Botanical Park

Lithuania


The 1-sq-km park includes a rose garden, 18km of footpaths and Birutė Hill (Birutēs kalnas), once a pagan shrine. According to legend, it was tended by vestal virgins, one of whom, Birutė, was kidnapped and married by Grand Duke Kęstutis. A 19th-century chapel tops the hill. The wonderful Amber Museum is inside the park.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Lithuania attractions

1. Amber Museum

0.18 MILES

Housed in a neoclassical palace built by Count Feliksas Tiskevicius in 1897, this revamped museum showcases what is reputedly the world’s sixth-largest…

2. Amber Processing Gallery

0.49 MILES

This is the last of the dozen or so original amber shops Palanga boasted in the late 19th century, when it was one of the largest amber-processing centres…

3. Dr Jono Šliūpas Memorial House

0.52 MILES

Fascinating black-and-white photos of old Palanga fill this house, the former home of the town’s first mayor. Closed on Sunday between September and May.

4. Antanas Mončys House Museum

0.66 MILES

This museum displays large wooden sculptures, collages and masks by Lithuanian émigré artist Antanas Mončys (1921–93). The sculptor was very tactile and…

5. Exile & Resistance Museum

0.92 MILES

A modest permanent exhibition detailing resistance to foreign (particularly Soviet) occupation in Lithuania's troubled 20th century with personal stories…

6. Kretinga Museum

7.4 MILES

A crumbling winter garden attached to the Kretinga Museum houses a tropical mirage of 850 species of exotic plants. The museum itself is located in one of…

7. Farewell Statue

13.06 MILES

This poignant statue of a mother with a headscarf, a suitcase in one hand, and the hand of a small boy clutching a teddy bear in the other, stand outside…

8. Lithuania Sea Museum

13.08 MILES

This popular museum, set in a 19th-century fort, has some fascinating stuffed sea animals, as well as aquariums showcasing the marine life of the Curonian…