The largest of the Baltic republics greets you with Vilnius's baroque old town, castles on lakes, sand dunes on the Baltic and an intense history. Lithuania is a real surprise, and it still isn't overrun with tourists.
Lithuania is the largest and southernmost of the three Baltic republics, and the one that surprises most. Its capital, Vilnius, has one of the largest and most beautiful baroque old towns in Eastern Europe (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), with churches, hidden courtyards and a young, bohemian feel. But Lithuania is much more than that. It was the heart of a great medieval duchy that became one of the largest states in Europe. It has a strong Catholic identity, castles on lakes and a stretch of Baltic coast with sand dunes that look like a desert by the sea.
The country is flat, green and easy to get around. Vilnius, in the southeast, is the cultural base. Half an hour away is Trakai, with its red-brick castle on an island in a lake. In the centre is Kaunas, the second city, known for its interwar art deco. On the west coast are Klaipėda and, above all, the Curonian Spit, a strip of dunes and forest shared with Russia (Kaliningrad) that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In one or two weeks you can combine history, nature and coast without rushing.
The best thing about Lithuania is its mix of a monumental baroque old town, Baltic nature and an intense history, from the medieval grand duchy to the fight for independence from the Soviet Union. All of it comes at affordable prices and without the crowds. What surprises Latin American visitors is the country's passion and personality, from the independent, bohemian Republic of Užupis in Vilnius to the moving Hill of Crosses.
Lithuania has used the euro (€) since 2015, so if you're coming from another eurozone country you won't need to change anything. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, even in cafés and taxis, but it's worth carrying some cash for markets, small towns and tips. Let your bank know before you travel and check the day's exchange rate.
Vilnius (VNO) has a train to the centre in under ten minutes, and Kaunas (KUN) is served by low-cost airlines. Trains and buses link Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda easily, and Lux Express connects Vilnius with Riga and Warsaw. To reach the Curonian Spit and Nida you take a ferry from Klaipėda. It's a short, frequent crossing that also takes cars. The Vilnius old town, one of the largest in Eastern Europe, can be covered entirely on foot. For the rest of the city there are buses and trolleybuses.
The best time to visit Lithuania is summer (June to August). The days are very long, temperatures range from 18 to 26 °C, everything is open, the coast and the Curonian dunes are at their best and there are lots of festivals. It's high season and the nicest time to combine Vilnius, castles, lakes and the beach. The highlight is Joninės (Midsummer, 23-24 June), with flower wreaths, bonfires and night-time celebrations all over the country.
Late spring (May) and early autumn (September) are also good windows. There are fewer people, prices are a bit lower and the weather is still pleasant, with golden foliage in September and October. Winter (November to March) is cold and dark, with snow. Vilnius looks lovely and very Christmassy, but the days are very short and the coast and parks are more limited. In short: summer for the full trip, autumn for the foliage and prices, and winter only for the Christmas charm.
Lithuanian food is hearty and comforting, with Baltic and Slavic roots, and made for the cold. It uses lots of potato, pork, beetroot, mushrooms, rye and dairy. The star dish is cepelinai, large potato-dough 'zeppelins' stuffed with meat and topped with cream and bacon. Also try šaltibarščiai (cold beetroot soup in a fluorescent pink, a summer classic), blynai (potato pancakes), Trakai's kibinai and kugelis (baked potato pudding). For bread, it's dark rye. To drink, there's craft beer (Lithuania is beer country), mead (midus) and strong herbal liqueur.
As a guide (verified July 2026), a plate of cepelinai or the set lunch at a local spot costs around 6 to 10 dollars, a casual dinner 10 to 16 dollars per dish, and a coffee with something sweet 3 to 6. Markets and supermarkets (Maxima, Rimi, Iki) are much cheaper. Tipping isn't compulsory, but people leave 10% if the service was good. Tap water is safe to drink.
Lithuania is a safe country for travellers. Violent crime is low, and Vilnius, Kaunas and the other cities are fine to walk around by day and night. Take the same precautions as in any tourist city. Watch for pickpockets in busy areas and on public transport, and for the odd taxi or bar that inflates prices for tourists (use taxi apps like Bolt, which give fixed fares). In winter, watch out for ice on the pavements. It's an orderly, reserved and honest society.
