Maps Events Restaurants Cafés Nightlife Sightseeing Shopping Hotels Vilnius December 2014 - April 2015 inyourpocket.com N°114 - €0.58 / 2Lt Contents Jewish Vilnius 68 ESSENTIAL Trakai 69 CIT Y GUIDES Lithuania’s former capital uncovered Where to stay 71 Arriving & Getting Around 5 Campsites and presidential suites for all Where to get off and how to stay afloat Mail & Phones 79 City Basics 11 Keeping in touch Some simple differences worth knowing Shopping 80 History 13 A mind-boggling millennium Lifestyle Directory 86 Culture & Events 15 Sport, Leisure & Health 90 Art, photography and the rest Business Directory 92 Where to eat 22 Maps & Index The capital’s kitchens in all their glory Street index 93 Nightlife 44 Where to party in Vilnius City centre map 94 What to see 56 City map 96 A fully comprehensive guide Country map 97 © Vilnius Tourism & Convention Bureau www.vilnius-tourism.lt facebook.com/VilniusInYourPocket December 2014 - April 2015 3 Foreword Arriving & Getting Around There is no getting away from the fact that winter in Arriving in and getting around Vilnius are fairly simple in the tourist information kiosk to order one for you. If Vilnius can be cold. Bitterly so. That does not for one affairs once you understand the basics. Accordingly, you’re travelling to the city centre and want to save a minute however also mean that winter in Vilnius is travelling further afield is relatively painless if you’re small fortune, take public transport. Bus Nº88 goes to bleak. Far from it, in fact. Indeed, having first arrived in prepared to do your research beforehand and use some the Old Town, Nº1 goes to the train station and rapid sign language when using buses and trains. Car rental is bus Nº3G to Lukiškių Aikštė (Juozo Tumo-Vaižganto Vilnius many, many years ago in what was the middle Publisher ESSENTIAL relatively cheap by Western standards. stop) and north over the river past the Radisson Blu Hotel of a particularly cold winter, we have to admit to having Vilnius In Your PocketCIT Y GUIDES something of a soft spot for the city when it’s covered Bernardinų 9 - 4, Vilnius, Lithuania Lietuva. The bus stop is to the left of the taxi stand, and tel. (+370) 5 212 29 76, fax (+370) 5 212 29 82 in snow. The already picture-postcard perfect Old Town timetables are posted at the stop. Buy a ticket from the [email protected], www.inyourpocket.com ARRIVING IN VILNIUS driver for €1.01 and off you go. Alternatively, hop on a in particular never looks better than when given a crisp, ISSN 1392-0057 The three main points of arrival in Vilnius offer very differ- train and in less than 10 minutes be at the train station in white frame, with the crunch of snow underfoot provid- ©UAB “VIYP” Printed by UAB “Lietuvos ryto” spaustuvė ent experiences indeed, making your first few minutes in the centre of the city. Buy a ticket on board for just €0.72. ing the soundtrack for all sorts of winter escapades. And Published three times per year the city anything from a pleasure to a pain. Improvements The airport train station can be found along the road be honest: there is plenty to do in Vilnius at this time of Print run 15,000 are taking place all the time. Print copies of Vilnius In Your outside the main exit and on the left. Trains leave every year. The cellar restaurants, bars and pubs of the Old Editorial Pocket can be bought from kiosks inside the airport, bus hour or so from around 06:00 until 21:30, with a journey Town provide warm relief from the chill outside, and Editor Craig Turp and train stations for just €0.58. Alternatively, buy one on- time of just seven minutes. many locals insist that the shorter the days, the longer Contributors Howard Jarvis, Martin Kitson line before you leave by clicking here. If you’re coming into the parties at night. Design Vaida Kniūkštienė the city by public transport, see the latest information on BY TRain Researcher Vaida Kursevičiūtė Of course, the biggest event of the winter in Lithua- Cover Photo © Arūnas Stankevičius our public transport pages, here. The train station (geležinkelio stotis) is fairly large by local nia this year is the country waving goodbye to the litas, standards. Find kiosks and shops for snacks, maps, ciga- and adopting the euro. The big switch takes place/took Sales & Circulation BY BUS rettes and prepaid mobile phone cards scattered in and place (delete according to when you are reading this) Publisher Vilnius In Your Pocket Vilnius’ bus station (autobusų stotis) is located less than around the building, toilets downstairs for €0.29, ATM’s General Manager Rūta Klimavičiūtė on January 1st, with both currencies in dual