Vilnius - The Jewel of Lithuania

Vilnius Old Town has the feeling of a small university town - it's difficult to believe that it is home to nearly 600,000 inhabitants. The joy of Vilnius is one of aimless wandering and discovery - explore the side streets, courtyards, and local neighbourhoods to get a feel for the city.

Amongst the sites to see are the stunning Neo-Classical cathedral, Gediminas Hill, St Anne's Churches, the former KGB Headquarters, Frank Zappas monument, the Presidential Palace . . .it's difficult to know what to leave out.

It's equally important to get away from the city to explore the countryside and the most convenient and worthwhile daytrip is to the medieval castle on the Trakai Peninsula.

Quick Tips:

Don't drive in Vilnius unless you really have to - it appears that it is a prerequsite of your licence that you have constant road rage. We came across numerous minor accidents in the course of journeys to and from the city so be careful - fortunately the city centre where you will spend most of your time is safer and much of it is relatively free of traffic.

Vilnius is very cheap to eat out in and you will find it to difficult to spend all your £'s and 's here - yee ha!!

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is the only way to see the city from an intimate perspective.

Our experience of taxis was also very positive - private hire cabs were even cheaper.

Public transport is both reliable and plentiful and the trolley bus routes run regular services all over town.

This local eatery is legendary in Vilius. It's nestled in a pretty courtyard a matter of meters from the heart of the Old Town. At the time of visiting the weather was 30 Celsius, so it was a wonderful opportunity to sit out in the gentle shade and relax in rustic, informal surroundings.

The costumed staff are charming, discreet, yet attentive in their service, and it is the simplicity of the food which we found to be most appealing. Main courses cost about 35 litas (£6) and are very filling so be careful - you can always order more.

The local speciality is cepelinai, zepplins (potato dough stuffed full of delicious sausage).Mmmm. I can also thoroughly recommend carp rolls, the honey and fruit chicken, and the pickled roast pork, both cooked on an open fire within the restaurant.

The park is essentially a fabulous open-air gallery of post-modern sculptures set in a secluded parkland.

The exhibition features work by world famous artists including Dennis Oppenheim and Sol LeWitt.

Be sure to take a map of the park as it is very easy to get lost in the maze of paths and sculptures. We visited late on a summer evening and the minimalist sculptures looked fab in the dusk - if you are easily spooked go in daylight as some of the works have a Blair Witch slant in the half light of evening, so don't say you weren't warned.

The other purpose for making this trek is because the park boasts the geographical center of Europe as decided by some French scientist in 1989. That is if you take into account the seas surrounding Europe, oh, and Iceland, and, well, it's a bit of a letdown but a stone marks the spot and tells you how many km's it is to various European capitals - whatever turns you on!

Zappa's monument is a fitting memorial to the zany, unconventional musician. There is no other reason for the location of the monument other than Frank Zappa's Lithuanian heritage and the whim of a local fan/art student. Even if you've never heard of Zappa or his music, it's worth a visit to see the fabulous street art which provides a fabulous backdrop to the rather bizzare monument - a sculpture of Zappa's head balanced on a pole!

Love it!!

Of all the former Soviet Repbulics, Lithuania seems the most keen to rid itself of any remnants of its formidable past. Within the center of Vilius there are very few clues that this city was once in the depths of the USSR. However, as you move outwards, the concrete monoliths of post soviet suburbia dominate the landscape.

However, don't be put off as it's not nearly as grim as it sounds. In fact, much of the architecture is quite intriguing and the planning certainly well ahead of its time.

To get a good vantage point, it's worth scaling the dizzying heights of the TV and Radio Tower. More importantly, the TV Tower was really the focal point of the Lithuanian independance movement. It was here, in 1991, that Soviet troops killed 12 independance campaigners sparking a revolution which quickly overthrew the soviet regime.

The memorial to these political martyrs is all the more touching in its simplicity. What is even more striking is that the majority of those killed were only 18 or 19 years old - poignant when you think that so recently these folk had to fight for democratic reforms which we have always been able to take for granted.

Vilnius is a riot of architectural styles, and one of the historic highlights of any cultural tour of the city has to be St. Anne's Church.

St. Anne's is quite a stunning building, built during the 16th century with a flurry of spire-like pinnacles, Gothic arches, and vibrant red bricks of which it has more than 30 different types.

Although the distance from Riga to Vilnius is, by European standards, a stones throw, the reality is that it is a fairly major undertaking. After much deliberation we decided that the overnight train was the best option and would allow us to catch some Zzz's.....or so we thought!

We departed Riga at 0022 and the guard assured us that he would waken us on time. Most of the other travellers appeared to be used to the journey and very quickly the train resembled a refugee camp.

The border crossing was fairly traumatic for many of the local travellers who turned out to be Ukranians - one or two did not have transit visas for Belarus and were ejected from the train by some very bureaucratic uniforms in the early hours of the morning in the middle of nowhere in the pitch dark. Even if you don't plan to stop in Belarus, make sure that you organize adequate visas.

At around 0430 we got organized to disembark, but had to forego a tirade of shouting from the guard. We assumed that we had disturbed his beauty sleep! He assured us that we were far too early.

We wakened a few hours later in a panic thinking that we had missed our stop - the next stop is Minsk in Belarus - but fortunately had forgotten to take in to account the time change. Estonia and Lithuania run on European time, but Latvia runs on Eastern European time!!

Best advice - take the bus!