Tourism in Lithuania

Lithuania attracts many visitors from neighbouring countries and from all over the world. In 2018,there were 1.7 million foreign visitors to Lithuania for business, family and leisure.^[1] The historical legacy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, its rich history, architecture, pristine nature, seaside and spa resorts are the main attraction points of Lithuania. Domestic tourism is also highly popular: in 2018 it grew by 12%. Lithuanians also prefer to spend their vacations in Lithuania – 70 percent.^{[clarification needed]}^[2]

Overview

Lithuania receives a constant increase in foreign visitors. In 2017, the accommodation establishments of Lithuania received 3.25 million tourists, which was 6.2 per cent more than in 2016.^[3] Lithuania attracts foreign visitors mostly from Germany, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Finland.

In 2017 hotels received 2.2 million tourists, or 7 per cent more than in 2016. The number of Lithuanian tourists grew by 12.8 per cent, and foreigners by 3.3 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate stood at 54.3 per cent (in 2016, 51.7 per cent), and the hotel bed occupancy rate at 41.4 per cent (in 2016, 39.7 per cent).^[3]

Agrotourism has also gained extreme popularity in the country among the locals as well as foreigners. Ecotourism is actively promoted by the government and national parks. Lithuania has built a successful ecotourism industry, and has also been acknowledged as one of the world's most ethical destinations. Hot air ballooning is very popular in Lithuania, especially in Vilnius and Trakai. Theme routes through historical and nature sites are popular among domestic and international tourists. Nemunas Delta Regional Park, Žuvintas biosphere reserve and Ventė Cape are known for birdwatching.^[4]

Hot air balloons over Vilnius

There are tourism information centres in all major cities and smaller towns, national parks and other places, attractive for domestic or international tourism.^[5]

If a tour has a guide who is "interpreting the cultural and natural heritage of an area", Lithuania requires the guide have a guiding license. This definition follows the European standard for tour guiding (CEN). Licensed Tourist Guides are the only professionals permitted to conduct tours in all sites and museums within a city. Licensed guides are required in those areas where the local authorities state that one of them is mandatory.^[6] There is a Guides Database to find a guide in your language as well.^[7]

Arrivals by country

The top 10 foreign countries by annual short-term visitors to Lithuania:^[8]

Country	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Poland	127,033	132,346	122,630	132,368	154,124	161,421	179,245	199,651	50,670	54,674	117,555	173,497
Germany	144,975	152,087	166,436	174,494	179,723	176,154	214,444	233,407	47,884	51,324	98,992	127,401
Latvia	76,431	86,101	107,744	119,673	137,962	152,269	161,660	168,925	71,971	54,531	131,781	144,323
Belarus	117,037	163,707	189,888	165,410	174,070	177,099	165,569	181,074	42,946	35,439	98,328	141,894
United Kingdom	37,752	44,167	46,136	54,067	58,178	66,365	77,420	83,154	21,439	29,076	67,392	74,148
United States			35,230			43,524	48,566	54,068	11,746	20,883	54,442	69,685
Ukraine			46,789	59,453	84,017	83,193	93,701	134,887	59,352	44,678	101,775	67,032
Estonia	39,712	43,183	48,681	53,732	59,579	63,193	65,131	68,302	42,305	22,944	52,585	61,317
Finland	34,745	34,166						49,937	16,685		27,363	35,503
Netherlands												32,606
Italy	30,137	28,912	33,790	40,627	39,944	39,890	43,285			14,105
France										14,491
Norway	26,461	29,169		42,397	39,793
Russia	214,337	248,536	226,575	154,117	155,538	168,099	183,750	196,540	40,260		38,081
Total foreign	1,147,938	1,260,336	1,356,835	1,388,487	1,517,890	1,583,801	1,744,733	1,937,972	511,566	505,361	1,149,537	1,369,549
Y-to-Y change %		+9.79%	+7.66%	+2.33%	+9.32%	+4.34%	+10.16%	+11.08%	−73.60%	−1.21%	+127.47%	+19.14%

Notable places

Cities

Church of St. Anne, Vilnius

Minija is known for water tourism

Vilnius – capital of Lithuania, in the past – capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, first mentioned in Letters of Gediminas in 1323. Vilnius is full of cultural events – new operas, classical music, theatre and music festivals.^[9]
Kaunas – temporary interbellum capital of Lithuania with prominent functionalism architecture, art and history museums, largest city Oak Park in Europe and the largest closed concert space in the Baltic states.
Klaipėda – sea port with an attractive old town, Lithuanian Sea Museum.^[10] and Dolphinarium.^[11]
Šiauliai – famous for nearby Hill of Crosses.
Panevėžys – capital of Aukštaitija.
Alytus – capital of Dzūkija.
Marijampolė – capital of Suvalkija.
Telšiai – capital of Žemaitija.
Šilutė – capital of Lithuania Minor.
Mažeikiai – a modernist industrial city in Northern Lithuania.
Ukmergė – city in northwestern Lithuania known for its classicist, artistic old town.
Pakruojis – city near Šiauliai known for its manor complex and seasonal festivals.
Rokiškis – city known for its historical architecture and milk product industry.
Kėdainiai – city in central Lithuania with prominent Renaissance architecture monuments
Biržai – city in northern Lithuania with a Renaissance bastion castle, regional park and old traditional beer breweries.
Plungė – city known for its manor, artistic monuments and crab stick factory.
Trakai – historic city near capital Vilnius, known for its medieval architecture and surrounding nature.

