Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Vehicles can only be parked in designated parking lots or on the side of the road, ensuring the possibility of passing for other vehicles on the road. Avoid driving over moss, lichen, and berry stems when parking a vehicle on the side of the road. 

It is prohibited for individuals to let a dog loose in the forest without a muzzle. A muzzle is not required when a dog is walked on a leash. More information in the Rules for Visiting the Forest (in Lithuanian)

Mushroom and berry picking are allowed in all Lithuanian forests, except for reserves, protected areas defined by the Law on Protected Areas, the Regulations on Protected Areas, or other legislation. The prohibition also applies to other places where visiting is prohibited temporarily or restricted by decisions of institutions of self-government (e.g., due to a high risk of forest fires, logging, the need to preserve forest resources, etc.).

It is prohibited to:

• use special combs and other mechanical tools (including homemade combs) when picking berries.
• cut, chop, break, or otherwise damage the branches and trunks of these trees or shrubs when picking berries and fruits (including seeds) from trees and shrubs.
• visit forest areas where logging operations are taking place or chemical, biological or other forest protection measures are used.

In the protection zones of surface bodies of water, it is prohibited to drive motor vehicles and park them closer than 25 meters from the shore of the body of water, except when it is necessary to lower watercraft into the water or to drive motor vehicles onto the ice of a surface of body of water, if such activities are permitted in this body by legislation. More information in the Law on Special Land Use Conditions of the Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian)

In Lithuania, it is prohibited to drive motor vehicles, including quad bikes, motocross motorcycles, off-road.

Entering the forest and driving through it with motor vehicles is only possible by road. It is prohibited to drive motor vehicles and park them closer than 25 meters from the shore of a body of water, except in cases where these vehicles are driven or parked on roads, streets, squares, parking lots located there at a distance smaller than the specified distance. There are also prohibitions on driving not on roads, i.e. meadows, swamps, etc.

Information about Lithuania's protected areas can be found here.

Tents can only be pitched and bonfires can only be started in camps and camping sites.

Tents can only be pitched and bonfires can only be started in protected areas in officially designated places.

Public recreation facilities (camps, recreation areas, camping sites, etc.) in Lithuania can be found:

• On the map of recreation areas and campsites prepared by the State Forest Enterprise;
• On the map of recreation areas, camps, and camping sites prepared by the State Service for Protected Areas.

It is prohibited to cut down or otherwise damage trees and bushes. Only branches and twigs collected from the ground can be used for bonfires.

It is prohibited for individuals to start bonfires and use open fire, except for fire sites installed and marked in public recreation facilities, as well as throw unextinguished matches, cigarette butts, and other objects that may cause a fire.

It is prohibited to spend the night on dunes or foothills and to set up camps (i.e. to set up tents and make bonfires) on seaside beaches in Lithuania.

Bridges and footbridges at public bodies of water are intended for all visitors, so they can be used. Such footbridges are usually installed in public recreation sites or recreational areas. Private footbridges belong to landowners and although the owner of a private plot cannot prevent passage along the shore of a water body (5 meters to the water line), it is not possible to walk through a private yard (homestead territory) and use the installed footbridges or other private infrastructure without the owner’s permission.

A jet ski can be driven on operated inland waterways and certain bodies of water, a list of which can be found here (in Lithuanian).

Jet skis can be driven in the Baltic Sea from 1 May to 30 September. Driving of jet skis is allowed in the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, in the Baltic Sea State Thalassological Reserve within the boundaries of the Palanga City Municipality at a distance of 1,000 m from the coast (except in the Curonian Spit National Park, the Coastal Regional Park, and the Baltic Sea Biosphere Reserve).

It is prohibited to drive self-propelled watercraft on rivers. This environmental ban does not apply to inland waterways, which are also established in some river sections. For all questions related to navigation on inland waterways, we recommend that you contact the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (in Lithuanian) or the Inland Waterways Directorate (in Lithuanian), according to their competence.

* Self-propelled watercraft – a watercraft with an internal combustion engine, as well as a hovercraft, a propeller-driven watercraft, etc.

Report it to the emergency services by calling 112.

Not all cases require a permit – it depends on the species, origin, and purpose of keeping the animal. If you are considering keeping a wild animal in Lithuania, we invite you to consult by emailing at [email protected] (replies are in Lithuanian) – we will help assess the situation and answer whether a permit is necessary.

