Where can you pitch a tent, make a campfire and stay the night outdoors? Here are the rules that matter, in plain words. Once you know them, all that is left is picking a place: the map has nearly 1,500, each marked free or paid.
The simplest way is an official campsite: Lithuania has more than 230 of them including campgrounds, most set up in state forests and protected areas, by lakes and rivers. On private land you may camp only with the owner's permission.
Find every official spot in the campsite list or on the map.
Lithuania has no general right to pitch a tent just anywhere. Instead there are nearly 1,500 designated places where you are welcome to stay, most of them free, in state forests and by lakes and rivers. Choose one from the map and you need no permission.
Every designated place is on the map, marked free or paid, with what is allowed there.
In state forests you may rest anywhere access is not restricted, but pitching a tent and staying overnight is allowed only in designated places: campsites and rest areas. Check the rules of the specific place before you go, they can differ.
This arrangement protects the forest and you: at an established spot it is clear you are welcome.
Fires are allowed only in installed fire pits, and Lithuania has more than 350 spots with one. During droughts and high fire risk periods fires are banned even in installed fire pits. Before you leave, make sure the fire is fully out.
Find spots with installed fire pits in the fire pit list.
You can stop and rest at rest areas and roadside stops, and the map has more than 1,200 of them. Campers are best served by campgrounds, which often have electricity and water. On forest roads, drive and park only where it is permitted.
See the rest areas and campgrounds.
Most official spots are free: of the nearly 1,500 places on the map, more than 1,400 cost nothing. Paid spots are usually private or better equipped, for example campgrounds with showers and electricity.
All free places are in the free campsite list.
In national and regional parks you may camp only in designated places, and each park has its own visiting rules. Pitching tents and making fires in the coastal dunes is forbidden, the dunes are protected.
When in doubt, pick an established campsite from the map.
Take out everything you brought in, including your rubbish. Keep the peace, especially in the evening, and leave the place the way you would want to find it.
And if you know a good spot that is not on the map yet, add it so other travellers can find it too.
You know the rules. Now pick your spot.