a few times for work. I just middle up which capital is which.
 
Thank you for taking the time to post the advice, EVskij.

I think the idea of the article in ALPENTOURER was to link the three capitals together. But, as I can’t read German, I am never quite sure. The magazine had some great pictures in it, of what is a beautiful (and maybe quite ignored) part of Europe, with some interesting history. I like the Baltic region, having been lucky enough to go a few times for work. I just middle up which capital is which.

Haha... yes many people muddle up countries and their capitals.
LT = Vilnius
LV = Riga
EST = Tallinn

I am glad I can be helpful in some ways...

I am from Lithuania and was born In Druskininkai, that place holds many fond memories... one day I may ride to Kiel and take a (iirc) 24h ferry (bad memories of Polish roads when I used to hitchhike in my youth to Germany) to Klaipeda, then ride 3.5 hours from the port to Druskininkai and spend a week chilling by the lakes.
I took my wife there back in August/September (best time to go) of 2016 on our honeymoon. She instantly fell in love with the town. Just so piecefull, and pleasing on the eye.
Yes you will be met with soviet tower blocks etc. But these now being spruced up and have fresh modern rendered appearance to them. There is a very moderate night life scene and certainly very grown up feel to it too.




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I’m pretty sure it was Druskininkai where I stopped at the municipal campsite last autumn and if so it looks like I made a mistake by only doing an overnighter rather than spending a day in the town.

If anyone is doing this kind of tour and camping then the site is pretty good, has a decent restaurant if like me you can’t be arsed with cooking after a long day on the road and the beer was cheap as well :beerjug:
 
I’m pretty sure it was Druskininkai where I stopped at the municipal campsite last autumn and if so it looks like I made a mistake by only doing an overnighter rather than spending a day in the town.

If anyone is doing this kind of tour and camping then the site is pretty good, has a decent restaurant if like me you can’t be arsed with cooking after a long day on the road and the beer was cheap as well :beerjug:

If said capmsite was here, then main building was a railway station until breakup of a Soviet Union which resulted later on having to accrue a visa for (Belarus) in order to travel to Vilnius (capital of Lithuania) and rest of Lithuania. The alternative was to take a coach from a bus station just a short distance up the road.


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That’s the place. From there I rode in a bit of a loop before heading south roughly tracking a few miles west of the Belarus and Ukrainian borders then spent the night in Slovakia. Forward planning has never been my strongest point or I’d have sorted out a visa but never mind, one day I’ll learn :D
 


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