Biržai: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Biržai combines fortified history, historic residences, a distinctive waterscape, geological features and regional beer traditions. Anyone wishing to rent a holiday apartment in Biržai can shortlist this destination when planning their accommodation.

Culture

The Biržai Regional Museum “Sėla” is located in the palace and the arsenal. The complex also includes a bridge, two powder magazines, as well as the ruins of the gate and the fortification building. The arsenal houses an interactive exhibition on warfare in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Biržai’s history also includes the castle, whose completion is dated to 1589. The palace of the Astravas manor was built in 1862 with a belvedere tower. The Romantic-era residence is designed in the style of Italian villas.

The narrow-gauge railway complex is also part of the town’s historic character. The Gubernija–Pasvalys narrow-gauge railway line was extended to Biržai in 1922. The surviving sections of the Biržai narrow-gauge railway complex are protected cultural heritage assets; at the same time, the complex has historical, architectural and landscape value.

Nature

The repaired, 525 m long pedestrian bridge across Lake Širvėna connects Biržai with Astravas. It is the longest pedestrian bridge in Lithuania and leads visitors to the park of the Astravas manor and its palace.

Lake Širvėna is Lithuania’s oldest artificial body of water. It was created in 1575 by damming two rivers that flow through Biržai. The Astravas manor is located in Astravas, a district of Biržai on the northern shore of Lake Širvėna, on the Apaščia River.

Geology

The Biržai Regional Park Directorate offers the tourist route “Žemės gelmių muziejus”. It takes about three hours and is approximately 20 km long. The visitor centre of Biržai Regional Park also has an exhibition about karst sinkholes, collapses and geological processes.

Traditions

The Biržai Regional Museum “Sėla” has an exhibition on traditional brewing practices, as well as the hands-on programme “From a grain to a song: Biržai tradition and hospitality”. “Beer Route” tours to breweries are also offered in Biržai, during which guides explain various local drinks.

More local pages: Krekenavos Seniūnija, Naciūnai, Kučiai, Kupiškis, Puožas, Kazliškio Seniūnija, Šilagalys, Naujamiestis

For the higher-level travel overview: Panevėžys District.