Vilnius

I fancy a trip, Rough Guide is on the way; here are my notes. This started as Vilnius bit I have become more ambitious. I have just returned, and need to bring the page up to date. 20.10.2025

To do

1. Attractions and Activities near Vilnius from Trip Advisor, or here.
2. 21 things to do in Vilnius by the external expat
3. Google Gemini on Vilnius’s Art Galleries
4. Things to Do in Lithuania from Trip Advisor
5. 11 Wonderful (and Slightly Unusual) Things to Do in Lithuania from “Along Dusty Roads”
6. Things to do in Klaipedia from Trip Advisor
7. One tour recommended was the Kaunas Rumsiskes and Pazaislis Monastery Full Day Tour from Vilnius, NB from Vilnius and priced per group. The price is a bit shit. There seem to be two web pages, one very close to Kaunas, https://lemu.lt/. Although many people seem to think it’s important to visit. It can be done by Bus, albeit with a 25 minute walk at the other end.

Done and one regret

1. Gruto parkas includes soviet period statues documenting the occupation & how get there from trip advisor again, I missed this for various reasons. The tours are unspeakably priced, it can be reached by inter-city bus. See below.
2. I went on Tour to Ponary Memorial Park, The_Hill_of_Angels & Trakai Castle from Vilnius which was awesome.
3. The 9th Fort in Kaunas, a museum memorising the Holocaust in Lithuania, their tour booking page, I caught the bus, and paid on the door.
4. I got to the http://www.ambergallery.lt/en/museums-2/mizgiris-amber-museum/ in Nida on the spit.

Hotels

1. Hotels in and near Vilnius from Trip Advisor
2. Imperial Hotel & Restaurant 5* & Artis Centrum 4*
3. Boutique Shakespeare & Vilnia Hotel
4. I stayed at https://rinno.lt/en/home/ for three nights and the Imperial for my final night.
5. AirBnB is always an option.
6. Beachfront-hotels.com have a list of beach front hotels.

Travel

Getting there

1. The man in seat 61, has a journey, train and boat, via Kiel! If travelling Eurostar using interail tickets, then one must book seats on the Eurostar.
2. I was looking for something else, and discovered there’s at least one ferry route from Sweden, which of course be travelled to directly or via Denmark
3. Flying: I checked on Expedia, and getting there in time to do something, is a bit tricky partly because its two hours ahead. Eventually, I chose, Air Baltic to Riga and an Airbnb? There’s an Air Baltic LGW – RIX arriving at 9:10 – 13:50.
4. There is only one train from Riga to Vilnius per day and it runs later in the day. I travelled by bus. Note to self, link to bus company site. Is this, https://autobusubilietai.lt/en it?
5. There’s an airport on the coast, called Palanga. There are direct flights from all London airports, inc City to Vilnius and also flights to Palanga.

Getting about

1. There are intercity and city buses, they both do card pay as you go, but the city bus card readers need care and careful use.
2. The trains have a limited network and don’t run from Kaunus to Klaipeda, I travelled by bus.
3. The Green € on the map represents Eurocar shops, I have been advised to drive, but didn’t. My driving licence works in Lithuania, no need for an international licence 7/11/2022

Klaipeda

1. From Kliapeda to the Spit, see https://klaipedatravel.lt/en/ferries-to-smiltyne/ the ferries are regular even in October. This blog post documents the buses, it’s is dated 2023. This might be the best site, https://autobusubilietai.lt/en which I was pointed at by this reddit thread. The buses on the spit are designed to meet the ferry; they ran roughy every two hours, the ferry once/hour.

The Green € represents Eurocar shops, I have been advised to drive, but didn’t. There is a Eurocar office at Klaipeda station. My driving licence works in Lithuania, no need for an international licence 7/11/2022.

See also my google map of vilnius with saved locations, of restaurants and museums.