Labanoras Regional Park Visitor Centre: Labanoras Forest's nature and culture in one interactive exhibition

What this centre is and where it is

Labanoras Regional Park Visitor Centre is in the town of Labanoras at Seniūnijos g. 19. It is not the whole regional park and not merely an administrative office: visitors can get route information, buy a park map and souvenirs, and visit the indoor exhibition. The location works well as the start of a trip, since you can decide what to see in the forest before leaving town.

A 2025 Directorate account states that the visitor centre opened on 8 September 2000. A former girls' dormitory of Labanoras School was substantially rebuilt and turned into a visitor attraction. The present wooden building is therefore not an old manor or church structure, but a park visitor centre adapted for its role and given a distinctive architectural setting.

In the Embrace of the Great Forest: an exhibition to experience

The main exhibition is called In the Embrace of the Great Forest and presents the natural and cultural values of Labanoras Forest. Its strength is not limited to information panels: visitors can play, enter a cave-like space, listen to bird calls, and explore the world of forest animals. It works especially well when a family includes visitors of different ages.

The official description highlights several unusual sensory stations. Visitors can hear the Labanoras dūda, a traditional instrument associated with the area, see a butterfly wing or a fly in close-up, and place themselves within the osprey family story. These elements connect the scale of a great forest with a particular sound, bodily experience, and animal way of life.

Forest, lakes, and signs of Labanoras culture

The centre interprets the specific Labanoras Regional Park landscape rather than nature in the abstract. The park was established in 1992 and covers 55,317 ha. Its purpose includes protecting Labanoras Forest, a lake district with Lakes Aisetas, Kertuojai, Lakajai, Rašia, and Stirniai, the Beržalotas raised bog, and cultural heritage. The exhibition is a short introduction to a territory that must later be read along its paths and shores.

The osprey is treated as a park symbol, while the cultural story includes the Labanoras dūda, a Lithuanian bagpipe. Nature and people are therefore not separated in the centre: forest animals, bird calls, old settlements, a traditional instrument, and the route chosen by the visitor form one story of the Aukštaitija landscape.

The building, porch, and changing programme

From outside, the centre is easy to recognise by its wooden building, steep shingle roofs, green porch supports, white shutters, and expressive wooden sculptures beside the path. Forest-themed carvings appear on the facade, with hanging flower baskets under the porch, so the building itself becomes an introduction to the exhibition rather than a neutral box for displays.

The Directorate's 2025 account recalls that during the centre's first 25 years it hosted photography, painting, ceramics, drawing, textile, and nature-themed exhibitions. In July 2026 the Directorate also announced a new exhibition at the centre. Not every visit will therefore be identical: treat the permanent exhibition separately from temporary events and displays, whose dates should be checked.

Opening hours, ticket, and accessibility

On 15 July 2026, the official aparkai.lt page listed the centre as open Tuesday-Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm; it was closed Monday and Sunday. A lunch break from noon to 1:00 pm was listed on working days. Older Directorate notices gave different hours, so check the newest timetable or call the centre before travelling.

The same official page listed self-guided exhibition admission at EUR 2 per person, with a 50 percent discount for school pupils, students, seniors, and visitors with disabilities. Prices and concessions are mutable visitor information, not a permanent tariff. Aparkai.lt also marks the centre as accessible to visitors with disabilities, but does not publish a detailed route, toilet, or parking description.

How to avoid mixing up the route

This is the Labanoras Regional Park Visitor Centre, not the park itself, not the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Labanoras with its nineteenth-century belfry, and not the Labanoras Forest educational trail. The centre provides interpretation and route information, while the church, belfry, forest trails, campsites, and Mindūnai tower are separate places with their own access conditions.

After the centre, choose one clear direction: the Labanoras Forest or old hollow-tree sites, the lake landscape around Mindūnai, or a longer regional-park route. If you want to explore Aukštaitija National Park, go to Palūšė: the other visitor centre run by the same Directorate is a separate site with a different exhibition.

The Google Maps card used for this page had a rating of 4.9/5 on 15 July 2026 and Place ID ChIJkTSmgmFC3UYRE9ep9y8kQR4. The rating can change as new reviews arrive. The map point used here is a site point, not a verified measurement of a separate entrance.