Druskininkai Travel Guide

Druskininkai is probably the best known health resort in Lithuania. As an old Lithuanian spa known for its healing salty waters, it's also particularly popular among Polish tourists (mostly pensioners).

Though the city is far away from the sea,  it also has it’s own dunes. They are mainland ones and not similar to the sea-coast dunes. They are overgrown by pine forests. Juniper prevails in those dunes and the ground is covered by lichen. There are a lot of different herbs growing there: thyme, Saint John’s wort, etc. Also the dunes are rich with mushrooms.

The forest has an important role in the life of local dwellers. It forms their philosophy and character.

The pineries prevail among the forests. They are rich with various fauna and especially liked by the birds: larks, great snipes, woodpeckers, sea eagles, owls and eagle-owls. Also you can find a lot of rare insects in the pine forests of Druskininkai. 

In the sun warmed places of the pine forests, you can often see agile lizards, common grass snakes, and blind-worms.

The most noticeable small creature is a common squirrel. In the outskirts of the forest or fields, you can also meet a gray hare. The most wide spread creatu of prey is the red fox. Wolves, lynx, and wild boars are also found in the forests of Dzūkija.

The biggest animal found in the pine forests is an elk. It likes the large pine forests. Roe-deers can be seen at streamlets or outlying fields.

Druskininkai forests attract not only the mushroom but also the berry gatherers as there are a lot of bilberries, red bilberries, raspberries and sea buckthorn berries there.