Vilnius Things to Do

Gediminas Tower is the iconic survivor of Vilnius Castle which began as a wooden fortress in the 14th century and then rebuilt by Vytautus the Great around 1419 after the Great Fire. There were two...

Simply stunning in its beauty is St. Anne's Church. I first approached it from across the street from some knitting trees. The church is located on the left bank of the Vilnia River. The...

My walk down from the railway station through the Old Town took me past many beautiful looking churches - and I never stopped to go in any of them - and the reason was that if I only had time for one,...

I first became aware of the Three Crosses while on top of Castle Hill. The crosses appeared between a grove of trees. They are located in what locals call Kalnu Parkas. According to a local...

The good thing about arriving at Vilnius by train is the fact that you can enter the Old Town via one of its symbolic landmarks - The Gates of Dawn, or the Ausros Gate as it’s called locally. The only...

Uzupis is an ideal neighbourhood to just walk around. It's not too big and easily reached. When walking through Uzupio make sure to look into some of the backyards - that's where the quarter's real...

Gedimino prospektas is the city’s main street. A boulevard. An avenue. “Gedimino” for short. It started life as “St. George Avenue” in Imperial Russia days - 1836. It became ulica Mickiewicza when...

We visited this Church mid morning and had to wait 5 minutes for the service to finish before we could enter. The outside of the Church was old, the grounds anything but special and I wondered why we...

The square where the cathedral and the clock tower sits was earlier the area of the lower castle. The area was surrounded by a 1km long wall with four gates. The clock towe

As you approach the Church of the Holy Spirit it just appears to be another large with some strong Baroque elements but not particularly exceptional church. The towers are quite high and the grounds...

KGB Museum is about the history of Soviet Occupation in Lithuania and to represent the facts of what when on during the Soviet repressions. It was a pity that we didn’t go to see it as it was closed...

A Bernardine monastery was founded on the site in 1469. Later on the

I was devastated to go here. I saw the important role which the tower had in 1991, the Russians attacked the tower with tanks and killed several people defending it. This became a historical place and...

The Gediminas Monument was unveiled in 1996. It shows Gediminas on his horse, holding his sword in his LEFT hand which some want to interpret that he prefered diplomacy instead of war and violence....

It is an adventure to get there with public transport. But it is worth it! The information on their website is incorrect. The restaurant is very nice with decent food and prices. Take bus 1g from the...

Pilies street is quintessential old town Vilnius. It cuts straight through the old city from the Cathedral to the City Hall, and continues as Didzioj street down to the Gates of Dawn. You can see here...

With over twenty thousand students, a few more than in Oxford, the main university of Vilnius is a heavyweight. It's also one of the oldest in Europe, dating back to 1579. Today the university grounds...

The Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) is a remarkably ugly building hiding at the far end of Gediminas Avenue, long after this beautiful boulevard's glory has faded. The building was so ugly, and its...

For curiosity value it is worth searching out this statue. Sign posts nearby give directions. On finding it the fact that it seems to be in a car park is a bit of a let down. The statue is worth a...

The square is quite long and in the shape of a triangle with the base towards the Gate of Dawn. It's an inviting area in the summer to take a rest and something to eat o

About a week ago,I visited the Choral Synagogue,a fine work of architecture and I attended a Sabbath service.The congregation was warm and very welcoming.The Rabbi spoke English.I learned about the...

Built as a baroque church in the shape of a Latin cross, this Orthodox church feels out of place in Vilnius. With its peaceful, tree shaded grounds, on a hot summer's day, you could be transported to...

In this place in XIV century one of the oldest part of Lower Castle had stayed. From ages to ages it was changed and reconstructed to weapons arsenal. Now it is a palace with Lithuanian history...

This Orthodox church has suffered some great swings in fortunes. From Peter the Great praying here for victory during the Great Northern War, before returning to act as Godfather to the Ganibal, the...

St Casimir's is the oldest Baroque church in town, founded by the Jesuits in 1604. It is named after Lithuania's patron saint St Casimir who had recently be