Lithuania

Understand

History The last ice age covered the Nordic and Baltic regions from 115,000 to 12,000 years ago. It melted to form a low scoured plain with gravel deposits around its margins, boreal forests, and a great lake that eventually broke through to the ocean and became the Baltic Sea. “Balts” were the Indo-European tribes that settled from 3000 BC. They traded with neighbouring peoples, their prize export being amber, fossilised pine resin. The name “Lithuania” is first recorded in 1009 AD, and two pagan tribes lived in it: the Samogitians west, and the Aukštaitians on higher ground to the east. Their lands lacked natural defensible borders and have continually faced attack, so wherever there was a promising-looking hummock, this was bolstered with gravel and other glacial debris to form a castle mound (piliakalnis) with a wooden palisade. Two dangerous foes from the 13th century were the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Knights, looting and laying waste under the pretext of Christianising the land. The tribes united under Mindaugas, who was crowned Lithuania’s first and only king in 1253. He converted to Christianity in a peace deal with the Teutonic Knights but reneged when their power ebbed, and there was no widespread conversion of the people. He was assassinated in 1263.

Civil war, assassinations and foreign incursions then roiled the land, but from the 14th century Lithuania had strong capable rulers who give their names to boulevards and squares and monuments everywhere, notably Gediminas (ruled 1316–1341) and Vytautas the Great (ruled 1392–1430). They converted to Christianity, the last European nation to abandon pagan ways, and together with Poland smashed the Teutonic Knights. That alliance was cemented by the Union of Lublin in 1569, creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which for 200 years bestrode Europe as far as the Black Sea. But Lithuania became hollowed out as power and money drained to Poland, and the Commonwealth was attacked by new Euro

Getting there

Lithuania is a member of the Schengen Agreement. See Travelling around the Schengen Area for more information on how the scheme works, what countries are members and what the requirements are for your nationality. In summary:

There are normally no immigration controls between countries that have signed and implemented the treaty; there may be such controls temporarily, such as in connection with important events and various crises. The operators may carry out identity checks before passengers board international flights, ferries or trains, even between Schengen countries. Citizens of the EEA countries and Switzerland do not need visas to travel in the Schengen area, and may stay up to 90 days with no requirements other than having a valid ID card or passport. See European Union#EEA citizens. Normal visas granted by any Schengen member are valid in all countries that have signed and implemented the treaty (with exceptions for some overseas territories). The granting country may offer additional rights (such as longer stays or right to work) that apply only locally.

By plane Vilnius Airport (VNO IATA) has the best selection of flights. Kaunas (KUN IATA) has Ryanair and other low cost flights from across Europe. Palanga (PLQ IATA) near Klaipėda has few flights, mostly seasonal. Riga (RIX IATA) in Latvia has a wide choice of flights. Long-distance buses from Riga city stop here on their way into Lithuania.

By train Lithuania has a broad-gauge railway (1520 mm / 4 ft 11 27⁄32 in), same as Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Russia, so trains can't cross the border with Poland. "Rail Baltica" is a project to convert this to standard gauge (1435 mm / 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), to strengthen links with the west. It's a slow process and you might encounter disruptions or substitute buses as the works grind on. From Poland: a daily train runs from Kraków at 04:00 via Warsaw Centralna at 07:30 to reach the border towards 15:00. Here you change onto the Lithuanian train for Kaunas

Getting around

By train

Lithuania has a small but useful rail network, run by LTG Link - see their website for timetables, fares and online tickets. The chief domestic route is Vilnius - Kaunas: these run hourly and take 70-90 min, with a single adult standard fare of €8-10 in 2025. First class is 50% more than standard, but for this you get a complimentary bottle of water, cup of coffee and cookie. The price of a return is simply the sum of each single, and child fares are 50% of adult. Discounts are available, eg for Lithuanian students or ISIC card holders. There's no extra fare to ride the domestic sector of the international trains from Warsaw or Riga. The biggest problem is that trains are infrequent apart from Vilnius-Kaunas, and they're small, only 3 or 4 cars; so they may sell out. Flying into the country you might be reluctant to commit to a particular train, but if you leave it till arrival you could find all trains booked out for the rest of the day. The other problem is train access with limited mobility, as platforms are low and doors are high. Tickets can be bought online, at stations, or on the train if you board at a rural station without facilities. The price for any particular train depends on how many other people have bought tickets for it - the sooner you book, the cheaper it is likely to be - but the tickets are tied to one particular train so you may not want to commit to one very far in advance. Ticket machines are simple to use and accept western bank cards. The station "information centre" doesn't sell tickets but the clerk spends much of her time helping visitors with the machines. Trains are more spacious than buses so they're suitable for large bags, skis and bicycles. The typical layout is two seats each side of the aisle in either airline or saloon style. A few coaches have compartments, 3 seats facing 3 seats then a partition from the corridor. The only working heritage railway is the narrow-gauge line from Panevėžys.

By bus

Buses reach

See

Vilnius Old Town is a 2 km strip from Aušros vartai ("Gates of Dawn") south, past the Town Hall and University quarter, to the castle, cathedral and main museum in the north. It's a part-pedestrianised mix of gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical buildings, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Užupis is a boho eastern district of Vilnius that proclaimed itself a wacky independent republic. Trakai Island Castle is the most attractive of the country's castles for its setting, with its red towers reflected as if in an infinity pool. Curonian Spit is a 99 km bootlace of sand dunes and forest reached by a short ferry ride from Klaipėda. "Hill of Witches" near the village of Juodkrantė is decorated with sculptures illustrating the country's folktales and legends. Hill of Crosses 12 km north of Šiauliai has been planted with over 100,000 crosses, from the small and simple to the huge and exuberant. Aukštaitija National Park is a landscape of lakes and forest, home to elk, deer and wild