Visiting Beautiful Šiauliai: Lithuania's 4th Largest City!

[@paulanthony6931]

Thank you so much for your presentation here. I was in Saiuliai yesterday. As a tourist, I travel on foot and bus. Since I am coming from Vilnius, I took the train at the station (Stotis). The first train leaves at 7:30 am and it is a 2.5-hour ride. I decided to do the round trip from Vilnius and back. The last train from Siauliai to Vilnius is at 18:25 pm. The fare cost me 29.84 euros. I arrived around 10 am and asked for the information at the Siauliai train station on how to go to Kryzius Kalnas/Hill of Crosses. I was told to go to the bus station (Autobusu Stotis) which is about 500 meters walk by foot. I took the bus, and the fare is .90 euros (cheap). It is about a 20-minute ride and about 12 kilometers away. The bus stop is called Domantai. From there, it is about two kilometers walk to the Hill of the Crosses. Thank God, it is a sunny and beautiful day yesterday. Spent about one hour there and walked back to Domantai station. I took the bus to go to the city and got off at the Peter and Paul Cathedral on Tilzes Gatve/Street. I also walked behind the Cathedral where I saw sundial square, the cemetery, and the Iron Wolf. From there I walked towards the Siauliai Sviecia and saw pictures on display of the city back in the early 1900s. A lot of the tourist attractions are in Vilniaus Gatve. I saw everything that you posted in this video including the statues. I did not get the chance to go to those Lithuanian restaurants you recommended since I was only there for a day but I went to Kava Saigon before heading back to Vilnius.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks Paul! Would you mind if I posted this to the website (Lithuaniaexplained.com)? You’ll get full credit of course. It’s very helpful for tourists/visitors!

[@paulanthony6931]

@@LithuaniaExplained absolutely. To help other tourist who do not have a car. It is possible to see everything as long they budget their time for the day.

[@paulanthony6931]

I also forgot to mention that in Vilniaus Gatve there is a tourist information there that Iutilized and asked. They provided me all the information I needed for sight seeings. It save me a lot of time and they gave me map of Siaulia.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

@@paulanthony6931 Thanks! The article will be on the website on the morning of May 22nd (Lithuania time).

[@paulanthony6931]

@@LithuaniaExplained I will check on the website. Thank you.

[@vaidotast]

Šiauliai episode - nice! I wish you to visit EVERY city of Lithuania, haha :)

[@faustas405]

Šiauliai is my home city !! glad you were able to visit and i hope you had a great time there :)

[@democracyforall]

NATO can easily operate from Panavezeys local airport but they are naughty if this airport opens it will bring untold number of jobs for people in your city.

[@dedbit6723]

So nice of you to visit my hometown! 😊You passed through the "The way of the Balts" (6:58) which I got to visit on my last trip to Lithuania in the summer. I think they offer the history of that in English as well which you might have found interesting. Linkejimai is Anglijos (greetings from the UK btw)

[@seanshepard2000]

We ate at Leja in 2019 when we were there! Really good food and nice atmostphere! Just down the street is the Photography Museum , which was kind of a cool place to go because you could go up to the roof and see the whole city.

[@DS.J]

Advice: use Waze navigation and select option to avoid unpaved roads. VERY useful in Lithuania.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Good idea! Thanks!

[@paulanthony6931]

About the Kava Saigon located in P. Višinskio g. 32, this is what I can say. The best Vietnamese food in the entire Baltic region. Super delicious. In fact, I ordered twice what is considered for two people and ate them on the spot. It is that good. Love their Vietnamese Ice coffee. It is a must place to visit and eat if you are in Siauliai, Lithuania. Also, the two owners Alex and Diana are so friendly, welcoming, and the only Vietnamese people there. They speak English fluently. Really good value for the money. I rate Kava Saigon two thumbs up and five stars. From Kava Saigon to the train station, it is about 800 meters away. Paul from San Francisco, California.

[@davidrandom092]

I was hoping you to go in Joniškis. It's around 39km from Šiauliai and 30km from Kryžių Kalnas. I live in that city, it's pretty chill and beutiful city. Has a nice park. There are pretty good restaurant's for example " Zapo baras ", " Fortūna " , " Žilvinas ". Joniškis has a nice church too ( you can google it ). I like it even better then Šiauliai church. + There is Basketball museum and hystorical museum near the Park.

[@josteinnevervei]

Funny to see that you were directed onto the unpaved road by Google Maps, because I was also directed onto the same road and being very confused about my whereabouts 😂

[@paulanthony6931]

Thank you for the information

[@fredericchesneau8643]

Labai ačiū for your great videos, always so interesting! I was lucky to visit the Hill of Crosses twice, in August under the sun and in December under the snow. It was wonderful! I take advantage of this comment to ask you one question: could you make a video about Eurovision in Lithuania? Not about the Lithuanian songs, but about how important it is there (I guess it is quite important, but I am not sure of how exactly)

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for the suggestion- I will add it to the list!

