Lithuania - Vilnius and more as an extension to a Poland trip

We visited Lithuania for two days in 2011 as well as two days in Latvia and two days in Estonia. It was an extension to a tour of Russia.

Loved the people of the Baltics. They very much love their freedom after the captivity of the Soviet Union.
Since we have come from Russia, we could see that the Baltic countries were more advanced in prosperity and infrastructure improvement than Russia.

I'm a big fan of the Baltic countries.

Lithuania is definitely a place to visit. The train system is limited but the bus system is extensive.

Very safe. I never felt unsafe at any time.

I'm probably going back in the spring.

However, traveling between Krakow and Vilnius is not easy. The train takes over 12 hours. Flying nonstop is only a couple of times a week.

I agree with everything geovagriffith and Frank II have said.

In addition, you will most likely find the Baltics to be less expensive and less
crowded than most other European countries.

Since all 3 of the Baltic countries are farther north, even in the middle of the
summer, temps are likely to be manageable. It was in the 70's this summer when
I went to Vilnius and Riga.

While each country has its own culture, you could visit either Estonia, Latvia,
or Lithuania and enjoy any of them. As noted, train infrastructure is not superb,
a lot of regional travel takes place by bus.

You might look into the various European budget airlines if you want to consider
flying from Krakow to one of the Baltic cities.

The RS guidebooks don't cover Lithuania or Latvia (a bit of a miss IMO), but they
do cover Tallinn.

Definitely worth it as are Latvia and Estonia. We spent about 6 days in Lithuania back in September using Vilnius as home base and taking day trips. As for getting there, we flew from Gdansk to Vilnius via Warsaw. Train travel would have been an all day affair for that part of our trip.

Spent three weeks in the Baltics (all three countries) and loved every bit. They are not so much "hidden gems" as they are "ignored gems" - they're out in the open, in plane sight, pretty obvious if you bother considering them, with all the charms, history, culture and things tourists love about Europe (but minus the crowds and high prices). They're more popular than most North Americans would think - at least with European visitors. Not many Americans. The Baltics are uncrowded, less expensive than most of Europe that we all gush over, they're certainly safe (at least for a while, Russia has their hands full raping another European nation and will be busy with that for at least a little while), and the Baltics are getting armed to the teeth for the probably inevitable post-Ukraine invasion. Smart travelers won't put off their visits to the Baltics for too long. The Baltics are easy and will surprise and delight any smart tourist.

We actually did the Baltics as the destination (during July), and did Krakow and Warsaw as a "bonus" add-in (opposite of what the OP is proposing). We rented a car and did a traditional summer "road trip" thru all three countries, all along the coasts and out to a couple of the big Estonian islands. Great stuff all over - it's the Europe we all dream about (history, culture, castles, fortresses and palaces galore, old cities with amazing architecture, great food, etc.) but which now sometimes seems elusive across much of western Europe due to the extreme crowds and high prices.

As for the weather: we went in mid-summer and got great weather except for a couple of days as we were exploring coastal Lithuania and Latvia (both lovely and worthwhile - don't just go to the capital cities!). The Baltics can get rainy and soggy even in mid-summer. The summer months (July and August) will give you your best chance for good weather, whenever you go prepare for at least some rain. I would avoid going outside summer unless you are ready for some serious rain and a few (or more than a few) very rainy days. I would not go in April or October unless you are fully Gore-tex oufitted and willing to slog through wet days. We live in Seattle (famous for its rain), and we had good rain gear along, and in July we still got our butts kicked by hard driving, relentless rainstorms for 2 full days straight that were essentially washed out (we fled to the car, pubs and eventually our hotel rooms). That was just 2-3 days out of about 20, but I've read enough from other travelers to understand that the geography funnels a lot of weather at these coastal nations and it's not uncommon to get plenty of moisture even in summer. Spring and Fall would increase the chances of precipitation.

We never felt any need for guided tours. Everything is easily accessible. Few language issues - just look for people without gray hair, they all speak English as well as I do (the old men in the park generally don't, they want to speak Russian...). You will find these countries feel and function just like most of Europe. Old Soviet stuff is around (see: the old men in the park...) but tourists generally only have to deal with the Soviet legacy as tourist attractions.

Go while you can.

