Lithuania by campervan
Lithuania lets anyone walk freely in the forest and then, in the minister's own rules, allows you to stop and rest only at an equipped recreation site. A vehicle may use roads and marked parking and nothing else. At night on an unlit road outside town you may stand only in a parking area or off the road. The Curonian Spit, where most visitors are heading, is UNESCO, is closed to vehicles on its beaches and dunes, and charges a motorhome 20 or 50 euros to drive in depending on the month. Everything else before the border: the euro, no vignette for a motorhome, and a short season.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Euro
EUR. Since 2015. Cards nearly everywhere, cash in markets
Language
Lithuanian
Russian and Polish widely spoken, English among the young
Driving
Right
90 km/h out of town, 50 in town, 130 on a motorway in summer
Power
230V, type F
The same round two-pin plug as most of the continent
Tap water
Safe to drink
Ask for vandens iš čiaupo
Emergency
112
One number for police, fire and ambulance
Basics
Basics
Lithuania is in the European Union, in Schengen and in the eurozone, so an EU SIM roams at home rates, a European Health Insurance Card works and nothing changes at the Latvian or Polish border. The euro arrived in 2015. Cards work for almost everything in towns, and cash is still useful at a market, a village shop and a roadside stall.
The Lithuanian week
- Shops keep long hours. Large supermarkets commonly run 08:00 to 22:00, seven days a week. Village shops keep their own short hours.
- Alcohol stops at 20:00, and at 15:00 on Sunday. The Alcohol Control Act bans retail sale before 10:00 and from 20:00 Monday to Saturday, and before 10:00 and from 15:00 on Sunday. A Sunday afternoon plan needs a Sunday morning shop.
Power, water and getting online
- 230V, 50Hz, type F sockets. UK and Irish plugs need an adapter, most continental ones do not.
- Tap water is safe. Ask for vandens iš čiaupo.
The list comes from the Labour Code. Three of the dates are political rather than religious and they matter here: 16 February marks the restoration of the state in 1918, 11 March the restoration of independence in 1990, and 6 July the coronation of Grand Duke Mindaugas. All three shut the shops and the offices.
Common questions about Lithuania by campervan
Can you sleep in a campervan in Lithuania?
Only in the right places, and the rules name them. The Rules on visiting the forest, a ministerial order made under the Forest Act, say natural persons may stop to rest in forests only at equipped public-use recreation objects: rest areas, rest stops, camping places, campsites and other recreational structures. On the public road, the Road Traffic Rules allow a vehicle to stand on an unlit stretch in darkness or poor visibility only in a parking area or off the road. There is no dispersed right to stay overnight in a Lithuanian forest.
Does the Lithuanian forest right cover a motorhome?
No. The Forest Act gives natural persons the right to visit forests freely, outside strict reserves, special-purpose objects such as the border zone and military areas, and forests restricted by other laws. The vehicle rules are in the Rules on visiting the forest: they allow a motor vehicle to drive into and around a forest only on roads, and to be parked only in designated parking areas or at the edge of a road leaving room for other vehicles to pass.
How much does it cost to drive onto the Curonian Spit?
Neringa municipality charges a local fee for driving a motor vehicle into the state-protected territory it administers. A motorhome, which the schedule lists as body type SA, or a car towing a caravan pays 20 euros from 21 August to 19 June and 50 euros from 20 June to 20 August. A car pays 10 euros in the low season and 50 in the high season, a motorcycle 10 all year, and a quadricycle 500. An electric vehicle pays nothing outside 20 June to 20 August and 25 euros inside it. An annual permit for a car is 500 euros.
Can you drive or park on the beach in Lithuania?
No. The Special Land Use Conditions Act prohibits driving motor vehicles, tractors and self-propelled machines on the beach, the dune ridge and the underwater shore anywhere in the coastal strip, with exceptions for search and rescue, defence, emergency work, beach maintenance, coastal management, policing, state environmental control, research and specified use of existing hard-surfaced access roads. Under the Coastal Strip Act that strip runs at least 100 metres inland from the shoreline and includes the whole Curonian Spit.