Siauliai with children: city guide

Siauliai is a great destination with children. If you’ve never thought about Siauliai with kids, we’ll change your mind. Siauliai with kids: a city guide – our overview of Siauliai and the most important things you need to know about this beautiful Sun City. Siauliai is a city full of attractions and entertainment for children. It includes unique and interactive museums, fun art objects, family-friendly leisure spaces, countless playgrounds and really fun experiences. So we highly recommend planning a weekend getaway or a mini-vacation in this wonderful city.

Siauliai with children: city guide

Siauliai with children: city guide – everything you need to know about the most interesting sights, attractions, fun experiences and must-sees in Siauliai. You can plan your trip with confidence and dedicate two days to Siauliai. Because there are plenty of activities to do. Agne, one of the co-founders of Travel 4 Kids, who visited Siauliai with her children, also shares her recommendations on where to eat and snack.

In Siauliai, many of the attractions and activities are located in the city centre. So you can visit everything on foot. If you enjoy walking with your children, Siauliai is the perfect city for you. By the way, Siauliai Tourism Information Centre also rents bicycles. So you can go on a discovery tour of Siauliai with a bicycle.

Siauliai with children: city guide – the “must” places to visit and see

Siauliai Boulevard

Siauliai Boulevard is the city’s main pedestrian street, and we highly recommend you take a stroll along it. This street is also home to the city’s main museums. And the Siauliai Tourist Information Centre, which is a must-visit for a very useful map of Siauliai, playgrounds, leisure areas, fountains. But most importantly, walking along Siauliai Boulevard, you can see the many exhibits of the “different” zoo. You heard right – Siauliai is home to a wide variety of animal drawings and sculptures – a chameleon perched in a tree, butterflies adorning the walls, cats walking on the rooftops, snakes on the pillars.

And as you walk along Ausros Avenue and the boulevard, look under your feet. There are nine works of art hidden here. You remember the kind you used to make as a child – “secrets”. When you scan the QR code next to them, they speak texts written by writer Rimantas Kmita, connecting the works of different artists with keywords from Siauliai history.

Siauliai Boulevard is also another “must-see” attraction in Siauliai. This is the Rooster Clock Square. The clock is located at the intersection of two of the city’s main streets, right in the city centre. During the Soviet occupation, the city clock used to chime and announce every hour. As time went by, the rooster’s voice faded and the clock’s accuracy could not always be trusted. Now, the symbol of the centre of Šiauliai not only sings, but also greets passers-by: “Welcome to Siauliai!”. The greeting is available in Lithuanian, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Romani and other languages at 12 noon and 6 pm.

Animal garden

No matter where we travel, in Lithuania or abroad, visiting animal parks or zoos is a must for us and our children. So we couldn’t miss the Zoo, located in the Vanda Kavaliauskiene Cat Museum. The Zoo is small but very interesting. What we and the children liked most was the talking parrot, which actually repeats the sounds it hears. As the children kept saying “Mummy, Mummy, look” out of admiration, the parrot kept saying “Mummy”. There are many exotic animals here. You can pet cockroaches or wrap your neck around a snake during the educational sessions.

“Baltic Road” Centre

“The Baltic Road” Centre, located next to the Šiauliai City Information Centre, invites you to travel along ancestral paths and learn about Baltic culture. “The Baltic Road” Centre is free of charge, so don’t miss this opportunity to visit it with your children. The centre is very modern and contemporary. Thanks to various modern technologies and fun games, you can be transported to the magical world of the Baltics. Try out a Baltic profession, create an artistic photo shoot and test your knowledge of history and culture.

Lake Talksa shoreline

We love landscaped spaces for active leisure. If you ask us what is a must-visit in Šiauliai, the Talksa lakeside would be one of the TOP 5 places in Siauliai. It’s the perfect spot for relaxation and leisure with children – the shore itself is ideal for walks and bike rides. There are many recreation areas, an energy maze, sports equipment and water attractions. Most importantly, a spectacular playground. We highly recommend a visit. There are several cafés along the lakeshore where you can get an ice cream and have a nice lunch. There is also a wake park in high season.

By the way, one of the symbols of Siauliai, the Iron Fox, is located right next to Lake Talksa, which is definitely worth a visit in Siauliai. The Iron Fox is no ordinary sculpture, but it is also listed in the Lithuanian Book of Records as the largest animal sculpture in Lithuania.

On the shores of Lake Talksa is another symbol of Šiauliai that is a must-see. This is the Sun Clock Square. This sun clock-shaped square in Siauliai, next to Lake Talksa, was built in 1986 to commemorate the 750th anniversary of Siauliai’s name. The square features an 18-metre-high column with a gilded sculpture of Stanislovas Kuzma called ‘The Rifleman’, and the numbers for the hours of the sun clock, 3, 6 and 12, are embedded in the pavement.

TOP entertainment in Siauliai

Siauliai Young Naturalists Centre Stud Farm

The Siauliai Young Naturalists’ Centre Stud Farm is located in the very centre of the city, next to the Museum of Cats. We recommend this place for those who like animals. There is a wonderful horse stable where you can go horse riding. The instructors here are amazing, so if you and your children have been wanting to ride horses for a long time, this is the place for you. The Siauliai Young Naturalists’ Centre stud farm is located in a very nice place in the city centre. After riding at the stud farm you can walk to the Salduvė Mound. We did just that – we rode and walked to the Salduve Mound, where we had lunch at the very fun S BAR, which has a terrace with a great view of the Salduve Mound.

