My first WHS trip in 2023 was to the historic centre of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which happened to be celebrating its 700th anniversary on the 25th of January (more on that later). Visiting Lithuania has always been a dream of mine. When interested in history from a young age, children usually grow up to choose a certain specific area or period of interest: dinosaurs, Romans and Greek, ancient Egypt, the Vikings, etc. Personally, I “chose” medieval Eastern Europe and don’t ask me why. I just find that specific period in that area immensely interesting. So what destination could be better than Lithuania, which was the last pagan country in Europe to be christianised and which was a vital part of one of medieval Europe’s largest empires, the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. 

My trip to Lithuania lasted 4 days. I flew from Eindhoven (in the Netherlands) to Vilnius, a short (about 2 hours) and cheap (€60 return trip) flight with Ryanair. Accommodation in Vilnius was also really affordable. We stayed in an apartment in the historic centre for about €20 per person per night. Mind you, we chose the more expensive option with a 9.8 rating by previous guests. Vilnius also offers even cheaper accommodation options. Exiting Vilnius Airport (Oro uostas), we were able to take a bus to the city centre. The buses are directly in front of the airport. Options to the city centre are bus 88 and 3G. We paid €1 in cash per person directly to the driver and the ride took us about 25 minutes. 

Vilnius is a very walkable city. Almost all of the city’s highlights are located within a short distance from each other. There are other public transport options (like the Vilnius card, which you have to purchase and transfer money to), but since we were only in Vilnius for 4 days and since everything is very close to each other, we opted to just pay the €1 per trip. 

Vilnius is a very nice city. It reminded me a lot of Krakow in Poland. Even though there are no really outstanding individual attractions/sights, the atmosphere is very nice, much like in other Eastern (Central) European cities. The highlight for me was Gediminas’ Castle Tower, situated on top of a hill, and the surrounding buildings. At the foot of the hill you can find the Cathedral and Bell Tower, the Palace of the Grand Dukes, the National Museum, the very nice archaeological museum and much more. From the Castle Tower, you have a panoramic view of the historic centre, including sights such as the Presidential Palace, the university (one of the oldest in Eastern/Central Europe), the Hill of Three Crosses, and much more. I would advise any traveller to start their visit here and make their way down to the Gate of Dawn through Pilies Street and the University building. We covered the historic centre in one day. 

The city celebrates its 700th anniversary this year (2023) and festivities started on the 25 of January, Vilnius’ birthday. We thoroughly enjoyed the musical performance which kicked off the festivities. The square near the cathedral and the castle tower hill was completely packed with people, mostly students and young families. The musical performance was accompanied by a light show (see photo), which created a very nice atmosphere. We enjoyed some hot drinks, Lithuanian snacks and listened to the music. It really was a big deal and as it was our last evening in Vilnius, we thought it was the perfect ending. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend visiting Vilnius. It might not be spectacular in terms of individual sights, but it is a very nice city. Furthermore, I agree with the criteria on which Vilnius was inscribed. They may sound a bit vague, gut it is hard not to appreciate the historic value of the city, especially regarding its influence on this part of Europe.