Keeping some species of wild animals may be prohibited completely. All wild animals in captivity must be kept in accordance with the requirements established for them. More information in the Rules for the Use of Wild Animals (in Lithuanian).

In addition to a permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, keepers of wild animals must also have documents confirming the lawful acquisition of the animals in the Republic of Lithuania and origin thereof (i.e. the circumstances of their removal from the natural environment, breeding, or import into the Republic of Lithuania). More information in the Rules for Trade in Wild Animals, Plants, and Fungi (Paragraph 3) (in Lithuanian).

Permits for keeping wild animals in captivity are issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

If you find a wild animal (for example, a bird), first make sure whether it needs help. In order to make sure whether the animal is really injured or sick, we recommend consulting the LUHS Wildlife Rescue Center by calling +370 605 72837. Assistance is provided 24 hours a day. If you are absolutely sure that help is necessary, please call the emergency services at 112.

If you notice an injured, sick, or weakened seal or bird in the Lithuanian coastal zone and the Curonian Lagoon, please call the emergency services at 112. More information (in Lithuanian)

It is prohibited to intentionally destroy or damage wild bird nests and eggs, or destroy nests. When a nest is already complete, it is considered that it is an important breeding site for the bird and its destruction during the bird’s migration is illegal, subject to administrative liability. More about this in the Law on Protected Species of Animals, Plants and Fungi of the Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian)

Expired medication can be handed in at any pharmacy. It is forbidden to throw expired medication into general waste containers.

If you have electrical and electronic equipment waste, you can:

• contact the Public Institution Organization of Manufacturers and Importers of Electronics;
• take it to the collection points for such waste, the addresses of which can be found here (in Lithuanian);
• distributors must, without requiring additional payment, accept electrical and electronic equipment waste handed over by the user if it is for the same purpose as the electrical and electronic equipment sold by the distributor;
• call electrical and electronic equipment waste handlers to remove the equipment that is no longer in use.

Electrical and electronic equipment waste cannot be disposed of in bins intended for household waste.

If the land plot is not for forestry purposes (trees grow outside forest land) and they are not classified as protected plantations, they can be cut down. Protected plantations may be cut down, otherwise removed from their place of growth, or intensively pruned only with a permit issued by the municipality.

The criteria according to which trees and shrubs are classified as protected can be found here (in Lithuanian) and here (in Lithuanian). In order to find out whether trees and shrubs growing on a specific land plot are protected, we recommend that you contact the municipality in whose territory the specific plantation is located.

Yes, in order to fish as a hobby in Lithuania, you need to purchase the appropriate permit: 

• Amateur fisherman’s ticket – gives the right to fish in all state-owned unleased bodies of water where limited fishing is not organized. Can be purchased online (via the ALIS system), at the Maxima supermarket cash desks, at the Perlas terminal, or via text message.
• Fishing permit – gives the right to fish in a state-owned leased bodies of water where limited fishing is not organized. Can be purchased online (via the ALIS system) or directly from the lessee.
• Amateur fisherman’s card – gives the right to fish in a state-owned body of water where limited fishing is organized. Can be purchased online (via the ALIS system) or at the Perlas terminal.

Purchasing an amateur fisherman’s ticket online (via the ALIS system)

• You can purchase a permit online only if you use the services of payment institutions operating in the Republic of Lithuania.
• If you do not have such an opportunity, another person with access to these services can purchase the permit for you. In this case, he needs to connect to the ALIS system and enter your data: name, last name, and date of birth.
• If you have any questions or problems using the ALIS system, you can contact the system administrators by email at [email protected].

For more information about permits, see the Description of the Procedure for Issuing Amateur Fishing Permits (in Lithuanian)

In Lithuania, an amateur fishing permit is not required in the following cases:

1. On public holidays – 16 February, 11 March, 6 July, and 15 August, all persons can fish for free in all national bodies of water where amateur fishing is not prohibited and limited fishing is not organized.
2. For persons with a right to fish for free.

It is important to ensure that fishing takes place only in permitted bodies of water and in accordance with the established rules.

More information is available in the Rules for Amateur Fishing in Inland Waters (in Lithuanian)

In Lithuania, the following individuals have the right to fish for free (without amateur fishing permits):

• under 18 years of age – must have a document allowing identification;
• state social insurance pensioners (not valid for those receiving pensions of officers and soldiers) – it is mandatory to have a pensioner’s ID; 
• people with disabilities – it is mandatory to have an ID of a person with disabilities;
• persons to whom the user of the fishing area has granted the right to fish for free – it is mandatory to have an identity document and an amateur fisherman’s ticket, card, or permit issued for free by the user of the fishing area.

