A Joe Bloggs kind of place (Sakiai (Lithuania))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Sakiai (Lithuania)
Date:	05/11/08 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No tourists, a view of a typical town, cheap smuggled tobacco

Disadvantages: Nothing special at all about the place

Sakiai is a small town in the west of Lithuania with a population of about 6,000 the majority of who commute to Kaunas (65km) for work or study. Well off the beaten path and with no real reason to go there, it's a pleasant little town close to the border with Russia (Kaliningrad), it has some nice churches (both Lutheran and Catholic) but not much else in the way of old buildings due to the Germans destroying everything in WW2.

The town overlooks two small lakes and is amongst very nice countryside, it's worth a visit for the authentic regular Lithuanian small country town experience but there is no reason to choose a visit over other small towns apart from perhaps cheap cigarettes smuggled over the river from Kaliningrad.

There are a few supermarkets, a post office, a couple of bars which people remain sat outside of after closing hours following a visit to the night shop for drinks but all the action is in Kaunas or at house parties, so it's not much of a place to go out in nor does it have much in the way of accomodation, so better off just having a short visit from Kaunas. Pleasant in the summer but not worth it in cold or wet seasons.

As for getting there - buses travel from Kaunas and possibly Jurbarkas too. If you are driving, the road is a bit bumpy but not too bad. Hitchhiking is common but only worthwhile in the direction of commuters - that is Sakiai -> Kaunas in the morning and Kaunas -> Sakiai in the late afternoon, which will not suit visitors.

Summary: The town without a photo on dooyoo!