Everything you need to know before visiting Lithuania (2023 Guide)

If you've got time and you want to see three countries in a short space of time. I would suggest you take a trip to the Baltics. In fact most people I met there were doing Estonia, Latvia and finishing in Lithuania or the other way round. Everyone I spoke to said that Estonia had been their favourite so i'd suggest going up instead of down but I didn't end up making it there so don't can't comment on Estonia.

Best time to visit

If you don't mind the cold it's a great place to visit in winter because you'll see lots of snow but bare in mind it is COLD. I went in February when the highs were 2 degrees. Despite 3 layers I couldn't be outside very long and had to keep walking into cafes or restaurants for a hot chocolate to warm up! I didn't mind as it meant I got to see some more places. Anywhere inside is always toasty and warm, you have to take all those extra layers off or you'll overheat.

If you'd prefer warmer weather you could visit on St Patrick's day because they dye the river green! The summer would also be a great time to visit and be part of the Saint Jonas' Festival on the 24th June which is a celebration of Midsummer. They have have lots of celebrations going on and at midnight disappear into the forest to find a magical fern.

Where to stay

I started in Lithuania. The place to stay is in Vilnius the capital city. The old town is a UNESCO world heritage site, one of the oldest medieval towns in Northern Europe. If you arrive by plane, you'll go through a tiny airport and it will be a 30 minute taxi ride into the capital. You can get a bus or GET AN UBER. You can get a taxi if you want but they might over charge. A local told me it should be no more than €15 euro and I felt conned out having paid €25 for the journey (especially as the taxi driver had seemed so nice). However, he said the worst he had heard someone paid was €100!

There are various cheap hotels to stay from around £12 a night for a shared room or a private room for around £30. I stayed at both Jimmy Jumps hostel and Mikalo House. Both are nice but JJ is larger and hence more people and a bit of a younger crowd. I preferred Mikalo house because it was so small and homely. It's a very easy place to make friends and vey well looked after. It's like staying with your Lithuanian Grandma if you had one. I always recommend hostels to anyone travelling solo as its the easiest way to meet people and you get to meet really interesting people. I met a guy from Georgia that had just come from a holiday in Belarus, he didn't see another traveller there unsurprisingly.

There is also an array of beautiful hotels around the city such as the 5 star Raddison hotel 5 star Hotel PACAI (where even the floor looks like marble), 4 star Artagonist hotel and plenty others. There is a lot of choice and prices vary from £80 - £200 a night for 4/5 star, which is pretty cheap compared to say a 5 star stay in London.

What you need to know

When you get to Lithuania you'll probably realise that people aren't very smiley. There are lots of theories as to why, such as the cold, they don't want to wrinkle their face or because they were under communism rule so unlike capitalist countries where you never know who might introduce you to someone or be a potential business partner it wasn't necessary. Other suggestions are that its due to the hardship experienced in their history. It's true that in this part of the world they didn't have much to smile about. In the 13th Century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was powerful and it int he 15th century it was the largest state in Europe. Later they formed a dynastic union with Poland and this formed the Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth. When this dissolved Lithuania then lived under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century. There were various rebellions in that time and eventually they got independence in 1918.

However, in more recent history at the start of world war II they they were occupied by the soviet union and then by the Nazis. The Soviet Unions liberated Lithuania from the nazis in 1944-1945 they remained. It wasn't until 1990-1991 that they got their independence again. Times during nazi and Soviet rule were difficult, there were many jews that were placed into concentration camps and huge communities were destroyed. During the iron curtain they were kept separate from the rest of the world and anyone who opposed the regime was killed, imprisoned or banished to Siberia. There was a lot of resistance during soviet rule with underground militia groups but ultimately the soviets were larger in numbers. They now celebrate 2 independence days and are incredibly proud of their independence. It is also said that they think people who go round smiling are drunk or have a mental deficit. Once you get over the lack of smiling you understand that perspective a bit and you realise that when you do get a smile from someone it is really genuine.

Also be aware that people are not massive english speakers. Usually the younger generations can speak english but not all. If you get stuck as someone young. The tourist restaurants have pictures on the menu so you can know what you are ordering. There are ATMs everywhere some charge to take money out but plenty don't and they use the Euro in Lithuania. There are plenty of designer shops and boutiques in Vilnius if you like shopping on holiday.

I'll write another blog on bars, and restaurants soon as there's a lot of local cuisine to try.

What to do

The best way to see any city is to walk around on foot and this particularly applies to Vilnius. It's a small city so wherever you walk you'll find something enchanting.

I would suggest 2-3 days max in Vilnius. You can see everything in that time.

In the city here are the main bits I recommend:

Museum of Occupations and Freedom fights: If you are interested in learning more about the country and its history I highly recommend this museum. There's photographs and possessions of Lithuania who were alive during nazi and soviet rule. There's even personal and government letters which you can read. As i'm sure you can imagine it is incredibly harrowing but you'll learn so much. You can also see the prison, padded cells and solitary confinement rooms. It's not very cheery but not all history is, in fact probably most isn't.

