Lithuania Tour
10-14 September 2009:
Vilnius-Trakai-Kaunas

The history of Jewry in Vilnius dates to the 14th Century. An organised Jewish community existed from 1568 and tradition tells us that a wooden synagogue was built in 1773. By the 17th Century, Vilnius was a pre-eminent centre for Rabbinic studies and earned the reputation as “The Jerusalem of the North”. At the start of the 20th Century this city was also the centre of the Zionist movement in Eastern Europe. In 1921, Jewish people made up some 36% of the total population of Vilnius. Tragically, the majority died during the Holocaust and on liberation only 6000 survivors assembled in the city.

This tour will explore the relics of a once great Jewish centre and pay homage to those who died. We shall visit Gaon’s grave, the Jewish Museum, the former ghetto, the Great Synagogue and explore the narrow crooked streets of the Old Town. There will also be visits to KAUNAS (Kovno) including the concentration camp the Ninth Fort, TRAKAI including the Karaite Jews Synagogue, and Paneriai. Optional extra tours to visit the Shtetl of parents, grandparents and family will also be available which could include private one day visits to Panevezys and Klaipeda.

The London Jewish Cultural Centre has considerable expertise leading tours to Eastern Europe. An earlier trip to Lithuania was a memorable success and we are repeating it in response to popular request. JEROLD GOTEL, Senior Lecturer in Jewish History and our Overseas Director will be our tour leader with Senior Historian, TRUDY GOLD.

The cost is £950 per person sharing plus taxes of £180 (may fluctuate), single supplement is £160. The price includes return economy flights via Frankfurt on Lufthansa Airlines, accommodation at the Radisson Hotel, breakfasts, Shabbat dinner, entrances, transfers in Vilnius, day trip to Trakai and Kaunas, coach and the pre-tour lecture. Other meals and optional Shtetl tours are not included. We recommend that you take out suitable Travel Insurance.

The tour will be co-ordinated by Lionel Unterhalter
who will be happy to answer any questions.
Email: ljcctours@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 020 8209 0621

Day 1:
Thursday 10 September

09:50 Depart London Heathrow on Lufthansa Airlines Flight LH 4725 arrive Frankfurt 12:20. At 15:50 depart Frankfurt on Lufthansa Flight LH 3254 to Vilnius (no direct service is available)
18:55 Arrive Vilnius International Airport.
Coach transfer to the Radisson SAS Hotel, located in the heart of the Old Town and within walking distance of interesting sites. Bring a bathing costume to enjoy the indoor pool and other facilities in the Hotel’s Health Club. Address: Didzioji g. 35/2, 01128 Vilnius Tel: +370 5 212 01 10
Evening Free – Nightlife is mainly clustered in the Medieval Old Town. There is also the Vilnius Opera and Ballet (subject to performance schedules). Most of the best restaurants are located within Vilnius’ ancient Old Town, some walking distance from our Hotel.

Day 2:
Friday 11 September

08:30 Breakfast at the hotel.
Meet our Vilnius guide.

09:30 With our guide, we visit -
• the Jewish State Museum which houses thoughtful and varied exhibits, depicting the richness of the Lithuanian Jewish ways of life and death, dating back to the 14th Century.
• Various places of interest on an orientation coach tour of Vilnius.

14:00 After lunch -
• a walking tour of the narrow and crooked streets of the Old Town, which is the largest preserved Old Town in Eastern Europe and included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.
• This includes the Ghetto area, the former Jewish Quarter and the Great Vilna Synagogue.
• See the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical architecture of the surrounds.

Evening • Return to the hotel in time for Shabbat.

• Optional attendance at Shabbat Service at Chabad Synagogue

• Group Shabbat dinner (included in tour cost) at Synagogue


Day 3:
Saturday 12 September
Free Day

Optional Shul attendance
Optional You may wish to visit the Shtetl of family. Information on Tour Guides can be furnished on application (cost not included).
OptionalEvening

Day 4:
Sunday 13 September

Free time to explore the many interesting sites of Vilnius and surrounds.

See As for Day 1 above
08:00 Breakfast at hotel
Meet our guide for today Mr Simonas Dovidavicius
09:00 With Simonas, we board our coach for an outing to Trakai, famous for the lakes and sights of the area, about 20 miles from Vilnius. Trakai’s multi-ethnic character was boosted in the 16th Century when Jews arrived in numbers. We visit the Karaite Jews Synagogue and museum. 14:00Evening
After lunch, the coach continues to Kaunas (Kovna), Lithuania’s second city and interim capital until1940.
We visit :
• the synagogue, built in 1871, with a fine wooden bimah,
• the Monument to the Jewish children,
• the Slobodka district and the Kovna Ghetto.
• the Ninth Fort, a concentration camp, where most of Kaunas’s Jews and others were murdered.
• a stop at Sugihara House, where the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugitara issued visas which saved many Jewish lives.
• Return to Vilnius

At leisure

Day 5:
Monday 14 September

07:4508:45 Breakfast at hotel
Check out and please settle all extras
Store luggage on coach

We board our coach for:
• a visit to the Vilna Goan’s tomb. The Vilna Goan is the most famous authority who determined the religious and cultural singularity of Lithuanian Jews.
• Paneriai, about six miles outside Vilnius, where the Nazis turned the forest into a killing field.

12:00 Transfer to airport

14:2017:50 Depart Vilnius on Lufthansa Flight LH 3253 arrive Frankfurt at 15:30 Depart Frankfurt on Lufthansa Flight LH 4738 to London

Arrive London Heathrow

You may wish to extend your stay in Lithuania to visit the Shtetls of family.
Please let us know before sending in your booking form.

The LJCC reserves the right to amend this itinerary where necessary