No 50157
Self drive tour
Self drive tour Independent travel Latvia

Gardens - The beautiful and the practical

3 days

The route leads from Riga, the capital of Latvia through beautiful countryside areas to Kaunas, the second largest city of Lithuania.  Klūgu landscape garden and park is famous for begonias. Institute of horticulture in Dobele owns a collection of over 200 types and forms of lilac plants. The “Beautiful&Practical” garden is proud of its collection of conifers, and the hosts offer tastings of herbal spice powders, dried berries and fruit. “Rūķīšu tea” is one of the largest farms for medicinal plants in Latvia (purple coneflowers, marigolds, chamomile, etc). Enjoy the beauty of peonia in the collection garden by Andris Berkins. Viestardi tulip garden also grows and processes buckthorn. Next stop is at the vegetable and herb farm “Healthy” producing herbal ointments. Visiting Mint House you will taste mint tea, biscuits, honey with peppermint and peppermint syrups. At Blankenfelde manor you will see a collection of bells and will enjoy natural juices, syrups and pickles produced in-house. In Joniškis, you can visit the White and Red Joniškis Synagogues, the Joniškis Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and the Joniškis Museum of History and Culture. Jakiškiai Manor has not been renovated and shows authentic elements like ovens, shutters, stairs, doors. There are about 30 different species and varieties of plants growing on the grounds of the Baltic Plant Museum. Šiauliai University Botanical Garden demonstrates heritage rural plant gardens arranged according to the traditions of pre-war, inter-war and post-war periods. Burbiškis Manor and its beautiful landscape and sculpture park is a home to the annual tulip festival. Authentic homesteads representing Aukštaitija region can be seen at Kleboniškiai Rural Household Museum. Baisogala Manor is called royal, since it once belonged to a Lithuanian Grand Duke, its 12-hectare park is one of the most beautiful in Lithuania. There are two beautiful heritage gardens surrounding the museum of Mačiulis-Maironis, a famous Lithuanian poet. Home produced “Happy Foods” can be bought from Garsi Tyla homestead, and you can have a walk in their 100-year-old orchard and see the culinary herb garden. The Lithuanian Institute of Horticulture carries out both scientific and experimental/production activities. You can also buy seedlings, and seasonal fruit and vegetables. At Tadas Ivanauskas Homestead at Obelynė Park you will see a collection of 300 species and forms of plants, including some of the oldest trees on the planet – the ginkgo biloba and the dawn redwood. In Kaunas you will see the Oldest Apple Tree in Lithuania – almost 360years old, 8 metres tall, with a girth of 285 centimetres at a height of 1.3 metres. The Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Botanical Garden exposes the Lithuanian Heritage flower garden plants according to their botanical classification. The tour ends in Kaunas that was the capital of the country from 1920 until 1939.

Heritage gardens