Travel the Baltics and win

Travelling in Lithuania is always nice and you can get some great photos. Now there is a website that allows you to enter your photos and win prizes if you submit the best ones.

Great Baltic Travel is a website devoted to photo-documenting the Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Their website best describes the project, which is organized by the European Union and the state tourism departments of the three countries.

"It’s a joint project by the three Baltic countries that invites you to travel around the Baltics anytime from May 15 to October 31. It’s a great way to spend your free time, to experience new impressions and adventures while traveling and being a part of the game. It’s about the joy of discovering incredible landscapes, fascinating historic heritage and modern achievements – all within a few hours drive from your home. It’s a great chance to connect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania together again on one route, 20 years after the historic “Baltic Way” project of 1989. The Great Baltic States Tour is a visit to 30 different sites in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – 10 in each country. Castles from the Middle Ages, parks encompassed by legends, adventure parks with exciting entertainment in the air and on the ground, museums and galleries of modern art, underground caves and labyrinths – these are just few of the sites that participants in the Greats Baltic States Tour can discover. Make these 30 Baltic sites 30 new stories in your personal travelogue."

While the website could be improved slightly, it is easy to navigate and you will find it easy to register. Those who complete all the tasks are eligible for prizes. (see below)

Prizes Travel Main Prize: a weekend for 2 in one of the capitals included in Air Baltic’s newly opened destinations at own choice – return flight tickets, 4-star hotel for 2 nights, breakfast included). Country (Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia) Prize: a weekend for two in one of the Baltic States’ capitals – Air Baltic return flight tickets, 4-star Reval Hotel for 2 nights, breakfast included) Additional prizes: Active nature holiday more... City holiday more... Bicycle Buss trip to Tallin for two business class and accomodation in Nordic Hotel Accommodation for two in the hotel „Le Meridien Vilnius“. Superior“room, breakfast and visit to health club „Oasis“included. Accommodation for two in the 3 stars guest house “Senasis paštas” ( “Old Post”). Romantic weekend in the Mazone castle Basket of sweets Air balloon flight Special prize by Jurmala City Municipality Spa weekend for two more... Parachute jump from 1000 m Dinner for two in the Museum’s of Rowing in Trakai restaurant “Remus”.

The wheels on the bus....

Getting around Lithuania can be hard if you don't like taking the bus. While in other countries in Europe, the train reigns supreme, the bus is the best alternative 9 times out of 10 for getting to the place you want to go.

Buses run all of over the country all the time. They aren't cheap when you work in Lithuania and earn the local wages, but for a traveller, the prices will be quite comparable to other countries.

Buses from one side of the country to the other are around 20 euros each way - not really that cheap - but they are frequent and pretty comfortable.

Going internationally also means taking the bus unless you go to Warsaw or Minsk. Buses to Riga are very frequent (at least four per day) and some are equipped with free coffee machines, wireless internet and TVs for watching moves. Keep in mind though that if you don't ask, you don't get. The nice buses, which are called Lux Express, don't cost more, but you need to ask for them.

The bus companies you should know about are Euroline, Ecolines and TOKS. Tickets for all of the are available at the stations before departure or on the bus. When buying on the bus be aware that the drivers sometimes try to cheat people. Get an idea about how much the fare is before you alight - then you know if they are cheating you.

Be aware that there are some people who mirror the routes of the buses with private vehicles - they usually wait outside the bus station and yell the destinations. They are usually the same price as the bus, but can be better. Try this at your own risk.

Have a good ride!

Star1 links Lithuania to Dublin, London and Barcelona

New airline Star1 has now received all clearances and has started flying between Vilnius and London (Stanstead), Dublin and Girona (Barcelona).

The airline's new routes plug holes in the destinations that were left until filled after the winter debacle at Vilnius International Airport.

The small new airline is taking it easy so far with three weekly flights to Dublin, four weekly flights to London and two weekly flights to Girona.

From the company's website I can gather that they only have one plane at the moment, explaining the infrequent flights. It is however welcome news that there will now be flights direct to London and Barcelona, which previously didn't exist.

Currently the airline is only selling tickets on its own website as far as I can tell. It is not yet on Sky scanner.

Tickets aren't the cheapest in the European Union, but considering that they are new and that the entire airline industry is inflating its prices, they aren't too bad.

Including taxes, return flights to and from London end up between 700 and 1000 litas (200-300 euros). One strange thing on their website is that you cannot book tickets later than September this year, but that is probably because they are testing the water.

Book tickets here

The situation in Vilnius Airport...

Vilnius International Airport is the biggest and most frequented airport in Lithuania. It is also the only airport in the area of the capital city of the country.

This airport suffers from a number of ailments. The first and most painful is that you can't actually fly anywhere from it for a number of reasons. It was up until recently the most expensive airport in the region in terms of taxes. Also, until recently and one of the main airlines, FlyLAL, which used to have many destinations out of it, suddenly folded at the beginning of 2009 leaving only a handful of places to go.

The other company that used it regularly, AirBaltic, based in Latvia, then decided to withdraw all of its flights except for those connecting with Riga in an attempt to make more money in Riga. The result is that people looking to actually fly somewhere overlook the airport completely because it is a waste of time.

Of course if you are Mr. Money bags and can afford to fly with an expensive airline like LOT or Lufthansa, the airport is still accessible from some places directly, but otherwise you will have to change in Riga to get there. This can mean a 400 kilometre flight could take up to 10 hours or so depending on the connection in other airports.

Recently Swedish airline Skyways begun flights to the airport, but only to Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Apart from the dearth of flights to the airport, it isn't too bad. It is a very small airport with a simple layout, good for those in a hurry.

The building is as such -

walk in the door, check in, get to the gate, all within a few minutes. It is unlike airports like Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt AM, Heathrow etcetera where one needs a GPS and a motorbike to get between gates in time and without extra fuss.

Of course this smallness makes it a boring airport to wait in. There are a handful of dutyfree shops, which offer close to nothing except perfume and sunglasses - stuff which you can get anywhere. There are no tourist trinket shops worth mentioning, but you can buy bus tickets for the city you are leaving in the kiosks there. It makes perfect sense.

There is not free wireless internet.

Baggage handling is quick and I have yet to lose a bag there. There is no restaurant, but people can buy snacks in the cafe, which sells packaged sandwiches, croissants and chocolate bars.

To get the airport, a number of buses and minibuses are available depending on where you are. As these change, it is better not to list them here, but ask for them when you get to the city.

A new train from the airport to the city was recently built and can be used, but it is about 200 metres from the terminal and you will need to look carefully for it. There is little signage.


AIRLINES SERVICING THE AIRPORT (at the time of writing):
Aer Lingus
Air Baltic
Austrian Airlines
Aviavilsa (cargo)
Brussels Airlines
Czech Airlines
Donbassaero Airlines
Estonian Air
Finnair
LOT Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Skyways
Star1 Airlines
UtAir