Lithuania tourist favorites?
 

My husband will be spending four days in Lithuania in a few weeks for the first time, renting a car, hoping to visit some ancestral villages. I expect he'll do some birding and try to get to a nature preserve, and spend some time poking around Vilnius where he'll fly in and out. The beaches look good to me right about now.

Anyone have favorite places to recommend? His plans are fluid.

Besides Vilnius, the biggest tourist attraction in Lithuania seems to be the Hill of Crosses in the town of Šiauliai, maybe a 90 minute drive from Vilnius. This hill became known during Soviet times as a place where locals put up crosses in a field out in the middle of nowhere, in defiance of Soviet laws against recognition of religion. The crosses would be removed and then the next day, new crosses would appear. Now there are literally thousands of crosses, and it's become a big tourist attraction.

I visited Šiauliai by bus a couple of weeks ago - sure would be easier with a car. I didn't visit any parks or natural areas besides the lakes at the town of Trakai. I didn't have time to get to the coast.

Thanks, Andrew. Defiance would no doubt appeal to him as someone whose great-grandparents were born owing taxes to czars.

Best places to visit. Watch the video.
http://tic.siauliai.lt/best-placesto/?lang=en

inyourpocket.com/Vilnius Lot of info on this site. You can also get a free download.

My grandmother was born in Vilnius in 1889.

I walked by the President of Lithuania, said hello, all the while not knowing who he was. Only a man in a white suit standing against a wall.

Trakų castle not far from Vilnius, the outdoor ethnographic museum in Rumšiškės and Nida, Palanga and Klaipėda are all interesting destinations. Here's our old trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-and-rome.cfm