Salakas, Lake Luodis and Gražutė Regional Park
A local guide for our guests. Distances are by car from the homestead and approximate.
Lake Luodis
Luodis is one of the larger lakes in the Zarasai area: about 1,288 hectares, up to 18.4 metres deep (6.7 metres on average), about 6.3 km long and 4.4 km wide, with four islands. The Šventoji river flows in from Lake Dūkštas and on through Luodis, so you can take a boat or kayak into the river.
The lake is part of Gražutė Regional Park and lies east of Salakas. The BEBRYNĖ plot runs down to the shore: the jetty is about 200 metres from the houses, and the sauna and hot tub stand right by the water. Pike, bream, roach and rudd live in the lake; fishing in state waters needs an amateur fishing permit, which you can buy online.
Salakas
Salakas is a small town right by Luodis, about a kilometre from the homestead. Its stone church from 1911 has a 72 m tower that you can see from the lake, and the churchyard chapel is built from 117 millstones.
The Gražutė Regional Park visitor centre (Laisvosios a. 14, Salakas) has a nature and local heritage exhibition and a “Sea museum” with more than 4,000 shells, corals and fossils. Check the opening hours before you go. The Salakas nature trail is a loop of almost 5 km (about 2.5 hours) with a boardwalk along the Luodis shore to a viewing tower; it starts about 2 km from the homestead.
Gražutė Regional Park
The park was founded in 1992 and covers about 31,900 hectares. It has more than 70 lakes and other bodies of water, forests over more than half of its area, three walking nature trails (Salakas, Degučiai and Šavaša) and more than 100 km of cycling routes. The 11 km “Selonian sacred trail” near Antalieptė opened in 2024.
Day trips
| Place | Distance | What you will see |
|---|---|---|
| Degučiai nature trail | 12 km, about 16 min | A trail by Lake Samanis, a hillfort and the “Sisters” pines. |
| Antalieptė | 26 km, about 34 min | An 18th-century Carmelite monastery, the Antalieptė reservoir and the Selonian sacred trail. |
| Zarasai | 27 km, about 31 min | The observation deck above Lake Zarasas and Didžioji Island with the town beach and a wakeboard park. |
| Dusetos and Lake Sartai | 30 km, about 36 min | A sculpture park, an art gallery and, in winter, the Sartai horse races. |
| Stelmužė | 41 km, about 47 min | The oldest and thickest oak in Lithuania (about 1500 years) and a wooden church from around 1650. |
Getting here
The homestead is in the Zarasai district, about 170 km from Vilnius and 27 km from Zarasai. In your satnav, enter Dumblynės viensėdis 2, Salakas or open the route in Google Maps.