Kauno Marios Regional Park

The Kaunas reservoir was created in 1959 by damming the Nemunas, flooding a long stretch of the valley and drowning villages and the mouths of side rivers, and the park protects the shores that resulted: steep wooded slopes, deep side valleys with juniper stands, sandy bays and viewpoints over water that is broad enough to have earned the name marios, the sea. Pažaislis monastery, a seventeenth-century Baroque complex with an unusual hexagonal church, stands on a promontory at the Kaunas end and is the outstanding building of the area. Trails run along the shore and through the Dubrava forest, and Rumšiškės open-air museum sits on the eastern side. Sailing, swimming and cycling are the summer activities.

What you actually see

• Pažaislis monastery - the Baroque complex on the promontory.
• The reservoir shores - wooded slopes and sandy bays along the water.
• Juniper valleys - the side ravines with their distinctive scrub.
• Drowned valley traces - the flooded side rivers and lost villages.

When to go

May to September for swimming, sailing and walking; autumn colour on the slopes is good. Pažaislis holds a summer music festival. Winter is quiet and the water freezes in cold years.

Honest expectations

The reservoir is a working water body with fluctuating levels and bare margins when low. Development along parts of the shore is heavy. Pažaislis keeps museum hours and services take precedence. A car helps to reach the quieter shores.

Nearby

Kaunas lies west; Rumšiškės is on the eastern shore.