Anykščiai – Traupis – Taujėnai – Ukmergė – Jonava – Kaunas
- Traupis Botanical Garden is the only school botanical garden in Lithuania. All of the plant collections (the Traupis Botanical Garden already has more than 8,000 species, forms and varieties of plants in total) were collected by one person: Sigutis Obelevičius. You will find everything from perennial flower collections and rock garden to a flower clock and decorative pool with aquatic plants. The botanical garden also has large collections of protected plants, herbs, outdoor and garden plants, and medicinal plants. Tours are often given by the founder and cultivator of the garden, Sigutis Obelevičius.
Taujėnai Manor has long been known for its opulence and splendour. The interior of the manor house was decorated extensively with the Radziwiłł family’s portraits, sculptures, hunting trophies, and antique weapons. The highest place was selected for the manor house, with the picturesque ponds spread out below in the west. Taujėnai Manor has an English landscape park, where the old oak trees are of the greatest value. The park covers an area of about 25 hectares, and the cascade ponds have been restored.
Take a walk around the Ukmergė Old Town, and climb to the top of the hill fort located at the confluence of the Šventoji River and the Ukmergėlė Stream, in the very centre of town. The Ukmergė Local Lore Museum allows you to climb up the old fire tower, which is sure to leave good impressions. This is a late-19th century structure that is 18 metres high. At the top of the tower, there is an observation deck which provides a beautiful panorama of the town. The Church of the Holy Trinity and the Church of St Peter and St Paul the Apostles embellish the town centre.
Experience nature with all five of your senses on the barefoot path at the Survilai Homestead located in Jonava District’s Šveicarija Village! The surface varies incredibly – pine cones, swamps, peat, clay, gravel, polished glass, pine needles, straw, an obstacle course, and much, much more. The path is more than a kilometre long, so you will experience a full range of unexpected sensations and a burst of positive emotions and energy.
Take a stroll around the Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Botanical Garden to see the unique plants growing there. The garden covers an area of over 60 hectares, with about 30 hectares of exhibits that are open to the public. This garden has the largest conservatory in Lithuania, and hosts various exhibitions and meetings, celebrates the weeks of blossoming and arranges educational events. Heritage Lithuanian flower garden plants are displayed in different plant communities according to their botanical classification. More than 20 species of traditional heritage vegetables varieties are grown in the educational garden. In the Lithuanian heritage apple orchards, visitors can see the rare purple-leaf apple tree.
Tadas Ivanauskas Homestead park "Obelynė" - This is where you can 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. The orchard growing at the homestead of the famous naturalist, Professor Tadas Ivanauskas, is one of the richest sources of heritage apple genetic resources. The garden is home to the ‘Vytis’ apple variety that was created by Professor Ivanauskas himself. Obelynė Park covers an area of about 6.5 hectares. This is also home to the huge Beržininkai Pineapple apple tree – also known as the Garden Mother, it is 11 metres tall and its crown is 12 metres wide.
Continue driving from Obelynė for another 15 minutes or so and visit the Oldest Apple Tree in Lithuania, which is almost 360 years old and still yields fruit. Even though the apple tree grows on a private plot, it is marked with an informational stand. The wild apple tree is 8 metres tall, with a girth of 285 centimetres at a height of 1.3 metres. Only a few branches of the apple tree are still alive, but they are covered with lush foliage and yield fruit which, though rather acidic, is extremely fragrant.
Kaunas is Lithuania's second city and was the capital of the country from 1920 until 1939. The Old Town, Town Hall, the Cathedral Basilica of St Peter and St Paul the Apostles, and the House of Perkūnas are all worth visiting; also take a stroll down Laisvės Alėja, and stop by the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art and the Devil Museum.
For meals we recommend:
- Taujėnai Manor‘s Restaurant „Roko virtuvė“, Ukmergė District
- „Big Stone“, Ukmergė District
- Restaurant „Arma“, Jonava District
- Restaurant “Višta puode”, Kaunas District
