TOURIST ROUTE OF THE NERIS LEFT BANK

Distance from Vilnius ~32 km
The length of the route ~ 23,00 km
It will take you to go along the route ~ 4 val.(driving with stops)

    We invite you to travel along the circular tourist route of the Neris left bank, which is 18 kilometres long. This route is precisely for you if you want to see the freely flowing, pensive Neris, not squeezed, as it is in Vilnius, into concrete frames.

    The route ranging along the existing forest paths is adjusted to travellers by car, by bike or to the ones travelling on foot. Travel bravely – along the entire route you will be guided by the direction indicators (the direction of the route will be shown by red squares in the direction indicators) and references. The entire circular route is set out in such a way that travellers could see as many natural and cultural values as possible. Therefore you will have to walk on foot to some of the objects.

    The greatest value of the route is the Neris valley, which is complex and interesting from geomorphologic point of view, and forests surrounding it, the oldest and the most natural of which are declared Natura 2000 territory of the EU importance. Here several types of landscapes intertwine: picturesque hills, greening mysterious washes, shelter for rare plants -  the fields of the streams valleys, forests and washes.

    The route curves along the great mushroom-shaped turn of the Neris, approaching the river and again turning to the dense forest. The underground powers and the complicated process of the melting glaciers forced the river to make this turn. The Neris could have flowed from Ausiutiškiai to Paneriai eroding a valley of only 2 kilometres long, and it curved even sixteen!  

    The values of the tourist route of the Neris left bank:

1. THE OBSERVATION PLACE OF PANERIAI FOREST     Walking from the resting site for several hundred metres, an impressive panorama of the Neris valley opens looking from the installed observation tower. As on the palm, one can see the rippling forests of Verkšionys and Kulis turn, a part of Zabarija hills, and on a clear day one can see the towers of Kernavė church 14 kilometres away.

	2. PANERIAI MANOR     In the 18th century, in the picturesque valley of the Neris, Paneriai Manor established. Up to these days the main two-storey building of the manor has survived best. The park, where local trees prevail, was founded at the end of the 19th century and  surrounds the manor. There is an alley of old limes survived.
	3. “WHAMMED WEDDING” STONES     It is told that the mother of the bride, in dislike of her future son-in-law, cursed the newly-weds: ”Turn into stones.” When the wedding guests were crossing the river, their carriages turned over and the entire group turned into stones. When the Neris dries up, one can see 4 bigger and 4 smaller stones closer to the opposite bank, which are called bridesmaids and groomsmen. This story about the souls’ state in water between the worlds of the alive and the dead is related to the nearby Padūkštai barrow yard.
	4. PADŪKŠTAI BARROW YARD          There are 33 barrows remained in Padūkštai barrow yard. In 2004, archaeologists investigated one barrow, which was touched by the forest quarter line. The investigated barrow is dated the 6th century. Below the barrow yard, beyond the Neris, one can see the valley of the Dūkšta lowland, where there are even 3 mounds.
	5. WASHES     The rivers in the Ice age on the left bank of the Neris made thick sand beds, where pine forests grow now. In rainy years, water torrents, flowing from the clayey hills of the old river valley, used to erode deep washes in the light soil. On the Neris coast, beside the visible homesteads of Karmazinai village beyond the river, dry sandy washes wind, leaving the sites with old crooked pines surrounded by washes.
	6. PEKLYNĖ HILL     Hemispheric Peklynė hill clinging to the Neris is shrouded in many secrets and demarcated by deep washes from two sides. The name of this hill (Piekielna) is mentioned in the book “Neris ir jos krantai” (“The Neris and Its Banks”) by K. Tiškevičius in 1857. The sandy, high-rising slopes of the hill, the majestic pines, the opening river panorama make a wonderful corner of primeval nature, which has not been discovered yet.
	7. AUSIUTIŠKĖS CONGLOMERATE      Conglomerate is a sedimentary rock consisting of cemented shingle with the addition of sand, gravel and boulders. The mysterious conglomerate block, as if being a silent witness of the geological past, is on the left bank of the Neris beside Ausiutiškės, by the very riverbed. Its form is very unusual and it looks like it is composed of several tens of narrow layers. It will not be easy to reach it, you will have to walk down a very steep slope of the river.
	8. AUSIUTIŠKĖS OBSERVATION PLACE       The Neris valleys along the route are indeed impressive and charm by their unique play of relief and colours during all the seasons. A panorama especially delighting the eye opens beside Ausiutiškės. Here one can see not only the sudden turn of the river, but also one of the bigger islands of the Neris beside Šiurmonys village, which is already on the other side of the Neris. When there are about 300 metres left up to the observation place, on the right side of the forest pathway leading to it, there is an interesting chapel of about 10 m high, built from outdoor boulders by the former owner of this land plot, and a little bit farther there is a well of the same style.
	9. WITCHES’ CIRCLE      In the forests of Velniakampis turn, pine forests of different age prevail. Most often pines are as straight as arrows, gracefully climbing to the blue sky. However not far from Ausiutiškės, a small area of the forest is totally different. The trunks of the pines growing in it are curled and strangely warped in every way possible...
	10. MYTHOLOGICAL SPRING OF PINYKLA     From ancient times, in the Baltic regions, springs flowing in the direction of the rising sun are regarded as sacred and healing. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages knew the spring gushing in Pinykla swampy fields. With the water of this spring, people healed aching eyes, girls washed their faces so that the youth beauty stayed longer. Village wizards used to take water from Pinykla, which was afterwards used for incantations. The water of the spring even now attracts people to refresh themselves. The direction indicator branching from the route will show its place.
	11. KRAGŽLIAI BARROW YARD     Only in 2005, foresters noticed the hills along the road reminding of barrows. According to the form of these destroyed barrows, archaeologists guess that people were buried in them in approximately the 6th and 7th centuries. At that time in barrows, burnt dead bodies were buried.
	12. THE BRAŽUOLĖ      The clear Bražuolė, fed by many gushing springs, curves through the forests, sometimes briefly springing into the meadows. In the lowland, it rapidly erodes into the depth and becomes similar to a frothing mountain stream. The valley slopes of the Bražuolė rise here more than 20-30 meters above the water and the river falls.(Its average inclination is approximately 7-8 m/km.) The field, existing in the southwestern part of the Bražuolė resting place, set out on the coast of the rivulet, is called Alkija. The place-name of Alkija and Kragžliai barrows, recently found on the adjacent hill, witness that this place is related to the burial customs of our ancestors – in this meadow, the dead bodies buried in the barrows could be burnt.