Halle Market: A popular market in the area where you can try some local food and see what the locals eat!

Cathedral Clock Tower & Cathedral: The town square is where you'll find the main tourist sites, as you'll see the castle tower, palace, Cathedral and cathedral clock tower there. If you have some time to kill and want to go up a several levels of old wooden stairs then the clock tower might be for you. You get a nice view of the cathedral and the city from above. It's €6. I also suggest you visit the cathedral. The door on the side is typically open.

Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: If you like history then you can learn a lot of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania here. The Russian empire had it demolished in 1801 and the palace has obviously since been reconstructed. Work started in 2002 and there's a part where you can see the excavated ruins and the rest of it is Reinaissonce style palace rooms with artefacts.

Gediminas Castle Tower: I believe you can climb up to the tower for €6 and have a spectacular view of the city, which is probably even better than the cathedral tower. I don't know for sure though because it was shut when I was there. However, what I do know is that there is a little museum inside and its a big part of the history of Vilnius. It used to be part of a castle that was built by Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1409.

Constitution of the Republic of Užupis: This is a part of town that is actually an independent republic, making it one of the smallest republics in the world. It used to be a jewish neighbourhood but it was decimated during the holocaust. During soviet rule is a bad part of town, somewhere dangerous where you did not want to be. Nowadays its full of creative types and a place of peace. They even have their own president (and currency but they don't use it) and on the 1st April if you visit the republic you can get your passport stamped there. Their constitution outlines the need for a roof, hot water and heating as well as other more interesting principles like "Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation". I particularly like "Everyone has the right to be happy" and "Everyone has the right to be unhappy". Whist here you should try and find the Uzupis cat and see what his earring tells you. Apart from the cat and some street art its much like another part of the city. It's history makes it interesting.

Gates of Dawn: Initially there were 10 city gates but only 1 remains. That's this one. they were built as defence fortifications by the Grand Duchy. The Virgin Mary is displayed on the gate to keep the city safe and is said to have miraculous powers. There's a very beautiful church just before the church to the left which I can't remember the name of but it's worth seeing.

Literatų Street: A narrow street in homage to all the writers from Vilnius/ Lithuania or any author with links to the city. There are placards and pictures along a light blue greyish wall. You'll probably end up passing it on your way to somewhere so it's worth peering in.

National Opera and Ballet theatre: I never made it here but its always a nice thing to do if you have a free evening.

St. Anne's Church: There are plenty of beautiful churches around the town. This one is particularly unique compared to others on the outside but I would recommend going into as many as you like. Each one has its own character.

Outside of Vilnius

Trakai: If you are really into castles then you can visit Trakai which is a 50 minute train ride from Vilnius. It costs €2.40 each way. When you arrive take a picture of the train departures on the board outside because they aren't so regular and you don't want to be sat outside waiting for an hour when the station isn't open (I speak from experience, it was actually too cold to wait so I got the bus back which isn't as scenic). I think this is a beautiful place but unless you really really love castles then its much better seen in the summer or on a clear day because you can walk around the grounds and even go for a boat ride. In the winter the lake was frozen which was very pretty but it was far too cold to walk around and the castle itself is quite a small museum.

Prison 2.0: They do tours here so you can learn about life for the inmates. Oh and Stranger Things season 4 also shot some scenes here!

Hill of the crosses: I'm gutted I didn't make it here because it looks incredible and I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere in the world. There was a storm when I was there and as it's quite far from Vilnius I thought it wasn't worth being slapped around by the icy wind. This is a site of christian pilgrimage with over 100,000 crosses. You can add one if you want. From Vilnius you need to get to train or bus to Šiauliai and from there the site is another 11km away. Even the staff at the hostel didn't know if there was a bus from Šiauliai or if you have to get a taxi. If you've been let me know if it was worth it! (Look up pics of this).

Raudonė Castle: Again if you really like castles this is another one you can visit. Oh look another Castle - Kaunas Castle.

9th Fort of the Kaunas Fortress: A holocaust memorial site. There's several exhibitions you can visit and entry is €6.

Grūto Parkas: A park where they've dumped soviet statues and propaganda. It looks like a really interesting place to visit.

Kuanas: To make it easier to visit the hill of the crosses and some of the other sites you could stay in Kuanas. It's a small town. Some people told me it's something else to see if you have the time just to see something other than Vilnius.

Vilnius is a beautiful place to walk around, towards the end of my trip I realised I hadn't see a hint of blue sky in my whole duration there but the snow was beautiful. Lithuanian people are very friendly too once they warm up to you. If you have any questions about your upcoming trip or there's something I haven't covered let me know and i'll try to help!