Lithuania – Rumsiskes Open-Air Museum, old Lithuania in miniature

This largest open-air museum in Lithuania allows us to see what the old Lithuanian countryside looked like.

Rumsiskes Open-Air Museum, located 25 km from Kaunas, is famous for its extensive open-air museum, which covers an impressive 175 hectares (!). It was one of those highly recommended places for us, all the more ideal for a family with a child. How did we do?

Our minimum plan was done: we went to Vilnius, spent two days there, and also saw Trakai. Further, we had no concrete plans, and everything depended on how Olive would endure a long stay away from home. She endured quite, quite (her parents did, too), so we decided to take advantage of the good fortune and drove to Kaunas, just stopping in Rumshchyski on the way.

An open-air museum friendly to young children?

The first warning signal came when we saw an empty parking lot (but a paid one). We looked at each other questioningly (but what do you mean, closed?!) and only when we saw in the rear view mirror a bus following us did we breathe a sigh of relief (so maybe all was not lost after all). Of course, by the time we crawled out, fed and rewound (x2) 1/3 of our crew it was a while, and the lady at the ticket office cheerfully announced to us in Lithuanian-Russian that in an hour all the huts were closing, but of course we could walk around the grounds. So we went in.

A quick glance at the map, a calculation of distance and speed of movement with the stroller, and we decided to start with the biggest attraction, the Township. So we moved quickly and…. We stopped at the first staircase, after walking just about 100 meters from the cash registers….

It was not 5 or 10 steps, but quite a few more (and the stroller is not one of the lightest). Fortunately, next door, there was a real driveway made – a wildly trodden forest path, at a steep angle. Somehow we made it down, Olive shuddered.

At the bottom, a lovely, easily passable bridge appeared to our eyes, and behind it the asphalt – we are home :)

Unfortunately, our predetermined route took a sandy route uphill, so we didn’t enjoy much of the asphalt. Again, we gave advice. Olive shuddered ;)

We arrive at the Township, the central part of the open-air museum, fully focused on the landscape and the emerging houses and church, when suddenly we hear a cart pull onto a different surface. What could have been worse? Of course, the whole cobbled square!

Well it was impossible to pass. We decided to switch to a more mobile sightseeing mode and used a baby sling (why so late!), which literally saved the day.

The sling in the above photos is a jacquard tied sling (from LennyLamb), in our case it worked super well, not only during that day.

The only question left is what to do with the stroller? You can leave it at one of the houses or pubs where it will be watched over and return later to pick it up. However, we were afraid that we would not make it, so for the rest of the trip he served us as a transport stroller :) Olive cuddled, soothed and sleeping. Success! :)

Open-air museum in Rumszyszki

When we finally embraced, we were able to fully focus on what was around us. And we were surrounded by a lot. :)

The town, as we mentioned earlier, is the main part of the open-air museum. It is a large square, in the middle of which is erected a statue of St. Peter. Florian and the well. The square is surrounded by numerous buildings, which include stores, a pharmacy, chambers, a stable, a cafe and a school. We can also see what craftsmen’s shops and town centers in general used to look like.

The largest building is a wooden, 19th-century church.

We hit very nice weather, and tourists were scarce, so almost all for us…. Although just when we were having a lot of fun taking pictures and walking around, a large bus with a tour from Poland pulled centrally into the square. How can this be! ;)

In addition to the aforementioned site, there are 5 parts of the open-air museum that map the regions of Lithuania: Aukštotya (Aukštatija), Little Lithuania (Mažoji Lietuv) Suwalkija (Suvalkija), Vilnius (Dzūkija), and Zmudja (Žemajtija). Visitors set their own route, can walk along paths and visit different regions in any order.

The whole area is very interestingly landscaped, and the regions are naturally separated from each other by forest or fields. Views? Wonderful!

There are houses, homesteads, farms, etc. in the villages. Here we can see not only how Lithuanians lived, but also what their daily life and work was like. You can look into most of the rooms, and inside you will find equipment, accessories, furniture taken out of another era.

Well. From the era of our grandmothers and grandfathers? Some of the interiors reminded us of the chambers we remember from our childhood, when we used to go to our grandparents in the countryside. Hence, rather than an educational aspect, it was more of a sentimental trip for us. Although it must be admitted that many of the buildings obviously reflect older times (from the 18th to the 20th century).

And if it weren’t for the sudden dark clouds, we could walk and walk and walk. And even the fact that buildings and huts are closed early doesn’t make you want to leave. This is a large area where you can easily spend half a day, with the better to be the first half of the day :)

If someone wanted to really meticulously explore, look everywhere, look at the details, take a picnic along the way, it would calmly even take a whole day to explore :)

We do not hide that it was a bit to our advantage that not all facilities were available, because it shortened the time we spent here, and frankly, by the nth hut, one no longer remembers what was in the first one…. It was also a good time to feed our youngest Traveler :)

Interestingly, for those who are hungry for excitement, it is possible to stay overnight at the open-air museum, and you can book accommodation on booking.com.

To sum up…

The open-air museum in Rumšiškės is a very interesting place, strangely overlooked by some guidebooks and pointed out by others as a Top 5 Lithuania. We calmly recommend you this point, but you need to circulate in nice weather :)

However, if you’re going with small children and strollers, you’d better stock up on other means of transportation, such as a sling.

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