Have you ever wondered what it's like to visit one of the Baltic countries? Most likely your answer is "no," but lately Vilnius (Lithuania) has become an increasingly popular place for Europeans to visit. Reason number one being that it is so inexpensive (read: cheap). Vilnius has all the charms of a large European city: high-end shops, streets full of cafes, a beautiful Old Town, etc. Vilnius is large enough, that you can travel there time after time and never see everything you want. From the old TV tower, you can view both the modern parts of the city and remnants of the Soviet era.
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Click to enlarge. The taxis are regulated and very
inexpensive. They also have uber! |
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First beers in Vilnius after a long day of
traveling. |
We flew Ryanair from Frankfurt Hahn. Our flights cost just over 60 Euros round-trip per person. However, you can get flights as low as 9 Euros per leg. I found parking just outside the airport for 3 Euros per day. It was a steal!
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Click to enlarge. The bottom are the different
beers we encountered throughout the week. |
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| The bread spread was delicious...and free! |
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| Cepelinai is a very popular Lithuanian dish. Called Zeppelins in English, because their shape resembles that of the airship. They are potato dumplings filled with meat and covered in a sour cream sauce. These weren't the best ones, but I'm open to trying them again. |
I booked a hostel on Booking.com called Hostel Jamaika. It was 34 Euros per night for both Kelcy and I. Overall, it was a nice hostel, but I would not stay there again. It was extremely warm while we were in Lithuania, and just like in the rest of Europe, there is no A/C. This beautiful window (below) was uncovered and the sun shone right through onto our faces. The sun only set for a few hours while we were there. I would recommend visiting when it is cooler outside, and definitely stay at one of the Radissons. You can stay at a very nice hotel here for much less than more popular European cities. I originally booked an AirBnB, but the host tried to change my reservation to a much smaller place for the same price just a week before arriving. This is the first bad experience I've had with AirBnB, but it was definitely an issue with the host. So, beware. Make sure to always check reviews before booking.
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The sign says "sorry we are out of hot water." It stayed like this all week.
Down the hall, there was a women's only restroom with a shower by the
dormitories. The restrooms didn't stay stocked for very long, and there was
never any soap available. Seriously, "splurge" a little and stay at a nicer place. |
The first day here, we decided to go on our own walking tour of Vilnius. We walked all through Old Town and around town. There is a walking tour provided by "
Vilnius Free Tour" everyday, leaving from the Town Hall at noon in English. They also offer different tours and a pub crawl. Don't forget to tip your tour guides!
On our second day, we went to Trakai. It is a famous and beautiful area with a castle. We were excited for this trip. There are many trains and buses from Vilnius to and from Trakai. The train station was easy to navigate, and the fares were incredibly well-priced.
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| Our train ticket |
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The trains are nice, clean and easy to navigate.
You are able to travel the entire country very easily. We missed one train and took the bus, and it was also not a bad experience either. |
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| Traditional Borscht |
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| Boiled potatoes are typically served with traditional borscht |
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| Kybyn are the traditional meat pies in Trakai. They are sold at almost every restaurant in Trakai. |
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| There are many people selling cherries and different fruits ~ beautiful and fresh! |
We rented paddle boats and went exploring!
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| Our bed was built on top of beer crates |
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| Town Hall |
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| Amber for sale |
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| This is all amber ~ The background are shavings |
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| All the street signs are in Lithuanian and English |
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| Dinner at a Belgian Bistro in Vilnius |
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| Watching the Germany match from the Hostel |
Next door from the hostel, there were two really cool bars and a Mexican restaurant. We ended up eating at the Mexican restaurant two nights in a row. The food was delicious, and we wandered over to the bar next door (
Bar Bukowski) after eating. They had a wonderful patio with lighting and it was crowded every single evening we stayed there. Many nights, there were people partying until 6/7AM. People really knew how to party in Vilnius. I would imagine this had to do with the sun barely ever setting.
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| Mango Margarita |
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| Street Tacos |
Our second-to-last day we decided to go to a national park area in Lithuania. I would not recommend this without a vehicle. We ended up having to take a taxi to enter the park from the train station. However, we had a couple lovely hours on the lake, and I even took a dip.
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| The second-to-last dinner in Vilnius, we ate Portuguese |
In the Baltic countries, there is a lot of difference between the trains running and those in other parts of Europe. The trains in the Baltic companies are great in that they’ve very modern facilities. However, the problem is trains are not comfortable; the routes don’t connect the exact location of the place where you intend to go. This leads to wastage of time. So bus travel is the best to make your trip easy and enjoyable. Contact us today.
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