Jonava

The settlement grew up at a ford in the river Neris; south of the river was the manor house of Skarulių, enlarged into a palace in 1740. The landowner named the settlement Jonas for his son, and this morphed into Jonava. The town was industrial and 80-90% of its population were Jewish, until 1941 when they were wiped out by the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborator police forces.

The modern town is mostly north of the river. The south bank has a huge chemical plant run by Achema AB, who mostly make ammonia fertiliser. In March 1989 the site suffered a leak of 7500 tonnes of ammonia from a ruptured tank, followed by fires, to create a toxic cloud 7 km wide by 50 km long; seven people died. But production continues and the site is a heavy user of gas for energy, accounting for half of Lithuania's consumption. The gas was traditionally from Russia but this supply was lost in 2022, and production was curtailed. In 2023 gas supplies were secured from North Sea countries and full production resumed.

Jonava is 30 km northeast of Kaunas on A6. This highway continues to Ukmergė (where it crosses the road from Vilnius to Panevėžys and Riga), Utena and Daugavpils.

Buses from Kaunas run every 30 min and take 50 min via Karmėlava, for Kaunas Airport (KUN IATA). From Vilnius change in Kaunas. For timetables and fares see Autobusubilieta.

1 Jonava bus station is 500 m north of town centre on Turgaus g, corner of J Janonio g.

Six trains a day run from Vilnius, taking 70 min via Kaisiadorys. Four of them plod on north via Siauliai to Klaipėda, another 3 hr 20 min.

One train per day is direct from Kaunas, taking 40 min via Palemonas and continuing to Siauliai, otherwise travel via Vilnius. For timetables and fares see LTG Link.

2 Jonava railway station is 2.5 km north of town centre. It's just a platform halt with no facilities, buy your ticket on the train.