Day 4 – 6 of my 9 day European Christmas Market Adventure

Riga – Vilnius – Warsaw

Vilnius in the capital and the largest city of Lithuania. It is known for its beautiful baroque architecture.

We visited Vilnius in December, as part of our European Christmas Market adventure. It was a great time to visit. Not only do you get to see the beautiful city, but you also get to see how the Lithuanian’s like to celebrate Christmas. To read more about Vilnius at Christmas, please check out my other blog: Christmas Markets in Vilnius.

Getting To and From The Airport

Getting to and from the airport is easy enough. There is a choice between a train or a taxi. The train is the cheapest option and the taxi is the quickest option. We choose a taxi to save us from having to pull our suitcases from the train station to our hotel. The train runs every 40 minutes and takes around 8 minutes to get into the centre of Vilnius, from the airport. A one-way ticket will cost you around 70 cents.

Instead of using the local taxi firm, we used Uber, an online taxi firm. The journey from the airport to our hotel cost us €7.

Accommodation

We stayed at the Old Town Trio Hotel. The hotel was nothing fancy but was fine for what we needed. It had no pool facilities, however, your room did come with a free breakfast each morning. The hotel was located in the Old Town, making it only a short walk into the centre.

Where To Eat

I have not tried every place to eat in Vilnius. These are just my recommendations, from the places we experienced, while in Vilnius.

One For All

One For All was a lovely restaurant, located in Užupis, in the main square. I had the specialty dish off the menu, the Zeppelin. A local dish made up of pork and dumplings. It was delicious, well recommend trying. The restaurant was lovely. It has a real cozy, warm vibe to it. A perfect stop, to warm up from the bitterly cold weather outside.

Etno Davras

Located in the Old Town, Etno Davras is a fantastic restaurant. I had a peppered steak and it was one of the best I have ever eaten! If you are after some traditional Lithuanian dishes in the Old Town, this is the place to go. Not just the food that is traditional Lithuanian, but the whole restaurant has a traditional Lithuanian vibe to it. It was a very memorable evening!

Sugamour

Sugamour is an amazing cafe, located in Old Town! We stumbled across this place by chance. The outside was covered in fancy Christmas directions, which drew our attention. We decided to pop over and see the decorations. As we did, we noticed the place sold amazing cakes. As we looked closer at the menu, the food looked great too. We decided to stop for lunch. It was a great decision! I had a Lithuanian Rosti. It was amazing! Of cause, we had to have dessert too. I enjoyed a lovely, what was called, a Vegan Cube.

Snekutis

If you are on a tight budget, Snekutis is the place to stop for tea at. Located in the Old Town, just a 2-minute walk from our hotel. For €5, I got stuffed cabbage with rice and pork. The portion size was that big, I could not finish it! The food was nice, the place was quirky, the staff was friendly and the food was excellent value. Defiantly would return!

Zoe’s Bar and Grill

If you are after something a bit more modern and not a traditional Lithuanian dish, then Zoe’s Bar and Grill is the place to go. Located opposite Cathedral Square, it is a perfect place to stop for lunch or tea. We enjoyed our lunch here, before leaving the city, to catch our flight over to Warsaw. I enjoyed a lovely club sandwich with curry chicken.

Sight To See

Vilnius Old Town is beautiful along with the neighborhood, Užupis. We spent a total of 2 and a half days, to explore the city. This was more than enough time.

Here are my ‘must-sees’ on your visit to Vilnius:

Užupis

Užupis is a beautiful neighborhood. A neighborhood full of colourful, quirky buildings, murals, and a beautiful bronze statue, of an angel. A neighborhood that was once an area, which used to be full of prostitutes and drug addicts and considered to be the most dangerous neighborhood in Vilnius. A neighborhood was full of so much history. A neighborhood not to be missed on your visit to Vilnius.

The Hill of Three Crosses

The Hill of Three Crosses is something we attempted to do. It is basically as it sounds. A hill with three, white crosses, at the summit. The views at the top are meant to be great in the city. Unfortunately, our footwear was not suitable. The path leading up the hill was wet and muddy, with patches of snow covering it. We attempted to climb it. However, after a short couple of minutes on the track, Alex was on his bum.

Gate of Dawn

The Gate of Dawn, completed in 1522, is the last reminding gate to the city. There were originally 9 of them, dotted around the Old Town. It is one of the most visited shrines in Vilnius.

Church of St. Casimir

Church of St. Casimir is a Roman Catholic church. It is the first and the oldest baroque church in Vilnius. It was built back in 1618.

Gediminas Tower

The Gediminas Tower is the reminding part of the Upper Castle of Vilnius. To get up to the tower, you can either walk up or pay €2 for a return ticket, on the funicular. You can pay to go inside the tower, however, we choose not to. Even if you are not planning on going inside the tower, it is still worth going up to it. We caught the funicular up and enjoyed the fantastic views of the city from the top.

Cathedral Square

Cathedral Square is the main square in the Old Town. It is the square they use every year for their Christmas Markets and other important events.

Cathedral Belfry

The Cathedral Belfry or the Bell Tower, located in Cathedral Square, is one of the oldest and tallest towers, in the Old Town. It is 57 meters tall and you can pay €5 to go as high as 50 meters, inside. Please beware, there are a lot of steep wooden ladders to climb up and down. We went up to get some good views of the Christmas Tree but you also get good views across Vilnius too. If you are not a fan of climbing ladders, I would maybe give this one a miss! To get similar views of Vilnius, head up to the Gediminas Tower, instead.

Giant Easter Egg

We happened to stumble across this giant Easter Egg, the Kiaušinis, by accident. The giant Easter Egg is located in a small square, just metres from our hotel. The small square is located at the crossing of Šv. Stepono, Pylimo, and Raugyklos streets. It was erected in 2001, as a symbol of the revival of Užupis. During this time, funds were being gathered for the already-in-process Angel of Užupis statue, which was supposed to “hatch” from the egg. It was only meant to be a temporary structure. However, after a year of being on display, people grew very fond of it. So once the bronze angle replaced the egg in Užupis, they decided not to get rid of the egg. Instead, it was placed in its new home, where it is today.

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Further Reading

My book, How I Tamed the Wolf, Living with Lupus is available on Amazon via this link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M73X2JQ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MWAF58981F0VVMNRV1WN

Other travel guides you may like:

Vilnius Christmas Markets – Christmas Markets In Vilnius

A Guide to Warsaw – A Guide To Warsaw