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Pre-Conference and Post-Conference Tours
If you can spare a day or two before or after the conference, check the list of pre- and post-conference excursions, especially if this is your first visit to Lithuania. We are proud that the UNESCO World Heritage List includes Vilnius, the Curonian Spit and the spectacular Kernavė. Lithuania has places to go and things to see for everyone.
Enjoy your stay!
Tour and excursion booking
Advance tour and excursion booking is available until the 1st of August. Ticket reservation is available:
After the 1st of August, the SLE Meeting Secretariat will contact you for payment details. Depending on a group gathered for a certain excursion, the price will be determined and announced to all participants. The actual payment is to be made on-site.
All requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. However, we will strive to comply with all your requests. In case of an insufficient number of participants, the Organizers are entitled to cancel the tour or excursion by informing all participants by the 15th of August.
In case of any questions or additional information, please contact the SLE Meeting Secretariat at sle43@viaconventus.com.
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The capital, Vilnius, is one of the most beautiful towns in Eastern Europe, situated at the junction of the Neris and Vilnele rivers and surrounded by picturesque wooded hills. Founded in 1323, the city with its unique character and architecture reflects the history of the country at the crossroads of the Roman, Byzantine and Eurasian worlds. Numerous churches and towers, fortifications, secluded medieval courtyards and narrow streets create a mix of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical styles in Vilnius.
Vilnius city tour continues for 2 hours (by bus).
Price: 25 Euro per person for the group of 7 persons
15 Euro per person for the group of 15 persons
Date and time: 1st of September 2010, 14:00
5th of September 2010, 15:00
Meeting point – Cathedral's bell tower
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Trakai is located 28 km west of Vilnius. There are many lakes in the region. Trakai Castle dating back to the 15th century (in the middle of Lake Galvė) is the only insular castle throughout Eastern Europe. Island castle is one of the most visited historical-architectural monuments in Lithuania. The distinctive feature of Trakai is that the town was built and preserved by people of different nationalities. Here lived communities of Karaites, Tartars, Lithuanians, Russians and Poles.
The history of Karaites is connected with Lithuania since 1397-1398. According to the tradition, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, after one of the marches to the Golden Horde steppes, brought several hundreds of Karaites from the Crimea to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Initially, the Karaites settled in Trakai between two castles of the Great Duke, on the present Karaites Street.
During this excursion you will have an opportunity to try one of the most famous non-ritual dishes kybyn (pl. kybynlar). It is a leavened paste cake in the shape of a half-moon with lamb or beef filling baked in the oven or on the tin.
The duration of the excursion is approximately 4 hours (by bus).
Price: 40 Euro per person for the group of 7 persons
35 Euro per person for the group of 15 persons
Price includes: transportation, entrance tickets, guide's services, dinner
Date and time: 5th of September 2010, 15:00-19:00
Meeting point – Cathedral's bell tower
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- EXCURSION TO TRAKAI AND KERNAVE
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Trakai is located 28 km west of Vilnius. There are many lakes in the region. Trakai Castle dating back to the 15th century (in the middle of Lake Galvė) is the only insular castle throughout Eastern Europe. Island castle is one of the most visited historical-architectural monuments in Lithuania. The distinctive feature of Trakai is that the town was built and preserved by people of different nationalities. Here lived communities of Karaites, Tartars, Lithuanians, Russians and Poles.
Kernave is a cradle of Lithuania. It is an ancient capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania situated on the banks of the river Neris. The picturesque hills of Kernave are considered to be a visit card of the Lithuanian tourism and it is included in the UNESCO list of the world cultural heritage. One of the most interesting places of Kernave is the museum. There is a rich collection of archaeological and ethnographical artefacts as well as exhibitions of photographs which show the historical development of Kernave.
The duration of the excursion is approximately 6 hours (by bus).
Price: 43 Euro per person for the group of 7 persons
37 Euro per person for the group of 15 persons
Price includes: transportation, entrance tickets, guide's services, lunch
Date and time: 6th of September 2010, 09:00-15:00
Meeting point – Cathedral's bell tower
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- EXCURSION TO THE OPEN-AIR FOLK LIFE MUSEUM OF RUMSISKES AND THE PARK OF SOVIET SCULPTURES - GRUTAS PARK
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Situated 80 km to the northwest of Vilnius and 20 km from Kaunas is Rumsiskes, an Open-Air Museum of Lithuanian Folk life, located in a 40-acre park. You can see the four major regions of Lithuania as they looked 100 years ago. The museum displays about 80 000 exhibits. Some of the houses and implements were actually moved here from their original locations. During the season time the concerts of folklore and ethnographic groups as well as traditional festivals liven up the exposition.
