Buses, Vilnius

There are some night buses routes in Vilnius. They go only the nights from Friday to Saturday, and from Saturday to Sunday or before the holiday. The night ticket costs the same as the day ticket: for adults 1,4 litas (0,4 e) or 0,7 litas for students and children if you are buying them at the drivers.(it's the way at night)

You can find the traffic schedule and route maps here:
http://www.marsrutai.info/vilnius/?a=p.routes&transport_id=night_bus&t=xhtml&l=en

Optimal route search:
http://www.marsrutai.info/vilnius/?a=p.routes&transport_id=search&l=en

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Vilnius has a well-developed public transportation system. There are over 60 bus and 19 trolleybus routes, the trolleybus network is one of the biggest in Europe. Over 250 buses and 260 trolleybuses transport about 500,000 passengers every workday. The first regular bus routes were established in 1926, and the first trolleybus was introduced in 1956.

The cheapest way to get to the town from the airport is by bus, and it's very easy as well. You'll find the buses right in front of the airport arrival hall, which, by the way, in my opinion looks more like a railway station than an airport. There are buses no. 1 and 2 that both go to the town. Bus #1 goes to the railway station, which is only 10 - 15 minutes walk from the old town. Bus # 2 goes to the new city centre. You can change money at the airpot and there's also an ATM. The bus ticket costs 1.40 Lt which you pay to the driver.

The public transport system in Vilnius is a throwback to former times. The busses are old but they work. They appear to be plentiful and run frequently. The astounding thing to visitors is that they are cheap (1.10 Lt)!

You must remember to buy your ticket before getting on the bus at one of the many kiosks around the city. The fare is fixed and you can travel on bus No2 from the airport to the city centre for the same fare. If you buy a ticket on the bus it will cost more and you must have the correct fare.

If you are caught without a ticket beware - instant fine!

vilnius is also served by bus from all the neighbouring countries.
it's generally slightly cheaper and not so comfortable as the train, but a perfectly ok solution.
the bus station in vilnius is only a 2 minute walk from the main train station.

Frequent buses leave Vilnius bus station for all other cities in Lithuania, as well as other cities in Europe (particularly the major Baltic cities of Riga and Tallinn).

An extensive timetable can be found on the following website:

http://www.toks.lt/en/index.php

The buses range from small minibuses on short domestic routes to luxurious Eurolines coaches (with TV sets, toilets on board and coffee machines) on longer routes.

In October 2005, we caught a Eurolines coach for the 4 hour journey north to Siauliai (via Ukmerge, Panevezys and Radviliskis) at a cost of 32 Lt (approx 6 GBP / 9 Euros).

We purchased tickets in advance from the English-speaking information desk at the station but the bus was far from full and many passengers paid the conductor as she came around rather than pre-purchase a ticket.

The bus station is located in the south of the Old Town, across from the main railway station, and contains a number of cafes and shops and seating areas.

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The Buses station is just beside the railway station, and it's quite big, with many shops, cafés and supermarkets inside.
There are much more buses than trains, so you can choose among much more destinations, both local/national (Toks) and international (Eurolines).
It's also the best way to visit the nearby Trakai, and for going to Kaunas, Klaipeda, SIauliai and any other town in Lithuania.
Buses for short trips are usually old and not in great conditions, while for longer distances they use modern coaches.

I'm still not quite sure we took the most efficient bus to Trakai, we purchased at the ticket window because the boards did not list a direct bus there but once we got out to the platform there was one that had 30 buses listed for Trakai and they looked direct.

In any case, we got on a bus going towards Alytus and it got us there all the same. The cost was 2.50 lt going to Trakai and took about 1/2 hour. On the way back, we got on the milk run, it cost 3.5 lt and took an hour.

Very useful and you can get around the place generally for around 1 litas, a few people get on and off without paying and get away with it, some get caught and have to pay a fine of 20 litas. If no one paid, they would not be able to run - so it's probably best to respect the transport and pay your way. One more thing...stand up when your elders need to sit down, really!!

The bus terminal is opposite the train station on the left side. For late-night travellers, note there is a 24-hour currency exchange located at the circle between the train and bus stations. The sign outside reads Valiutos Keitykla.
To get to the centre: read the tip "By train" at my Vilnius' page.