Vilnius

Understand

thumb | Gediminas Tower Vilnius has been central to the country's life for as long as there has been Lithuania, but that has often been a tragic tale. Its Neolithic people traded in Baltic amber. In the early Middle Ages five petty kingdoms combined into two then one, when Mindaugas in 1253 became Lithuania's first king and noble Christian convert. The country splintered after his assassination but was re-united under Gediminas, who established Vilnius castle — in legend on the site where a wolf in a dream told him to build. But the real wolves were his neighbouring countries, and finding a powerful ally meant adopting their religion. Poland was the best bet and a dynastic marriage in 1486 united the crowns, later the nations, and Lithuania became Roman Catholic. Vilnius Old Town was largely built in the following 150 years.

This united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth grew almost to the Black Sea, but all the power and money shifted to Poland. Like Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Ireland within Britain, Lithuania was the poor country cousin. And then Poland fell, with its territory carved up between Prussia, Austria and Russia, and others snatching what they could. Lithuania became a territory of the Russian Empire. Poland and Lithuania only regained independence after the First World War, and almost at once were at war with each other and with Russia. Vilnius was captured and from 1920 was a Polish exclave, and the Lithuanian capital moved to Kaunas. In the run-u…

See

thumb | 300px | Pilies gatve in Old Town

Vilnius Pass is a tourist discount card which in 2023 costs €37 for 24 hours, €47 for 48 hours and €56 for 72 hours. This excludes public transport and is frankly poor value, you'll struggle to break even.

Do

thumb | 300px | Extracurricular activities at the university Football: (capacity 5000) is 500 m east of the railway and bus stations, and hosts the men's national soccer team. It also hosts FK Žalgiris, who play in A Lyga, the country's top tier; the playing season is March-Nov. "Žalgiris" means green field and commemorates the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, when Poland-Lithuania smashed the Teutonic Knights. Also playing here in A Lyga is FK Riteriai, who relocated from Trakai in 2019. The stadium is too small for European fixtures and is being rebuilt to hold 8000. was Siemens Arena until rebranded in 2020. It's multi-purpose, and capacity varies with event. For basketball (capacity 10,000) it hosts Rytas Vilnius, the country's leading team. Other regular events are ice hockey games and rock concerts. Go Karts: is on Dariaus ir Girėno 500 m west of the railway station. It's a battery-powered kiddy affair. is a full-scale outdoor track 5 km northeast of city centre. Hot air balloons take to the sky above Vilnius and elsewhere in Lithuania. Operators include Oreiviai and Smile. In 2023 you might pay €140 per person.

Buy

thumb | 300px | Halės turgus Money: ATMs are very common in Vilnius and most shops accept credit cards. Amber was created some 50 million years ago when Baltic conifer forests were flooded, and the tree resin became fossilised into a hard semi-precious stone. Every souvenir shop sells it. Supermarket chains are Maxima, Rimi, Barbora, Iki, Aibė and Norfa. Gariunai is a huge market 5 km west of the city by the intersection of A1 and A19. It's open Tu-F 06:30-14:00, Sa Su 05:30-16:00. It scores high on quantity, sucks for quality, and traffic is a major problem: you could easily be queuing an hour to enter the site and an hour to exit.

Eat

thumb | 300px | Cepelinai are stuffed potato dumplings

Sleep

thumb | 300px | Town Hall square

Connect

thumb | 300px | Station on Verkiai Calvary As of Aug 2023, Vilnius and its approach highways have 4G from Bite, and 5G from Tele2 and Telia.

Wi-fi is widely available in public places in the city.

Stay safe

If you are a person of colour, you may get weird looks or otherwise be looked down upon from the locals.

Go next

Transport routes radiate from Vilnius. Within an hour's travel: Trakai 30 km west has two castles amid scenic lakes. Purnuškės 25 km north is one of the claimants to be the geographical centre of Europe. Kernavė 35 km northwest was medieval capital of Lithuania, and is a for its ancient mounds. Kaunas 100 km west is the second largest city, and mostly modern but with a small Old Town.