Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

LITHUANIA 65

DOCUMENTATION

European

Commission

http://www.ec.europa.eu

VISITOR

INFORMATION

http://www.tourism.lt

EMBASSIES

Australia

Vilnius 23.

Tel (5) 212 3369.

Canada

Jogailos 4, Vilnius.

http://www.canada.lt

United Kingdom

Antakalnio 2, Vilnius.

http://www.britain.lt

United States

Akmenų 6, Vilnius.

http://www.usembassy.lt

EMERGENCY

NUMBERS

Ambulance

Tel 03, 112.

Fire

Tel 01, 112.

Police

Tel 02, 112.

ARRIVING BY AIR

Auracom

http://www.airport-bus.lt

airBaltic

http://www.airbaltic.com

Austrian Airlines

http://www.austrian.lt

Czech Airlines

http://www.czechairlines.com

Finnair

http://www.finnair.com

Lufthansa

http://www.lufthansa.com

RyanAir

http://www.ryanair.com

Star 1

http://www.star1.aero

Kaunas Airport

Karmėlava, Kaunas.

http://www.kaunasair.lt

Vilnius Airport

Raudūnios Kelias, Vilnius.

Tel (5) 273 9305.

http://www.vilnius-airport.lt

ARRIVING BY SEA

Klaipėda State

Sea Port

http://www.portofklaipeda.lt

RAIL TRAVEL

Lietuvos Geležinkeliai

http://www.litrail.lt

DIRECTORY

TRAVELLING BY CAR

Roads in Lithuania are

excellent by post-Soviet

era stan dards and present

no special problems to

drivers. There are no toll

roads except through the

Curonian Spit National Park.

Lithuanian regulations state

that every car must carry a

small fire extinguisher, a first-

aid kit, a reflective warn ing

triangle and reflective safety

vest. It is mandatory for

passengers to wear seat belts

and motorists must use head-

lights at all times, both during

the day and the night. The

traffic police may not be able

to speak fluent English but it

can collect fines on the spot.

Driving while one is

intoxicated is a punishable

offence and local authorities

sometimes use roadblocks

and breath-analyzer tests as

enforcement tools.

TRAVELLING BY BUS

Lithuania has an extensive

network of roads connecting

the country to neighbouring

ARRIVING BY SEA

Lithuania’s only commercial

maritime harbour, Klaipėda

State Sea Port, is linked by

ferry to ports in Germany,

Sweden and Denmark. There

are connections to Kiel and

Mukran in Germany,

Copenhagen-Fredericia and

Aabenraa-Aarhus in Denmark

and Karlshamn in Sweden.

ARRIVING BY AIR

Lithuania is well connected to
the rest of Europe and, via
major European transport hubs
such as London, Copenhagen
and Amsterdam, to the rest of
the world. Opened in 1944,
Vilnius Airport is the arrival
point for most flights. Services
at the airport include car rental
offices, currency exchange,
cafés and news paper kiosks,
which also sell bus tickets.
Lithuania does not have a
national carrier, although
Lithuania-based budget airline
Star 1 and Latvia’s airBaltic
both use Vilnius airport as a
hub. The airport is also used
by about 15 other airlines,
including Lufthansa, Finnair,
Czech Airlines and Austrian
Airlines. There are connec-
tions to almost all the capitals
of Western Europe as well
as many cities in former
Soviet republics.
Kaunas Airport has a small
number of scheduled inter-
national flights, and is served
by low-cost operator RyanAir
from the UK and Ireland.
Auracom has infor mation on
airport bus services through-
out the country.

RAIL TRAVEL

The national rail network is

run by Lietuvos Geležinkeliai

(Lithuanian Railways). The

main routes run from Vilnius

to Šiauliai and Klaipėda;

Vilnius to Visaginas, which

passes Ignalina and Aukštaitija

National Park; Šiauliai to

Panevėžys and Rokiškis; and

the speedy and regular

Vilnius to Kaunas route. All

train tickets must be pur chased

at the ticket desks in railway

stations. At the larger railway

stations it is possible to leave

your baggage at the left lug-

gage room for a small fee, or

deposit the luggage in a self-

service locker. Although the

stations at Vilnius and Kaunas

have been modern ized, there

is little emphasis on clean-

liness and hygiene in other

train stations.

newspaper kiosks and post
offices. Mobile phone users
can avoid roaming costs by
using local SIM cards which
are available at newspaper
kiosks. Paštas (post offices)
can be found almost every-
where in the country.

countries and there are

numerous crossing points,

making it fairly simple to

travel by bus to or from

Estonia and Latvia. There are

express passenger coaches

from Vilnius to Rīga and

Tallinn, as well as to other

cities including Warsaw,

Berlin, Prague, Vienna,

Kaliningrad and Moscow. On

the other hand, the journey

from countries furthur west,

such as Germany or the UK,

is very long and the incon-

venience is best avoided.