Lithuanians will tell you that Molėtai is where the lakes begin, and the numbers back them up: the district around the town holds well over two hundred lakes, more than any other part of the country, scattered among low wooded hills left by the last glaciation. The town of about seven thousand sits on the shore of one of them, in the region called Aukštaitija, the Highlands, which are not high at all by Alpine standards but give the landscape a rolling shape that flat Lithuania elsewhere lacks. Utena, a bigger town and the nearest with a proper range of services, lies thirty kilometres to the east.
Two unusual institutions are found nearby. The Molėtai Astronomical Observatory, set on a hill outside the town, was opened in the 1960s and benefits from the dark skies of the region, and a museum of ethnocosmology, a short drive away, explores how people through history have understood the stars, with a building designed to look like an observatory. Both give a reason to linger into the evening, when the lakes go still and the sky fills with stars.
The riding in this part of Lithuania is gentle and pleasant. Roads are generally smooth, running between pine forest and birch groves, past farms with wooden fences, wells with long sweeps and storks nesting on poles. Bends are soft and long, with no steep climbs, and the lakes appear as flashes of silver between the trees. Speeds are low and police are active, so keep to the limits. Dusk and dawn bring deer and elk onto the road, and rain makes the surface slick on the older sections. Spring and early autumn have the best colour, though June, with its long light, lasts until nearly eleven at night.
The local food is hearty and a good match for a day on the road. Cepelinai, large potato dumplings stuffed with meat and served with sour cream, are the national dish, and šaltibarščiai, the cold pink beetroot soup, is a summer favourite. Smoked fish from the lakes and dark rye bread can be found in the cafes, along with honey from local beekeepers. Molėtai has fuel stations, a supermarket and a few cafes on the main street, and the shore of the lake is a good place to rest and swim in summer, when the water warms to a comfortable temperature.