Lithuania is the most populous of the three Baltic States. Lithuania’s surface is mostly flat except for a few small hills on the western plateau and the eastern highlands. The highest point is at the Aukštasis top in 294 meters. Lithuania has 758 rivers within its territory, more than 2,800 lakes and 99 km long coast of the Baltic Sea, which is mainly used for recreation and is the subject of conservation. Forest area covers just over 30% of the country.

Approximately 84% of the population are ethnic Lithuanians. The two largest minorities are Poles, with more than 6%, and Russians with more than 5%. The Lithuanian language belongs to the Indo-European languages.

Capital of Lithuania – Vilnius is a picturesque port on the banks of the rivers Neris and Vilna with one of the architecturally most impressive old towns in Eastern Europe. University of Vilnius, founded in 1579, is the Renaissance complex with countless inner courtyards, which are like city within a city.

Lithuanian cuisine is known abroad mainly for its cold beet soup. Regular part of meals are potatoes, which are the most popular cakes and Cepelinai – potato dumplings stuffed with meat, cream cheese and mushrooms.

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You can go to Poland for culture (historical towns, castles, palaces, museums) or nature (Tatra Mountains, Beskids, Bieszczady, Pieniny or Table Mountains). If you’re tired of walking the hills and mountains, you can still benefit from the Baltic coast – although the Baltic is quite cold, it still has its charm. You need to visit the Gulf of Gdansk, especially Hel Peninsula is a place that you might like. In the evening, it offers various bars, discos and nightclubs.

The best time for sightseeing in Poland is the period of late spring or early autumn when there is a pleasant warm and resorts are not as crowded as during the summer season. In July and August, the mountains, lakes and seaside resorts are full of tourists (like in the other parts of Europe). However, if you go to the cities, they are mostly calm and quiet. Most of the accommodation and catering facilities on the coast and in other popular locations are closing in the fall and reopening again with the arrival of spring. From late November to mid-March you can enjoy ski season in Poland.

On 1 January 2004 Poland joined the European Unionand later on 21 December 2007 joined the Schengen area and were thus abolished checks at internal borders. That does not mean that you can travel across borders without any proof. You must always carry a valid identity document, ie passport or identity card with machine readable zone. If you want to stay in the country for less than 3 months, EU citizens are not required to have residence permits.

Before traveling to Poland ask first your health insurance company for the European Health Insurance Card, which you must show if you need urgent medical attention. Before the trip we recommend that you take out additional health insurance. In each town should be at least one pharmacy with night operations.

The official monetary unit is Polish Zloty. Prices in Poland are still relatively lower than in Western Europe, more expensive are only imported goods and the accommodation in hotels. You can exchange money in every town in the bank or exchange office.

If you are traveling to Poland, along with your pet, it is necessary to have an international passport, and need to be identified by microchip or tattoo and vaccinated against rabies.

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Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.

There are two independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City and Campione d’Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers 301,338 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.2 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.

There are lots of very interesting places in Italy, they have very good pizza and wine. Very important Italian products are Fiat, Mozzarella, Prosciutto and pizza.

Some of the famous Italian people are: Medici, Marco Polo, Dante, Donatello, Alberti, Botticelli, Columbus, Da Vinci, Vespucci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Galileo, Vivaldi, Puccini, Mussolini, Sergio Leone, Luciano Pavarotti, Valentino, Versace

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