War and Peace tourist path to be launched in Vilnius

  • 2016-04-06
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – A new tourist path will be launched in Vilnius on Thursday and it will be mostly designed for British tourists to visit the places where the BBC’s “War and Peace” series was filmed.
“This is the first time we’re using cinema to promote tourism. Film tourism is a new and highly promising tourism niche, which is well used in many countries. We feel a great interest of tourists and hope that the State Tourism Department’s initiative will give start to film tourism in Lithuania,” the department’s director Jurgita Kazlauskiene said on Thursday.
Filmed mainly in Lithuania, the six-episode “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy’s novel drew massive attention in Great Britain, with the first episode viewed by an audience of 6.3 million people in January.

The State Tourism Department said it had prepared three “War and Peace” English-language routes, namely, Vilnius by foot, Vilnius by bicycle, and Lithuania by car.
Officials of the department say the BBC’s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel, introduced to the British audience in January, sparked “Britons’ huge interest in Lithuania, the crossroads of the historic events.” Therefore, a special tourist path has been organised to visit the places where the series was filmed. Directed by Tom Harper, the series feature the Gediminas Castle, the Vilnius University, various streets and courtyards of Vilnius Old Town, Traku Voke, etc.