Vilnius

Vilnius has been central to the country's life for as long as there has been Lithuania, but that has often been a tragic tale. Its Neolithic people traded in Baltic amber. In the early Middle Ages five petty kingdoms combined into two then one, when Mindaugas in 1253 became Lithuania's first king and noble Christian convert. The country splintered after his assassination but was re-united under Gediminas, who established Vilnius castle — in legend on the site where a wolf in a dream told him to build. But the real wolves were his neighbouring countries, and finding a powerful ally meant adopting their religion. Poland was the best bet and a dynastic marriage in 1486 united the crowns, later the nations, and Lithuania became Roman Catholic. Vilnius Old Town was largely built in the following 150 years.

This united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth grew almost to the Black Sea, but all the power and money shifted to Poland. Like Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Ireland within Britain, Lithuania was the poor country cousin. And then Poland fell, with its territory carved up between Prussia, Austria and Russia, and others snatching what they could. Lithuania became a territory of the Russian Empire. Poland and Lithuania only regained independence after the First World War, and almost at once were at war with each other and with Russia. Vilnius was captured and from 1920 was a Polish exclave, and the Lithuanian capital moved to Kaunas. In the run-up to the Second World War Russia (as the Soviet Union) again seized the territory. This history meant that when Nazi Germany invaded in 1941, they found many local supporters, and the Jewish population of Vilnius was slaughtered.

By plane:

1 Vilnius Airport (VNO IATA), Rodunios kelias 10a (6 km south of city centre), ☏ +370 612 44442. The principal airport in Lithuania, with flights from most major airports in north Europe and the Med; destinations further out include Keflavik, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Red Sea resorts. There are no flights within Lithuania, it's too small, but you can fly here from Riga and Tallinn. Most flights are by budget airlines. The airport has the standard facilities including car hire. (updated Feb 2023)

To and from the airport:

Buses leave from outside Arrivals every 15-30 min and take 15 min to go downtown. Simplest is to buy a €1 single ticket by card, and you might pay extra for bulky luggage. "Get around" below describes other ticket deals, such as the smart card Vilniečio kortelė — buy it from the Narvesen kiosk next to Arrivals.

Bus 1 runs from the airport (Oro uostas) to the central bus and railway stations (Stotis).

Bus 2 runs via LFF football stadium to the stations.

Coming back on these, wait at Stop H between the stations, which has a real-time display.

Bus 88 runs via the football stadium, Gate of Dawn (200 m from stations) and MO Museum to Konstitucijos Prospekt and Europa Square in the business district north of the river.

Night Bus 88N runs every 30 min 23:30–05:30 by the same route. This is the only night service at the airport.

Bus 3G runs via Lukiškės Square (west of Old Town) and Konstitucijos Prospekt in the business district to the northern suburb of Fabijoniškės. The G indicates express, Greitasis.

Other cities: Ollex is a not-very-direct bus from the airport to Kaunas, where the pick-up and drop off is at the filling station on Savanoriu prospekt, northeast edge of the city. The bus continues to Klaipėda. Ecolines bus to Minsk and Toks bus to Kaunas, Klaipėda and Palanga also run via the airport.