9 places in Druskininkai where you’ll experience something new

1. The Spring of Beauty

The health park located next to the Druskininkai health resort is for more than just walks. When you go down to the banks of the Nemunas, you can pamper yourself with nature’s beauty procedures (we recommend it!). Here, you can bathe your face in the water of the Spring of Beauty” – the saltiest and deepest spring in Druskininkai. The water has skin-cleansing and rejuvenating properties.

The water of the Spring of Beauty, which flows from a stone bas-relief, is not suitable for drinking. It is used for baths – either on its own or mixed with other components. This water can be used to bathe or to gargle a sore throat. It can be used as an effective anti-inflammatory measure. The waters of the Spring of Beauty is used in the Druskininkai health resort as well.

2. The Island of Love

One stretch of the Nemunas river, which wraps itself around Druskininkai, is a big draw for romantics. It is the Island of Love, located in the middle of the river.

History says that the youth of Druskininkai have been gathering here to party since the beginning of the XX century. They’d make fires, dance, and sing. At midnight, the girls would go to the left bank of the island and the boys would go to the right. There, they’d all release wreaths with burning candles and their names. At the other end of the island, where the river’s currents meet again, observers would wait with rowboats. They’d watch for wreaths that paired up and would announce the lucky names out loud.

In the summer, you can see the Island of Love from up close by boat on the Nemunas. This is a popular choice for those who want to get to know the legends of Druskininkai.

3. The Old Druskininkai Cemetery

Those interested in experiencing the resort’s more mystical side can visit the Old Druskininkai Cemetery. They are located near the city centre near Druskonis lake.

The first city resident was buried here in 1858. He was a Druskininkai church beggar from the kingdom of Poland. Catholics were buried on one side of the cemetery and the Orthodox were buried on the other.

The old cemetery’s gravestones are surprisingly grand and have creative and mournful engravings. The oldest graves are located near the chapel. At the cemetery, you will be able to see a closed-down Neo-Gothic chapel built by the Kiersnovskiai, a wealthy local family, the grave of Jonas Pileckis, who made the resort popular, and the graves of M. K. Čiurlionis and Adelė Čiurlionis.

4. Newlyweds’ Balinese Oasis

There is a tradition in the Indonesian island of Bali that says that the newlyweds must spend their first night in a round bed. The Flores hotel, a real Bali island oasis that opened its doors two years ago, invites newlyweds to participate in this tradition by sleeping on round beds as well.

Every carefully selected interior detail at Flores hotel came directly from this island, which Lithuanians love. It has plenty of the colours and textures that can be found throughout Bali – lucky lava from Indonesia, wood that has laid underground for hundreds of years, sandstone, pebbles smoothed by the sea, a teak tree, a mango tree, bamboo, banana leaves, various carvings, mosaics, sculptures, and many other interior details found in Bali.

5. Žilvinas’ Path

At the edge of the woods, right by the Eglė sanatorium in Druskininkai, stands an old informational display with a map of Žilvinas’ path.

You won’t find much information about Žilvinas’ path. It doesn’t take you to any places of interest or interesting objects, but a walk along this path will be like a free respiratory procedure for your lungs.

This path runs through a pine forest that is also full of juniper, which cleanses the air tens of times more thoroughly than pine trees do. That’s why the air here is some of the cleanest in Druskininkai. Locals like to joke that guests’ heads begin to hurt from all of the clean air.

Žilvinas’ path has several different walking paths installed for those who enjoy longer or shorter walks. Those who enjoy longer walks can even walk all the way to Grutas park.

6. The Salt Studio

Further away from the centre of Druskininkai, on the bank of the Ratnyčėlė river, artists Aušra and Tauras create original and surprising works of art. They create their pieces from a surprising material that is very close to Druskininkai – salt.

At the Salt Studio, you can see their impressive salt sculptures. They also organize activities where visitors will have the opportunity to create their own salty works of art.

7. Širdelė

We invite you to take a time machine straight to 1988. Širdelė, a cafe and restaurant in Druskininkai, is a meeting place for poets, artists, composers, intellectuals, art enthusiasts and youth that has a strong bohemian spirit.

Every autumn, the toughness of Širdelė’s dancefloor is pushed to the limit. This is where the participants of the Poetic Druskininkai Autumn, an event that has been running for several decades, meet after the official portion of the event.

The cafe has maintained an authentic and unique interior that it has decorated with 242 photos of the poets and famous people who have visited it.

8. Christmas Tree Park

When the winter holidays approach, Druskininkai’s health park is decorated with Christmas trees. Tens of different kinds of Christmas trees of different shapes and colours have been lining up next to the musical fountain (after it quiets down for the winter) for the past 6 years.

One of this year’s most unique decisions was the Druskininkai Aqua Recreation and Health Center’s Christmas dog. Given that 2018 is the year of the dog, Aqua decided to forego traditional Christmas presents for its partners. Instead, they will donate those funds to Druskininkai’s homeless animal shelter. By the way, the spiky dog’s doghouse will also be donated to the shelter after the holidays are through.

9. Druskininkai Market

Visos Dzūkijos miškų ir sodų gėrybės gula ant Druskininkų turgaus prekystalių.

Turguje apsipirkinėti yra daug smagiau nei parduotuvėje. Ne tik todėl, kad galima pasiderėti. Didžiausia turgaus vertybė – betarpiškas bendravimas. Prekeiviai ne tik patars, kurie obuoliai ar pomidorai skanesni, tačiau ir pasiūlys gardžiausių morkų pyragų receptų, pamokys rauginti agurkus ir kopūstus, primins grybų ABC ar papasakos, kaip natūraliomis priemonėmis išsigydyti netikėtai užklupusius negalavimus.