What do we know about Vilnius

Simple tips to organize your trip to the Baltic capital

Lithuania's capital is a small but amazing city, offering a perfect mix of beatiful baroque architecture in the Old Town, and ugly grey colors in the buildings from the Soviet era. You will love to walk across its narrow, cobbled streets, to go inside the dark courtyards and have a drink in the bars located the medieval cave, and from the television tower you can enjoy the breathtaking skyline – welcome to Vilnius!

The trip to Vilnius is cheap: there are many low cost airlines including Ryanair. From most European cities there is also a bus connection. The bus trip takes some hours but is really cheap and allows you to enjoy the amazing green landscapes of the country. If you arrive to Lithuania from Russia or Belarus there are good and modern railways.

Don't expect a busy city life here: Lithuania's people are famous for its calmness. There are no public clocks in the city (we found only one inthe main square, it looks likr time doesn’t matter in Lithuania ), everything is small and quiet so you don't have to hurry, and any part of the city can be reached by feet.

There are some curiosities about the Lithuanian language: don't expect to hear any words similar to your language. Lithuanian is spoken by only 4 million people at all and it is a very old language, related to Sanskrit (a classical language of India), it is very very archaic and has many unique phonetic and morphological aspects. And there are no English signs in the city, so you need to lean some words such as : airport - oro uostas, train station - geležinkelio stotis; beer – alus; pharmacy – vaistinė, money exchange - pinigų keitimo etc.

Most young people speak English and Russian, older citizen speak Russian very well, so if you speak any Slavic language you will be fine. Linguistic characteristics are reflected also in some specific features: the days of weeks are named in sequence, beginning with Monday "first day" pirmadienis, and then second etc. and you will see on every door of bar, shop or restaurant has characteristic Latin numbers I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII which show the opening times.
If you like good food, you will feel really well in Vilnius. There are many Italian, Turkish, Spanish and Asian restaurants, but most pubs and bars offer authentic Lithuanian food. Pay attention because dishes are cheap and big, so don't order too much. The traditional cuisine is quite simple, but it offers a wide variety of interesting dishes made with potatoes, various meats, mushrooms and cheese. My favorite dish is Cepelinai, potato dumpling with meat and a typical Lithuanian sauce with onion, sour cream and bacon.

There also many things to see: UNESCO declared the Old Town of Vilnius as Europe's largest baroque old town. You won't miss the main touristic attraction such as Vilnius Cathedral, St Anne’s Church, Gedeminas Hill, the University of Vilnius or the Jewish Museum. Visit also the Old Trakai Castle on the island close to the city, it is the historical residence of the Grand Duke Gediminas, a medieval Lithuanian hero.

Vimius offers a very big choice of accommodations: in the city there are many hostels offering a bed for only 8€. Fabrika Hostel & Bar is a modern design hostel in the city center, directly on Gediminas Avenue, one of the main streets of the city. The hostel is designed in industrial style, and has an art gallery where you will always meet interesting and open-minded people. Pogo Hostel is the perfect place when you're looking for the alternative scene, since there are many student's bars and clubs in the neighborhood. The cozy A Hostel is much loved by backpackers thanks to its cool “capsule" system and its perfect location: it is conveniently situated right in the historic Vilnius Old Town - a favorite stop for visitors.

Sveiki atvykę į Vilnių!