The collection of the museum consists of monumental sculptures and bas-reliefs of "heroes" of the Soviet period symbolizing brutality and absurdity of the Soviet system and occupation, reflects the manipulation of historical facts and displays the distorted memory of the history. Monumental sculptures and bas-reliefs displayed were erected in the majority of Lithuanian cities and towns during the Soviet period.
The duration of the excursion is approximately 8 hours (by bus).
Price: 55 Euro per person for the group of 7 persons
47 Euro per person for the group of 15 persons
Price includes: transportation, entrance tickets, guide's services, lunch
Date and time: 6th of September 2010, 09:00
Meeting point – Cathedral's bell tower
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- TWO - DAY EXCURSION „DISCOVER LITHUANIA"
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We offer an excursion to the most interesting and unique destinations in Lithuania. We promise you two days of unforgettable impressions. It is our wish to show you the most beautiful and extraordinary places of Lithuania, to let you try traditional food, meet local people, wade into the Baltic Sea, climb up the sand dunes and have an exciting and relaxing time together!
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Itinerary
1st day
Vilnius - Kernave - Siauliai - Nida (overnight)
IIn the 13th century Kernave was the first capital of the Lithuanian state. At that time it was a wooden town of feudal artisans and merchants and one of the major economic centres in the country. Five forthills served to protect the Duke's castle and the town. There are more than one thousand of these ancient forthills in Lithuania, but this is the only place where you can find so many of them together.
The Hill of Crosses (Siauliai), one of the most sacred places in Lithuania, is located in the Lithuanian national pilgrimage centre. A hundred thousand crosses, covering a small hill, represent devotion to Catholicism and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity. The tradition of placing crosses dates back to the 14th century but the first crosses here probably appeared as a symbol of Lithuanian defiance to a strict Russian tsar regime at the end of 19th century. It had been bulldozed and destroyed many times during the period of Soviet occupation but every demolition triggered a more intensive sprout of new crosses. Since then the Hill of Crosses represents a peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression. The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number.
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2nd day
Nida - Juodkrante - Trakai - Vilnius
The Curonian Spit (Nida) is a realm of sea, pine forests and sand dunes (protected by UNESCO). The Curonian Spit, a sandy spit separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary sights in Lithuania.
In 1961 the Curonian Spit was named Neringa. In 2000 the Curonian Spit was included into the UNESCO World Heritage list as a cultural landscape of outstanding value. The sand dune ridge with its rare flora, the seaside forest cherishing the hundred-year-old trees and hand-planted mountain pines, white sand beaches and a pleasant smell of smoked fish - will invade your memories and leave an unforgettable impression.
The most attractive places in Neringa are: Alksnyne - the old amber mine place; Juodkrante with the Hill of witches, the ensemble of wooden sculptures; the city park; the valley of "dead" dunes; Karvaiciai - a village buried by sand dunes; moving sand dunes; There are Neringa History Museum, Thomas Mann Memorial Museum, Parnidis Dune and Solar Clock Calendar, Monument to Kuvertas near Nida as well as Ethnographic Cemetery, Amber-Gallery and many more places to visit.
Trakai district is one of the most beautiful and historically interesting regions in Lithuania. It was declared the capital of Lithuania in the 15th century. Trakai is famous not only for its picturesque environs abounding in lakes (200 lakes, biggest of which are Galvė, Vilkokšnis, Skaistis), but it also boasts a big number of unique historical and cultural valuables. One of the most popular visiting sites by tourists is the Trakai castle, the only insular castle in the entire Eastern European area used as a defensive fortress by Lithuanian Grand Dukes.
Price: 235 Euro per person for the group of 7 persons
155 Euro per person for the group of 20 persons
135 Euro per person for the group of 30 persons
Price includes: travel by bus, accommodation (1 night in a double room in 4* hotel),
guide's services, 2 lunches, 2 dinners. Additional 40 Euro shall be added if a person would like to stay in a single room.
Date and time: 6-7 September 2010, 09:00
Meeting point – Cathedral's bell tower
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