Suwalki Travel Guide

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The festival is held in August and lasts for 3 consecutive days but not every year so check their website. Apart from the concerts and dances there are workshops and slide shows presenting various aspects of Celtic life. We only went to one evening concert as it was 60 km away from where we were staying but enjoyed it enormously. It was mainly traditional Irish music and dance but the day before you could also hear Scottish pipers. Wish we had gone to see it the day before as well!
BTW, there is a campsite nearby where you can put up your tent as many people come for the 3 days.

UPDATE: I have just learnt from the Tourist Information Centre in Suwalki that, to everybody's regret, this festival is no longer organized nowadays. I have decided not to delete my tip though in case it returns to us some time soon.

Dress Code: Casual, Celtic elements are welcome. Wear comfortable shoes - it's very hard to stay still listening to this kind of music so soon everybody was dancing or swinging to the rhythm.

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The shop at the Museum of Lithuanian Folk Art is certainly worth visiting. They sell all kinds of local craft - wood carvings, pictures, toys, dolls, tablecloths, hand-painted pottery, jewellery and what not. I simply had to buy something every time we were there and in fact I would have liked to buy everything if I could. Not all things were for sale though, usually the ones that I fancied most.:(

What to buy: We particularly liked Lithuanian pottery so we now have a small collection of it at home. We bought two cups, two jugs (one for a gift) and a czenakówka - a dish like a small vase with a lid for preparing the famous czenak (see my restaurant tip), but we keep teabags in it.

What to pay: The prices are lower than in the shops and quite a few of the things cannot be bought anywhere else in Poland.

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The place called 'Skansen Drumlin' at Udziejek off the road between Jeleniewo and Rutka-Tartak may be interesting to stay in but it certainly falls short of being a folk museum.
When we arrived there, a man appeared from the cottage thatched in the English style, collected 6 zloties for both of us and disappeared just as abruptly, without giving us any directions about what to see. The first door on the right had a sign Afryka (Africa) above it but it was locked, we turned the key in the second and a surprised husky stood in it. I am glad we didn't let it out by mistake. Then an angry woman appeared from the door opposite telling us those were rooms to let, not part of the museum. As it turned out, the only things to see were a few traditional farming tools and machines without any descriptions, some cart wheels and... three goats grazing in the yard. Not the sort of folk museum we had expected. So, although I had wanted to have an ice-cream in the thatched cafe, I gave up the idea. Perhaps it would have been fake as well. Mind you, I know nothing about the accommodation they offer, it may be nice but for rooms, some with shared bathrooms, in the country in Poland it is ridiculously expensive, as are the meals provided, which I have now checked on their website. And, if you are looking for a folk museum, go somewhere else, to the professionally run 'Lithuanian Farm' near Punsk, for instance.

Cisowa Gora or Yew Mount is a hill north of Jeleniewo on the left-hand side of the road from Suwalki to Rutka-Tartak. It's 258 m high and looks quite steep from the south but its northern slope is quite mild and easily accessible (see the picture). There is a car park by the road and then you must follow the path. At the top you will find a cross erected there to honour Pope John Paul II. The place commands a beautiful of view of the area so do climb it if you can.