An 8 day trip

Interested in traditional culture and would like to experience untamed nature? Then you should certainly visit Aukštaitija, an exquisite piece of the Lithuanian highlands.

Lithuania consists of 4 important (etnographic) regions. Each region has its own distinctive character finding its expression in folk culture. There are also differences in, for example, flora and fauna. Next to this, each etnographic region has its own dialect.

Aukštaitija (literally: Highlands) is the name of one of the etnographic regions. It derives from the fact that the region is rather hilly. Aukštaitija lies in the north-eastern part of Lithuania and some 100 kilometers from Vilnius. Around the 11th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania arose in this region.

The region is famous for its national park. Seventy percent of the park is comprised of forest; the greater part of it are pinetrees some of which are older than 200 years. The park's famous oak has a trunk with over 6 meters in circumference and is more than 800 years old. Well over 600 different sorts of mushrooms can be found in the park, around 100 of which are edible.

The fauna in the park is also impressive. Foxes, elks, wolves and wild swines live in the park as well as many species of birds. The park embraces 126 lakes lying inbetween forests and hills, often connected to each other. One of the most famous vista points in the park is the Ladakalnis hill. From the top of the hill opens a wonderful panorama of 6 lakes. The park houses 116 villages with a total of around 2300 inhabitants. A number of these villages, dating from the 14th century, are regarded etnografic.

Lively and bright colours prevail in the traditional fabrics and the national costumes of the region. People in Aukštaitija still sing 1000 year-old traditional polyfone songs: sutartinės. These songs have kept their archaic musical and poetical character. They are an exceptional phenomenon not only in Lithuania but also in the folklore of our contemporary world. Beside the traditional vocal music, instrumental polyphony with skudučiai and ragai is performed in Aukštaitija. Next to this, Aukštaitija is considered the motherland of poets and story tellers. A typical Lithuanian plucked instrument is kanklės, related to cither.

It is difficult to get at the truth if people in Aukštaitija first started singing or drinking beer. Aukštaitija is known als the land of brewers. In addition, Aukštaitija has a rich culinary inheritance. 

And last but not least, Aukštaitija has a wide choice of museams in local folklore, such as the authentic 19th century water mills and the old bee-keeper's museum.