Towns and villages

Balbieriškis – a town known for being situated near a large outcrop in the Nemunas Loops Regional Park.
Dieveniškės – a town near the Belarus-Lithuania border known for the Dieveniškės Regional Park.
Kavarskas – a town known for its dumplings and "magical" water supply.
Prienai – a town located near the Nemunas Loops Regional Park.
Salos – a tiny town located on an island in Dviragis lake, known for its centuries old manor.
Stelmužė – a village near the Lithuanian-Latvian border known for one of the oldest oak trees in Europe and oldest wooden church building in Lithuania.
Stakliškės – a village known for its production of midus and lemonade.
Krekenava – a town known for its meat industry and regional park which houses European Bisons.
Rumšiškės – a town known for its open-air ethnographic museum. The buildings of this museum are exposed as farmsteads and all of them together represent the 5 main ethnographic regions of Lithuania.
Medininkai – a historic town known for its signature castle.
Molėtai – a resort town surrounded by lakes, known for hosting an astronomical observatory and a Museum of Ethnocosmology
Minija – a small village known for water tourism.
Vištytis – a small town located near Lake Vištytis known for its summer music festivals.
Visaginas – a town in Northeastern Lithuania near Lake Drūkšiai known for being the youngest town of Lithuania and Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.
Zarasai – a town surrounded by lakes, mainly known for water tourism and music festivals.
Žiežmariai – a town located next to A1 highway, known for its minor historic architecture and meat industry.

Specific destinations

Protected areas

Sand dunes in Kuršių Nerija National Park

Curonian Lagoon, view from the Agila dune in Neringa

Protected areas established for the preservation of natural and cultural features. Lithuania has 30 regional parks and 5 national parks and 6 strict reserves.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Kernavė – ancient capital of Lithuania, a complex of historical hillforts and an archeological site, called "Troy of Lithuania"
Curonian Spit – the resort and nature reserve.
Vilnius Old Town – the old capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, largest baroque city in Northern Europe, is among the largest historical centres in Europe.
Modernist architecture of Kaunas – described by UNESCO as Architecture of Optimism 1919-1939

Cultural routes

In 2019 Cultural Route of Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was opened which leads through the places in Varėna, Druskininkai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Plungė, Rietavas, Palanga where composer has lived.^[12]

Cognitive or sightseeing routes (Pažintinis takas) are highly popular among domestic tourists. Usually they lead through unique places in nature, where the visitor can enjoy the nature and local history while walking some predefined path.

Pilgrimage sites

Žemaičių Kalvarija Church.

Lithuania has many holy sites, especially in Samogitia, which are worth a visit.

Major pilgrimage sites:

Resorts

Golden sand beach in Palanga

Lithuania has 4 official resorts and 5 resort territories.^[13]

Resorts

Birštonas – a balneological resort and a spa town, surrounded by pine forests.
Druskininkai – a developed spa town with the largest water park in the Eastern Europe, the Snow Arena – one of the biggest indoor skiing slopes in Europe. The Water Park and the Snow Arena connected with the cable car.^[14]
Neringa - a world heritage site with unique nature, including resort towns of Nida and Juodkrantė
Palanga – the summer capital of Lithuania with sandy beaches
Šventoji - a resort town on the coast of the Baltic sea

Resort territories

Anykščiai – spa town
Ignalina and the villages of Palūšė and Strigailiškis [lt]
Kulautuva-Kačerginė-Zapyškis – traditional spa treatment area
Trakai – natural, anthropogenic lake-rich city with a historical world heritage site
Zarasai

Former places

Likėnai – a resort with mineral springs.

Military heritage

The country has some military sites left and may be very interesting place as a place of militarism heritage tourism. It might be interesting for anyone who is interested in history of the warfare or the Cold War.

Major militarism heritage sites in Lithuania:

Kaunas Fortress, a massive system of forts built around Kaunas during the Russian Empire rule in the 19th century;
Plokštinė missile base, a former Soviet nuclear launch site in Samogitia.^[15]

Bicycle tourism

EuroVelo 10

Legend

Signage for EuroVelo 11, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Bicycle tourism is growing, especially in Lithuanian Seaside Cycle Route. EuroVelo routes EV10, EV11, EV13 go through Lithuania. Total length of bicycle tracks amounts to 3769 km (of which 1988 km is asphalt pavement).^[16] Most known bicycle routes are: Nemunas River Cycle Route, Suvalkija Cycle Circuit, Lithuanian Seaside Cycle Route. Most of the Tourism information centres and national parks have their local thematic bicycle route plans.