These persons can fish for free in all national water bodies where limited fishing is not organized, and must comply with all applicable fishing rules.

A document confirming the right to fish for free must be carried with them at the fishing site.

More information is available in the Description of the Procedure for Issuing Amateur Fishing Permits and the Rules for Amateur Fishing in Inland Waters (information in Lithuanian).

One fisherman, at a time, may use no more than 5 crayfish traps or scoops and 4 other pieces of amateur fishing gear, including no more than 2 tools (not applicable to smelt fishing) that uses a live fish or a piece of it as bait.

One fisherman may use no more than 2 fishing rods at a time when fishing from a watercraft. The usual conditions apply when fishing from a watercraft suspended by anchor or other means. More information (in Lithuanian)

Prohibited fishing gear:

• electric current fishing devices,
• lines with hooks,
• spearheads ("forks"),
• floating recreational fishing gear (wheels that are not attached to a fishing rod and are used for fishing using a hook (except for ice fishing),
• firearms or pneumatic weapons (except for spearfishing gun),
• rubbers longer than 20 cm attached to recreational fishing gear,
• net non-recreational fishing gear (for example, trawls, towed, set, floating and drift nets, traps, seine nets, hoop nets, other nets used in commercial fishing, etc.).

It is prohibited to fish using:

• electricity to incapacitate fish,
• poisonous or explosive substances,
• firearms or pneumatic weapons (except for spearfishing guns),
• scuba and other self-contained breathing apparatus,
• piercing, hooking (when the fish is caught with a hook or large hook by any part of the body, except the head), impact, and other non-amateur fishing gear.

Other prohibitions

• Shooting of fish with spearfishing rifles from a boat, while wading or walking along the coast is prohibited.
• If fishing is prohibited in a body of water at that time or you do not have an amateur fishing permit granting the right to fish in that body of water or a right to fish for free, it is prohibited to be in bodies of water or closer than 25 m from them with amateur fishing gear.
• If spearfishing is not allowed in a body of water, it is prohibited to be in those bodies of water or closer than 25 m from them with spearfishing guns.
• It is prohibited to store and transport electric fish incapaciting devices, spearheads, lines, nets for non-amateur fishing and other non-amateur fishing gear, except for cases when these tools are used for commercial or special fishing or for scientific and educational purposes in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation.

More information in the Rules for Amateur Fishing in Inland Waters (in Lithuanian)

In the Baltic Sea, one fisherman can use no more than 5 amateur fishing tools at a time, the total number of hooks of which cannot exceed 15 pieces at a time. An amateur fisherman’s ticket or a document confirming the right to fish for free is required.

More information in the Rules of Amateur and Limited Fishing in Sea Waters (in Lithuanian)

Underwater fishing is allowed on the coast of Baltic Sea, except for recreational areas where fishing is allowed from 31 October to 15 April.

More information in the Rules of Amateur and Limited Fishing in Sea Waters (in Lithuanian)

It is possible to hunt as a guest for a natural person who has a hunting license issued in Lithuania or an equivalent document issued in a foreign country and recognized in Lithuania. Hunting as a guest means that the hunter is invited by a hunting group and entered in the Hunting Sheet, which documents the course of the hunt and the participants.

A hunting license from a foreign country cannot be exchanged for a Lithuanian one. In order to obtain a Lithuanian hunting license, you must take a hunting exam in Lithuania (more information in Lithuanian).

As of 01 May 2025, disposable plastic beverage cups and food containers can no longer be distributed free of charge to guests of cafes, restaurants, and other public catering establishments in Lithuania. An additional fee must be charged for them (the price of the container must be clearly itemised separately from the price of the food or drink on the receipt). Also, if food or drink is intended for consumption on site, the guest must be offered an alternative – reusable, non-plastic packaging or tableware. This requirement was introduced to reduce plastic pollution and promote habits of more sustainable consumption. More information (in Lithuanian)

Yes, all plastic bags in stores must be taxed. They cannot be distributed for free – each bag must have a clearly visible price, which the buyer pays separately from other goods. This requirement helps reduce plastic consumption and encourages the choice of more sustainable alternatives, such as reusable bags.