I spent a lot of time in the Baltic countries a few years ago. They are great destinations and very easy for English-speakers to visit because English is extremely widely spoken (as it is in Poland). There's considerable commonality of recent history (and very good, fully-English-accessible museums to explain it), but the capital cities are quite different architecturally. Much of central Tallinn is medieval; Riga is known for its huge number of Art Nouveau buildings; Vilnius is Baroque. I ended up spending at least a week in each capital city because there was a lot of interest to me as a Cold War junkie. Vilnius appears to get fewer foreign tourists than Tallinn (probably the most touristy of the three) and Riga.

Each country also has interesting secondary cities. In Lithuania I enjoyed Kaunas (especially) and Klaipeda. I used public transportation to get around; the buses are comfortable.

Ground transportation between Poland and Lithuania is challenging, to be sure. Kaliningrad (Russia) and Belarus are sort of in the way. I traveled from Vilnius to Bialystok en route to Warsaw. Bialystok isn't too often on the itinerary of western travelers, but I found it interesting and especially liked the new museum about expulsion (and in some cases voluntary emigration) of Poles to Siberia over the course of centuries.

With limited time I'd look for a flight from Krakow to one of the Baltic capitals. You can't go wrong with any of them. AirBaltic flies to Vilnius, RyanAir flies to Riga and WizzAir flies to Tallinn. Those flights don't necessarily run every day; you can check skyscanner.com for schedules to see what your actual options are. Sometimes available flights depart at really unpleasant (to me) hours like 6:30 AM.

For checking weather I recommend the website timeanddate.com, which provides actual, historical, day-by-day weather statistics for most major destinations. Here's a link for Vilnius:

Vilnius weather -- April 2025

Use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph, to see other months and years. I like to check data for the most recent five years, because weather (especially shoulder-season weather) can vary a lot. Use the Search box at the upper right to check statistics for other destinations.

Monthly-average precipitation data can be found in the climate-summary charts in the Wikipedia entries for your potential destination cities. Those charts can also be useful for comparing likely temperature ranges in two different months or at two different destinations in the same month. That's sometimes a starting point for me, but my final decision as to whether I'm willing to risk Destination A in Month X comes after I check the temperature charts on timeanddate.com.

April would be too early for me in that part of Europe, and October too late; however, I really dislike chilly weather and have an extremely strong preference for traveling when the days are longer.

I'd recommend getting a guidebook to the Baltic countries. Amazon has books from several major publishers: DK Eyewitness, Rough, Insight and Lonely Planet. There have been a lot of recent complaints about the newest issues in the Lonely Planet series due to an excess of fluff and lack of specificity, but I haven't used the LP guide to the Baltic countries.

Thanks for the EXCELLENT information, everyone! Much to consider. Looks like we need to focus on the summer months, which is fine. We love warm weather (we live in the Bay Area) but traveling in the heat of summer without A/C has been an unexpected challenge so we are willing to put up with some coolness.

With limited time I'd look for a flight from Krakow to one of the Baltic capitals. You can't go wrong with any of them. AirBaltic flies to Vilnius, RyanAir flies to Riga and WizzAir flies to Tallinn. Those flights don't necessarily run every day; you can check skyscanner.com for schedules to see what your actual options are. Sometimes available flights depart at really unpleasant (to me) hours like 6:30 AM.

My first pass at this research (with skyscanner and others) shows WizzAir flying to Vilnius non-stop about 4 days a week (yes, at 6:30am which is beyond unpleasant!), and to Tallin at a more reasonable 2pm. No mention of 'Air Baltic'. But then I visited Air Baltic's site and I could see that they only fly to Vilnius non-stop in the summer months (May-Aug), and only on Monday and Friday. It looks like their non-stop from Krakow to Vilnius leaves at 9:30pm and arrives at 11:50pm! Yikes! Not getting any options for non-stops from Krakow to Tallinn with Air Baltic (but I'm still struggling to master their flight schedule page!).

If we were to spend 2 weeks 'in the region', would it be worth trying to visit all three countries, or exploring one or two in more depth? Sounds like there's different architecture in the three capitals. I have a tendency to prefer cities, but my partner is more drawn to 'cute towns'. We both love exploring food options. We're both somewhat 'churched out' unless there's something radically different about the ones here.

