City Rating: Vilnius
Population: 544,000
Date of visit: July 2019
Attractions & sights: 3/5
Nightlife: 4/5
Safety: 4/5
Infrastructure: 4/5
Low budget factor: 3/5
Total: 👍👍👍/5
The city in a nutshell:
Despite being often overlooked in comparison to Riga and Tallinn, Vilnius is a nice, cozy city with a village character that is well worth a weekend trip. The capital of Lithuania can only partly score with sightseeing, but offers a certain feel-good factor and decent nightlife if you are looking for it. In addition, prices in Vilnius are rather low by European standards. Vilnius may not be a European heavyweight, but it will surprise one or the other visitor in a positive way.
Where to stay:
It doesn’t matter where, as long as it is in the old town. There is really no reason to stay outside old town.
The Good:
Vilnius is generally quite compact, which means you don’t need more than a day to see the city center. The sights can be roughly clustered into churches and view points. The churches all look different, so it is worth looking at one or the other. Regarding the view points, the Gediminas Tower and the St. John’s Church Bell Tower are the best options.
Interesting is the Užupis district, which declared itself an independent republic on April Fool’s Day 1997. In this district hangs also a constitution with 31 articles (e.g. “a dog has the right to be a dog”). Furthermore, Užupis has probably the smallest army in the world with 11 soldiers. It’s a bit like Christiania in Copenhagen, but not so run-down and funnier.
If you want to visit some indoor attractions like the KGB Museum or the museum of illusions, a second day is worthwhile. With a second day, you also have enough time to make a trip to Trakai and see the castle there.
The price level in the Lithuanian capital is quite low by European standards. In restaurants in old town you pay 8-12 Euro for a main course (including meat), a little outside of old town it will certainly be cheaper. For a high quality drink in a bar you pay 4-7 Euro. Speaking of drinks, nightlife in Vilnius is mainly concentrated on Vilnius Street. There you will find several bars and nightclubs. The atmosphere is very peaceful and pleasant.
Another plus is the proximity of the airport, which is practically in the city. With the bus you have 15 minutes and pay one Euro. With a Uber it takes about the same time and you pay 7-8 Euro.
Vilnius may be overlooked in comparison to Riga and Tallinn. However, this has the advantage that the city attracts considerably fewer tourists and thus offers a more comfortable atmosphere than the other two cities.
The Bad & The Ugly:
The weather! In the middle of July we had ice cold 12°C in the evening. What will the weather be like here in February?
Otherwise there is nothing to criticize about Vilnius. It is always a matter of taste, so that perhaps one or the other feels the coziness of the city as boredom. What’s clear is that due to its size you’ll get bored of the city at some point. But that won’t happen during a short weekend trip.
Find other City Ratings here.