[@ananasaz2696]

U should definitely visit next time Rekyva also it feels like part of Šiauliai. It's a decent city with it's own problems but in the last couple of years what I seen they're making big steps.

[@markust7709]

Interesting, I visited Siauliai almost the same time. But it was a week later when we put 1 h forward, gained longer daylight and few extra degrees of temerature😁 i has a super sunny weather and +18 C midday. Siauliai has few unique museums. It also sports 3 or 4 decent size shopping malls (they would do good in Vilnius!), it has Akropolis, too😱 But none of them are in downtown. Siauliai left an impression of underepaired city of Lithuania🤷 I found even Panevezys more maintained. But I am sure it will catch up.

[@itsonepixel]

If you want to, you can also visit Panevėžys, it's a really beautiful city!

[@TheIchNI]

he's lying! :D

[@maybeeyeman]

Isn't Panevėžys considered to be "Lithuanian Detroit" from the joke side?

[@t.v.2480]

​@@maybeeyeman indeed haha

[@DS.J]

While far from beautiful, Panevezys has a pretty nice looking central square, and a couple of nice restaurants and cafes which woulldn't be out of place in Vilniius.

[@slugma1054]

I'm from Šiauliai, nice to see it

[@Ugapiku]

I love Siauliai since I live there, but it's definitely a summer city. No reason to come here during the cold season :)

[@bloodtypena]

I am so happy you visited my hometown. I would say Lithuania looks best during summer and that includes Šiauliai. Best times to visit I would say are during holidays. Like Joninės or Mindauginės or Šiauliai days ( the birthday of Šiauliai during september 6th and 7th) weather will be nice there will be various shows and local fairs. Weather in Lithuania during Easter is usually bad. When weather is bad which is most of the time we stay inside. And when its summer and the weather is nice we lithuanias spend most time by the lakes grilling something or we are at the beach drinking beer, or hiking in the woods or flying a hot air balloon. And that it why our streets are often empty.😉 P.S. if you ever visit Šiauliai again during summer please go to the rose gardens at Fenkelio Vila. They have various species of roses and its a lovely garden and its free. Maybe one day I could show you and your wife around my hometown during better weather.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for the information and invitation! ☺️

[@bloodtypena]

@@LithuaniaExplained I think every nation has their favorite place to hang out. For us Lithuanians our favorite place is by the lake grilling. We just love spenind time in nature thats why Lithuanian holiday will be most likly rural.

[@Pet_Hedgehog]

local here, yeah the center might look nice but the city doesnt have much to offer at all, basically sleep work go home repeat, maybe go out once in a blue moon with friends. I dont think this is bad however, if you want to be undisturbed and in peace then its perfect.

[@emilycurtis4398]

The Hill of Crosses was stunning. We placed one of the crosses from a deceased family member's casket there.

[@DodoGTA]

I actually was the first person to find one particular geocache in Šiauliai 🐸

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Cool!

[@aiste8099]

from what I remember became a sign of resistance in the Soviet times as religion was banned. every time the soviets bulldozed the hill, locals would put more and more crosses

[@RichieLarpa]

I wanted to go there, because of that Hill of Crosses, but it is too far from my current plan. I guess Kaunas and Trakai should do it for my first trip and at least I have seen Šiauliai from the first hand, for which I am grateful for.

[@naazik9139]

Hi! Will be travelling to Vilnius next week! What app should I have on my phone to get a map of the city?

[@alfredasstankus6352]

Gelezinis " Vilkas

[@exlibrisas]

I'm the opposite: I prefer gloomy and bleak atmosphere with calmness. It feels mysterious, cozy and creative.

[@lithuanian_guy]

Great video! And youre loosing your accent little by little - pronunciation got a tiny bit of flow to it, cheers! :)

[@mindaugasmindaugas6118]

it's like a homles shelter if you live there

[@goresk8869]

Going to Siauliai in September (2024)

[@pontiuspilates]

you can take a taxi or rideshare

[@noxlight5564]

2:12 Ofcourse there's a BMW going over the speed limit and overtaking them, wouldn't be LIthuania lmao

[@edwint1780]

I am Lithuanian and I'd like to say that the hill of crosses is overrated as a tourist attraction. It's really only relevant to the people who are religious or maybe the historians. It's not that interesting to see for everyone else. There are much better things to see and I think the hill of crosses might weird some foreigners out and give a wrong impression of the country. The lithuanian tourism bureau needs to stop telling people to go there haha.

[@eimantas314-rblx]

I was there, I could've met you i think.

[@fckthesystem497]

its a summer town thats why they call it sun city in weather like that its gray and boring

[@vql8185]

Bruh this city gives me nightmares

[@Armadyz]

Come to Jonava please 🫡 We make fertilizers for crops, you will love it 😆

[@paulanthony6931]

🤣😂