Thanks again for the very useful information so far!

My guess is that for the budget airlines, summer 2026 schedules are probably not
finalized yet, so they could get worse or get better.

As far as how many to visit, well, it's 3-4 hours by bus between city pairs Tallinn-Riga and
Riga-Vilnius. So for ~2 weeks, you'd get 3-4 days in each country, which needs to include
city and day trip time. Might be a bit tight, but doable. You could easily spend a week+
in each place, especially since there are lots of interesting places outside the capitol
cities to see, but if you mainly stick to the big cities, you could do all 3 in 2 weeks.

Plenty of people would squeeze the 3 capitals into a 2-week trip; I would not be one of them, especially since one of you favors large cities and the other likes smaller places. To include both kinds of destinations will take some extra time. I'd choose two contiguous countries. You might keep in mind that Tallinn is a short ferry ride from Helsinki, so Estonia can be added to a trip that includes Sweden and/or Finland. There are also ferries from Stockholm to Tallinn, but they take much longer (at least 17-1/2 hours, at a glance), so that's probably a route to be flown.

@David in Seatle;

As for the weather: we went in mid-summer and got great weather except for a couple of days as we were exploring coastal Lithuania and Latvia (both lovely and worthwhile - don't just go to the capital cities!). The Baltics can get rainy and soggy even in mid-summer. The summer months (July and August) will give you your best chance for good weather, whenever you go prepare for at least some rain. I would avoid going outside summer unless you are ready for some serious rain and a few (or more than a few) very rainy days. I would not go in April or October unless you are fully Gore-tex oufitted and willing to slog through wet days. We live in Seattle (famous for its rain), and we had good rain gear along, and in July we still got our butts kicked by hard driving, relentless rainstorms for 2 full days straight that were essentially washed out (we fled to the car, pubs and eventually our hotel rooms). That was just 2-3 days out of about 20, but I've read enough from other travelers to understand that the geography funnels a lot of weather at these coastal nations and it's not uncommon to get plenty of moisture even in summer. Spring and Fall would increase the chances of precipitation.

Thanks for that info! I grew up in UK so I know my rain :). I hate it (which is why I now live in CA). But I guess I'll take a light drizzle over 90 degrees without A/C while on a vacation ...

Looking at both 'Time and Date' website - https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/lithuania/vilnius/climate and my personal go-to, Weatherspark - https://weatherspark.com/y/92695/Average-Weather-in-Vilnius-Lithuania-Year-Round - it looks like Vilnius rain peaks in July. Looking at both pages, it would seem May to early Sept would be do-able. As retirees we always try to avoid the peak summer travel season (july/aug) (for weather, cost and crowd reasons) so may/june, or late aug/early sept would appear to be good.

Using Weatherspark's 'compare' feature, it looks like Vilnius and Riga are pretty similar, weather-wise - https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/91560~92695/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Riga-and-Vilnius

@acraven said

Plenty of people would squeeze the 3 capitals into a 2-week trip; I would not be one of them, especially since one of you favors large cities and the other likes smaller places. To include both kinds of destinations will take some extra time. I'd choose two contiguous countries. You might keep in mind that Tallinn is a short ferry ride from Helsinki, so Estonia can be added to a trip that includes Sweden and/or Finland. There are also ferries from Stockholm to Tallinn, but they take much longer (at least 17-1/2 hours, at a glance), so that's probably a route to be flown.

My partner has been to Tallinn already, so a focus on Latvia and Lithuania would seem to be most appropriate.

Each country also has interesting secondary cities. In Lithuania I enjoyed Kaunas (especially) and Klaipeda.

They sound like good places to pursue further. Any suggestions for Latvia 2ndary cities? What made them special for you?

Yes. Lithuania is a hidden gem.

The first time I traveled in my adult life, I was 24. I took a Yiddish summer class in Vilnius, Lithuania, in August 2007. I didn't make time to see museums or other sights. My great-grandfather with my same last name, was from Ludza in Eastern Latvia before he came to the USA to avoid serving in the Russian army, in 1914. I wasn't bold enough to travel there until recently and my mother yelled that Latvia is not safe because it borders Russia. So far I have a list of enough museums and castles in Latvia and Lithuania to occupy me for a 14-16 night trip. These are both good countries even though few Americans go there. My trip will be sometime approximately next Summer. I haven't made any reservations yet.