On the health side, no vaccinations are required to enter from Latin America. Keep your routine vaccinations up to date. If you'll be walking in forests between spring and autumn, keep in mind that there are ticks that can transmit encephalitis, so use repellent and covering clothes. Tap water is safe to drink throughout the country. Medical care is of good quality, but even in an EU country you should still take out travel insurance with good cover. The single emergency number is 112 (verified July 2026).
Lithuania is one of the most affordable countries in the eurozone. It costs considerably less than Western Europe or the Nordic countries, although you pay in euros. As a guide (verified July 2026), a backpacker can get by on about 45 to 65 dollars a day, a mid-range trip runs around 75 to 120 dollars a day, and a comfortable one from 140. A hostel dorm bed in Vilnius costs between 13 and 25 dollars a night (more in peak summer), and a simple double room or Airbnb starts at around 40 to 60 dollars.
Day to day, a plate of cepelinai or the set lunch costs 6 to 10 dollars and a coffee 3 to 5. Public transport in Vilnius is cheap: a ticket costs around 1 dollar, and there's the Vilniečio electronic card. A bus or train between Vilnius and Kaunas or Klaipėda costs about 6 to 20 dollars, and many museums charge around 5 to 12 dollars admission. Vilnius and Trakai also have lots to do for free (old towns, churches, parks). These are guide prices and vary with the season and the euro exchange rate.
The language is Lithuanian, one of the oldest living languages in Europe. It's the Indo-European language closest to Sanskrit, which is a source of national pride, and its only close relative is Latvian. It's nothing like the Romance languages or Russian, so don't even try to guess. English is widely spoken among young people and in tourism, so you'll manage fine in Vilnius and the cities. Russian is understood, especially by older people, and so is Polish in the southeast. Spanish is hardly spoken at all. Lithuania is a very Catholic country, with important pilgrimage sites, and also proud of its pagan past and its history of resistance. People are reserved but warm once they get to know you.
On the practical side, plugs are type C and F (European) at 230 V, so a European adapter is all you need. Mobile coverage is very good and cheap. Buy a local SIM (Telia, Bite, Tele2) or an eSIM with plenty of data. Since Lithuania is in the EU, that SIM also works with roaming across Europe, and there's free wifi in lots of places. Two tips from someone who's been: download the Bolt taxi app (you avoid overcharging and get a fixed fare), and don't miss Vilnius's hidden courtyards, which are part of its secret charm. And in winter, bring proper thermal clothing, because the windy Baltic cold really bites.
Lithuania (in Lithuanian, Lietuva; officially the Republic of Lithuania, Lietuvos Respublika) is the largest and southernmost of the three Baltic states. It is a flat land of forests, lakes and peat bogs, wedged between Latvia to the north, Belarus and Poland to the south and east, and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and a narrow window onto the Baltic Sea to the west. Its language, Lithuanian, is a rarity that fascinates linguists: together with Latvian, it is all that survives of the Baltic branch of Indo-European, and it keeps forms so archaic that it is considered the living language closest to Sanskrit and to Proto-Indo-European. The Lithuanians were also the last pagan people in Europe: they were not officially baptised until 1387, a thousand years after the rest of the continent.
Few European histories hold such a brutal contrast between greatness and disappearance. This small country was the core of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which in the 14th century became the largest state in Europe, a power stretching from the Baltic almost to the Black Sea. United with Poland, it formed for two centuries one of the largest and most unusual republics on the continent. And yet that same country vanished from the map for more than a century, swallowed by the Russian Empire. It was reborn in 1918 only to be crushed in 1940 between Stalin and Hitler. It lost almost all of its ancient Jewish population in the Holocaust (Vilnius had been called the “Jerusalem of the North”). And it finally re-emerged in 1990, when it became the first of the fifteen Soviet republics to dare to declare independence, opening the first crack through which the Soviet Union would crumble. Travelling through Lithuania, from Trakai Castle on its island to baroque Vilnius, from the Hill of Crosses to the dunes of the Curonian Spit, means crossing a thousand years of one of Europe's most intense and least known histories.
Read the full history of Lithuania →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
