Aukštaitija

Aukštaitija (meaning Highlands) is a region in the north-east of Lithuania.

Towns

• 1 Jonava is modern, built around the huge Achema chemical plant.
• 2 Kėdainiai is likewise centred on a chemical plant but has a 17th century old town.
• 3 Ukmergė is similar, in a landscape of earthwork castles.
• 4 Panevėžys is modern but has museums and old churches.
• 5 Utena has among its churches that of the "Old Believers" who rejected the Russian Orthodox reforms of 1652.
• 6 Visaginas was built to service a nuclear power plant, which closed so there's not much here.

Other destinations

• 1 Aukštaitija National Park is a land of lakes, hills and forests, with water sports and rural tourism.

Understand

Lithuania is divided into five "cultural regions", ten counties (apskritys) and 60 municipalities (savivaldybės). The five regions are ill-defined but are said to have distinct characteristics, which for Aukštaitija means forested upland terrain dotted with post-glacial lakes. The name means "highlands" and has been variably applied, including to areas now in Latva and Belarus. It seldom much exceeds 150 m altitude, but in a cold Baltic climate every metre deepens the winter snows. Panevėžys is the principal town, but the region has never been an administrative unit.

Get in

Kaunas is the transport hub for the west side of the region and Vilnius for the east, with airports, and road and bus networks.

Get around

You can reach the main towns by public transport, but many sights are at some distance from town, especially in the National Park. A car is best for reaching these, since you can carry sports and outdoor gear, and shelter from the weather.

See

Honey-making museum in the National Park

• Old architecture: most towns have a couple of 17th / 18th century churches, but only Kėdainiai could be said to have an "old town".
• Town museums exhibit the region's tumultuous history.
• Struve Geodetic Arc was a 19th century project to measure the earth's size and shape, by triangulating along the 30° East Meridian from Hammerfest in Norway down to the Black Sea. Struve's calculation of the equatorial circumference was only 224 m astray. Several triangulation points are commemorated by markers and in Aukštaitija there's one to the north at Panemunelis, along the road between Rokiskis and Kupiskis.

Do

• Kayaking and other water sports: multiple locations in this land of lakes, the most attractive are in the National Park.
• Aukštaitija narrow gauge railway has heritage trains along a section near Panevėžys.
• Football: FK Panevėžys plays soccer in A Lyga, Lithuania's top tier.

Eat

All the towns have cafes / restaurants / pubs serving hearty Baltic fare, with few other cuisines so veggies may struggle.

Hesburger is the national fast-food chain, and western franchises such as KFC are uncommon. The company is actually Finnish.

Drink

Church in Palūšė in the National Park

• Tap water is safe to drink, but raw lake water should be boiled or sterilised.
• All the towns have pubs, and several have breweries.

Stay safe

Beware traffic, safeguard valuables, take care with water activities especially with children, and dress for the weather, same as anywhere else.

Go next

• Vilnius the must-see capital is just south of this region.
• Samogitia is the region to the west. Šiauliai the main city has several sites of interest, best known is the Hill of Crosses.
• Latvia lies north, with routes converging on fascinating Riga.