Vilnius is not on the average traveller’s radar. This is not surprising. Who in the heck goes to Vilnius?
For one, most people have never even heard of the European country that has Vilnius as its capital (Lithuania, in case you were wondering).
And at first glance, this Baltic city doesn’t have anything particularly remarkable about it: like most European towns, there is a central square with stately-looking buildings, and markets housed on cobblestoned streets. The only reason I came is because of my Scandi-Baltic adventure with Busabout- even after having travelled to 60 countries, this here traveller had to look up Vilnius on a map.
But then you scratch a little deeper and realize this small city has its quirks.
Like the strange, unpronounceable neighbourhood of Užupis (trust me, the name sounds completely different from the way it looks). This teeny tiny commune, home to bohemians and artists, declared itself an independent republic in the late 90’s and has its own currency, president, and bizarre constitution seen below:
And the teeth bolted to the wall on Literatu Street, a lane whose walls are completely decorated with artwork dedicated to Lithuanian authors/writers and author/writers who have shown love to Lithuania in some way.
Another item of note: Vilnius (and Lithuania, by extension) is cheap compared to its Central and Western European neighbours. Lunch in a local restaurant only ran me $5 USD.
And lovely accommodation in the center, like the Hotel Rinno where I stayed, can be had for half the cost of equivalent digs in places like France or Italy.
Best of all, most of the pretty things to see are free. I really like free!
Have you ever heard of Vilnius or Lithuania?
I was a guest of Busabout and Hostelbookers on this trip but all opinions are mine.
55 Comments
Did not know they did Cornish Pasties in Lithuania?!
here in Poland Vilnius is quite a big thing as it used to be a Polish city and even now you can find Polish language here and there and quite some people still speak it (however there’s some tension lately between our countries). So you’ve probably spoted lots of Polish tours when visiting Vilnius. I’ve been there couple of times and loved it, even more with each visit. It’s such an adorable, little capital with quirky things on every step and one of the best street art. And every Lithuanian person I know has an bohemian spirit 😉 If people ask me which of the Baltic capitals they should visit I always tell them to go to Vilnius but not for the obvious reasons but to discover then hidden truth about the city. And Uzupis is the most perfect place to do so!
I had a Lithuanian flatmate when I lived in India. I plan to visit this country someday.
Kami, it never used to be a Polish city, it was occupied by Poland and that’s a different thing.
After World War I, Vilnius was predominantly Polish.
But luckily, now it’s all the European Union so that the previous borders, which had been shifting every couple of years, are irrelevant.
What a clean, lovely city!! Looks like you had a very nice adventure. I’m going to have to google Vilnius and see if I can find that Constitution. It looks like they are a fun bunch of folks!!
It looks gorgeous!
I hv a friend who has a Lithuanian partner and he was telling me that it is a wonderful city. They normally travel there via Kaunas from Malta with Ryan Air. It is certainly a place Id like to explore!
I’ve never heard of it, but it sure sounds quirky! And that’s just a lot of fun!
I loved Vilnius! I really want to go back and travel through Lithuania again; I had such a nice time there in 2007 but want to see it again through more mature eyes. I’m so glad you blogged about it – so few people have been but it’s one of my favourite European cities!
My time there was too short! Would love to explore more.
In case anyone from the travel blogging community decided to come to Vilnius, I’d be glad to take them around and show the best stuff we have.
I live in Vilnius and it’s really beautiful. If anybody is coming to visit, I’ll be happy to show you around. Or if you use Couchsurfing, you are welcome to stay with me: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/andreas_lawyer/
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