Visit durations and walking times are planning estimates. Timetables and admission rules come from the linked operators.
Plan your visit
Allow a day for city and hill. The bus option adds about 4 km of walking between Domantai and the site, as well as waiting and travel.
The Hill of Crosses is outside the city. Buses towards Joniškis stop at Domantai; a taxi can take you to the site and wait by agreement.
What to see
Hill of Crosses
Thousands of crosses make a pilgrimage and remembrance landscape shaped by faith and resistance. Allow 45-60 minutes on site. The narrow, uneven paths among the crosses are different from viewing the hill from the surrounding visitor area.
Official visitor informationPhotography Museum
Choose this for photographic art and technology, with a rooftop viewpoint and camera obscura when accessible. Allow about an hour; do not make the rooftop the sole reason for an indoor visit.
Official visitor informationRūta Chocolate Museum
The displays follow chocolate history and the local factory. Chocolate-making workshops are a separate programme, not included automatically in a museum ticket. Allow 45-60 minutes for the displays, longer for a booked workshop.
Official visitor informationBicycle Museum and central streets
Bicycle history and technology offer a focused alternative to an art museum. Pair a 45-60 minute visit with Vilniaus pedestrian street and the cathedral area, allowing another hour outdoors.
Official visitor informationRoutes and maps
City museums walk
Walking route
The numbered markers match the stops below, in visit order. Select a marker to see the place name. Use the directions link to navigate between the stops.
- Mapped distance
- ≈ 1.6 km
- Walking time
- 25-35 min
- Start
- Rūta Chocolate Museum, Šiauliai
- Finish
- Bicycle Museum, Šiauliai
Route notes: Central city walk; museum interiors need their own time. The Hill of Crosses is outside this route.
Approximate distances follow mapped paths or roads. Times exclude visits, breaks and ferry crossings.
- Rūta Chocolate Museum, Šiauliai
- Photography Museum, Šiauliai
- Šiauliai Cathedral
- Bicycle Museum, Šiauliai
Domantai to the Hill of Crosses
Walking route
The numbered markers match the stops below, in visit order. Select a marker to see the place name. Use the directions link to navigate between the stops.
- Mapped distance
- ≈ 1.8 km
- Walking time
- 30-35 min
- Start
- Domantai bus stop, Šiauliai district
- Finish
- Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
Route notes: Walk from the rural bus stop along the approach road. Allow separately for the return and the bus wait.
Approximate distances follow mapped paths or roads. Times exclude visits, breaks and ferry crossings.
Driving from the city
Driving route
The numbered markers match the stops below, in visit order. Select a marker to see the place name. Use the directions link to navigate between the stops.
- Mapped distance
- ≈ 13.4 km
- Driving time
- 20-25 min
- Start
- Šiauliai Bus Station
- Finish
- Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
Route notes: Road travel only. Parking, the final walk and visits need additional time.
Approximate distances follow mapped paths or roads. Times exclude visits, breaks and ferry crossings.
Bus, stop and final walk
Go to Šiauliai bus station, Tilžės Street 109. The official tourism instructions list platform 12 and the Šiauliai-Joniškis direction. Buy a ticket to Domantai and tell the driver your stop; confirm the platform on the departure board.
From Domantai, follow the signed road towards Kryžių kalnas for about 2 km, allowing 25-35 minutes each way. Find the return departure to Šiauliai before setting out and allow time to reach the correct side of the road. Search Šiauliai-Domantai and Domantai-Šiauliai in the operator’s date-specific timetable rather than relying on one year-round departure list.
Driving or taxi
Drive along the A12 towards Riga for about 10 km, then turn right at the Kryžių kalnas 2 km sign. Park in the visitor area. For a taxi, agree the outward fare, waiting time and return journey before departure; this avoids the two station-to-hill walks and is the more practical option when walking is difficult.
City and hill in one day
Visit the hill in the morning with a confirmed return connection, then have lunch in central Šiauliai. Choose Photography, Rūta or the Bicycle Museum for the afternoon and finish along Vilniaus Street. Book a Rūta workshop through the museum; group conditions apply.
In heavy rain, spend the morning in a second museum and keep the hill as a weather-dependent outing. For limited mobility, use a taxi and the outer viewing area rather than assuming the narrow paths across the hill are step-free.