circulation Accounting Všį “ACORDO” 1km south of Old Town in a less than salubrious, albeit and a 24-hour Medicinos bank outside to the left for for two weeks afterwards. If you are still holding litas af- Sales Manager Tel. (+370) 610 468 64. perfectly safe area. Most facilities are located inside one changing money. ter that: don’t panic. You can change then inside a bank This guidebook and all of our other Lithuanian guides are available large grey building and include kiosks and shops for Getting to town Get to Old Town in a few minutes by for sale from kiosks, tourist information centres, the Vilnius In Your snacks, maps, cigarettes and prepaid mobile phone cards, going straight ahead on exiting the station and walking until the end of June. Pocket office and other outlets throughout Vilnius and Lithuania as Whatever currency you are spending in Vilnius this well as online at www.inyourpocket.com. Complimentary copies of downstairs toilets (€0.29) and ATMs. For 24-hour currency down the hill (Sodų). The train station is just across the winter, enjoy the city. Vilnius In Your Pocket are also available in many hotels. exchange, use the Medicinos bank across the street and street from the bus station. See By bus for more informa- just to the right of the train station. A bagažinė for left lug- tion about getting to the centre by public transport. Copyright notice gage is located outside at the far end of the platforms. Text and photos copyright UAB VIYP 1992-2015; some photos, Getting to town Get to Old Town in a few minutes by COVER STORY LATGA-A; maps, cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this PUBLIC TRANSPORT publication may be reproduced in any form, except brief extracts turning left on exiting the station and walking down the Vilnius, the winter picture-postcard version, with the for the purpose of review, without written permission from the hill (Sodų). Countless buses, minibuses and trolleybuses Served by a network of city-owned buses and trolleybus- rich colours of the Old Town given a white frame of publisher and copyright owner. The brand name In Your Pocket can be found in the immediate area, all going off in differ- es, the capital’s public transport services begin at around is used under license from UAB In Your Pocket (Bernardinų ent directions around the city and none of them offering a 05:00 and continue through the day before stopping not snow. Photo by Arūnas Stankevičius. 9-4,Vilnius, Lithuania tel. (+370) 5 212 29 76). lot of help for people who don’t speak Lithuanian. Among much later than 23:00. Vilnius does not yet have a nightbus the useful services going through the city centre are trol- service except on New Year’s Eve and on a couple of other ABOUT IYP leybus Nº2 and bus Nº1G. Buy a ticket from the driver for special occassions. Getting about the city is cheap, and €1.01 and off you go. Taxis are parked up in a number of relatively easy once you have the hang of the basics. (Being places. Be sure to negotiate a fare before you leave. Expect able to buy tickets directly from bus and trolleybus drivers Not content with publishing more than to pay €6 or even more for a short trip to Old Town. Calling helps). Note that public transport can be very crowded dur- 100 guides to cities across three conti- ESTONIA one in advance is the best option. ing peak hours, and that pickpockets are not uncommon on the busiest routes (especially those to and from the bus LATVIA RUSSIA nents, In Your Pocket is currently prepa- BY plane station). NORTHERN LITHUANIA ring a new round of expansion for 2015. IRELAND Vilnius International Airport (Tarptautinis Vilniaus Oro Uos- IRELAND BELARUS New cities due to be pocketed include NETHERLANDS tas) is just 5km south of the city centre. Even if you’re land- BUses & TROlleYBUses POLAND Rotterdam in the Netherlands, while GERMANY UKRAINE ing from a non-Schengen country, arrival formalities are All buses and trolleybuses in Vilnius are owned and op- BELGIUM CZECH some old favourites, such as Budapest REPUBLIC quick and relatively straightforward. After collecting your erated by the Municipality. Paper tickets for single jour- AUSTRIA in Hungary and the Russian exclave of luggage enter through the electric sliding doors into the neys are no longer available from kiosks and can only be HUNGARY SWITZERLAND ROMANIA GEORGIA Arrivals Hall, an experience which is not unlike stepping bought from the driver, with the fare currently priced at SLOVENIACROATIA Kaliningrad will be getting a reboot. ITALY BOSNIA SERBIA into the ticket hall of 19th century provincial train station. €1.01 for a single journey on one vehicle.