Drift&Go Kartodrome

Our family loves go-karts, so we visit them everywhere we go. Siauliai is no exception, especially as a new karting track has just recently opened in Šiauliai. “Drift&Go Kartodrome” is the newest kartodrome in Siauliai, which only opened in 2022. We really liked it – it’s a spectacular track – very interesting, lots of turns. The track itself is very long. The karts are brand new, by the way, so it’s a real pleasure to drive them.

Pump track in Dainų Park

If you or your children like to ride a scooter, bike, rollerblades or skateboard, we highly recommend the bike track that opened in Siauliai in 2022. There are two tracks. The smaller one for kids and beginners is a 49-metre-long easy circle with gentle hills. The main track is 160 m long and has a more challenging shape and bigger hills.

The most interesting museums in Šiauliai with children

Even if you don’t like museums, we heartily recommend giving the museums of Siauliai a chance, as they are guaranteed to change your and your children’s opinion of museums. Siauliai’s museums are really very interesting, interactive and above all unique – some of them are the only ones of their kind in Lithuania.

“Ruta” Chocolate Museum

The “Ruta” Chocolate Museum is a place that will leave no one indifferent, because who doesn’t like chocolate and sweets? The Chocolate Museum is housed in the longest-running candy factory in Lithuania. The museum is unique not only because you can learn about the history of chocolate, explore the types of chocolate, find out about the Ruta chocolate factory itself, but also taste and even create your own sweets.

It is very important to book in advance for an educational session, during which you can become a chocolate master and make your own sweets. There is a café and a shop at the base of the museum. Just be careful, as you may get faint from the tastes, smells and variety when you enter the shop. We guarantee that you will bring home bags full of goodies and leave with your heart full. This museum, like many others, is really interactive and not boring – children can create their own candy labels and email the layout to themselves.

Vanda Kavaliauskiens’s Cat Museum

This museum is the only one of its kind not only in Lithuania, but also in the Baltic States. Since we love animals so much, this is probably the one children liked the most. And the main reason is that the museum is home to real cats. You can pet them, talk to them and see the amazing collection of cats that are everywhere: in the windows, on the shelves and at the staff table. There are thousands of different objects from all over the world in this museum – statuettes, cups, figurines, paintings. The museum is particularly proud of a spectacular painting of 42 cats that once lived in the home of a wealthy lady.

Radio and Television Museum

Since my dad worked for a long time at LRT television and I spent my entire childhood in the corridors and studios of LRT, this museum was of great interest to me personally. I was also very keen to show Motiejus the various old working television receivers, to hear the mechanical turntables, electrophones and tape recorders playing.

The museum is small but interactive, and we can film ourselves through a camera and see the image on an old TV set, try out a telegraph machine and use Morse code to send an SOS signal. The museum is right in the centre of Šiauliai, on the Boulevard, so make sure you come!

Museum of Photography

This museum in Siauliai is the only specialised museum in Lithuania dedicated to the history, art and technology of photography. The museum is very modern, well maintained and hosts many events.

There are lots of fun interactive activities to try. Motiejus liked best to try and see how paper photographs were made in the past. This museum is also unique for its roof terrace. The terrace offers a great view of the city of Siauliai.

Bicycle Museum

The Bicycle Museum is also the only specialised museum in Lithuania dedicated to the history of the bicycle. The museum is interactive and offers a wide variety of exhibits to try out.

On the ground floor of the museum, adults and children alike can try out a vintage bicycle, which is based on drawings dating back almost five centuries. On the second floor, you can try out a velomobile and on the third floor, road bikes. It was really interesting to show the children what the bicycles of our childhood looked like. And the funniest part was to see the orange Vilnius city bike in the museum, remember those?

Where to eat in Siauliai

When we travel with our children, we prefer kid-friendly cafés, so we can recommend a few places we’ve tried and liked.

Joker gastrobar

We chose this place for a reason, as it is located in front of the Siauliai Tourist Information Centre. It was recommended to us as a cosy family café. And the food was really delicious. And the most important thing for us when choosing where to eat is whether there will be something for the children to do. Opposite the Joker gastrobar, next to the Siauliai Tourist Information Centre, there is an interactive artwork called “Mirror of the Sun”. When touched, the mirror glows and makes cosmic sounds – so every child or adult can create their own music. Motiejus really liked the clock, so while he played with the other children, we had a quiet lunch.

 

 

Sun City terrace

The Sun City Terrace is a paradise for families. While there are three ordinary and unremarkable cafés – Soya, Manami and Charlie pizza – there is a children’s playground of up to 500 square metres. There are various swings and climbing platforms. This is the biggest free playground in Siauliai! So if you’re looking for a place for your kids to go for a play and a tasty coffee, this is the place to go.

What else to see in Siauliai

What we’ve visited is just a small taste of what Siauliai offers for families. Next time, we’ll be sure to visit the Cents Room. This room is furnished with 157,130 coins and displays the largest book in Lithuania. The book, dedicated to the millennium of Lithuania, “Aukuras Salduvei. The Big Book of Salduve” is a giant book 125 cm high, 90 cm wide, 25 cm thick, weighing 113.6 kg and 184 pages long.

We are also planning to visit the Siauliai Botanical Garden and the Chaim Frenkel Villa. We would also love to climb the Cathedral Tower and see the city from above. We’ll be sure to go to the Valerian’s Pharmacy and Tea Room, where the most interesting education takes place, and the Telephone Museum. We would also like to cycle around Siauliai and visit some other very interesting places, so stay tuned for our next reviews.

We have also prepared guides for other Lithuanian cities – What to do with children in Vilnius, things to do with children in Kaunas, Klaipeda with children, Anyksciai with children, Biržai with children, Panevezys: what to see? – so we invite you to read them and take advantage of the ideas to have a fun leisure time with children.

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