Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

(Ben Green) #1
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.
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