Edit: Check dateandtime.com for temperatures and weather in various cities in the last 10 years. There is nothing blatantly wrong with traveling in October. Maybe it will be less crowded than May-September. If you dress for cool weather and look up sunset and sunset times, you probably will be fine. On average the weather in Latvia and Lithuania is about 10 degrees F cooler than Metro Detroit Michigan with a similar average amount of rain and snow. I went to Spain in March 2022 when temperatures were approximately 43-59 F and it seemed to be raining at least 1/3 of the time I was outside.

Looking more into travel options (Krakow to Vilnius), the non-stop flights exist (Wizz Air and Air Baltic) but are few and far between with some flights VERY early in the morning, and only on certain days. 1-stop fights with SAS, LOT, and Lufthansa exist and may be viable (with reasonable departure times), but it occurred to me that one could take a train from Krakow to Warsaw (2.5 hours) and then get a direct flight with LOT to Vilnius - departures at 11:45am, 2:15pm, 4:30pm.

As retirees we always try to avoid the peak summer travel season (july/aug) (for weather, cost and crowd reasons)...

Here is where you need to un-learn some things about travel in Europe in the summer being crowded and expensive.

The only place in the Baltics where we encountered anything like a crowd was in Tallinn. Yes, there were some obvious foreign tourists there, but nothing like the crushing mobs in (name any popular European city). A little bit in Riga, too (some off of cruise ships) but not "crowded" as anyone who has been to major European cities in recent summers would call "crowded." No eye-watering prices, either. We visited Rundale Palace (google it) in July - it's a huge, sprawling and spectacular royal palace on a par with any of the great European palaces. No lines to get in (in fact, I don't think we waited in a line for anything at all on that trip except a ferry or two), the palace had few people in it - like going to Versailles but with all the people magically removed.

I suppose they must get a heat wave once in a blue moon, but except for the few rainy days along the coast, the weather we experienced was ideal, with daytime temps in the upper 70s to low 80s, cooler at night. I don't think it ever got hotter than 85 degrees.

Ssshhhh.... This is the Europe of our collective travel dreams. Uncrowded and inexpensive. You'll see.

What makes secondary cities interesting to me is primarily art museums, 20th-century history museums and cool architecture. Not having unlimited time, I focused on just a few places in each country since I wasn't driving. With a rental car, I could have covered more ground.

Here--in no particular order--are some key sights in Latvia:

Riga
- Old Riga
- Art Nouveau District, including Art Nouveau Museum (Jugendstila Muzejs). Alberta and Elizabetes are the key streets in the district.
- Makslas Muzejs Arsenals (Arsenal Museum of Art): Cutting-edge, high-quality Latvian art mid-20C to present. No permanent collection. This was closed at the time of my trip.
- Makslas Muzejs Rigas Birza (Art Museum Riga Bourse): 16C-20C European painting and 19C Chinese/Japanese painting. Lots of portraits. Also Egyptian, decorative (porcelain and glass) and Indian art.
- Tris Brali (Three Brothers), Maza Pils iela 17-21: Oldest stone residential buildings in city: 15C-17C-19C.
- Latvijas Karamuzejs (Latvian War Museum): Time-consuming history museum located in Powder Tower. Mostly 20th-century (a very interesting period in Latvian history).
- Zana Lipkes Memorials / Lipke House of Courage: Location where Jews were hidden during the Nazi occupation. Good small museum.
- 1991 Gada Barikazu Muzejs (Museum of the Barricades 1991): More 20th-century history.
- Rigas Vestures un Kugniecibas Muzejs (Museum of History and Shipping).
- Dekorativas Makslas un Dizaina Muzejs (Museum of Decorative Arts & Design): Quite a good collection of decorative arts in various media.
- Jana Seta (aka Jana Baznica, St. John’s Church): 13th century.
- Tautas Frontes Muzejs (Popular Front Museum): Recent history.
- Latvijas Nacionalais Makslas Muzejs (Latvian National Art Museum)
- Muzejs Ebreji Latvija (Museum of the Jews in Latvia): Small museum covering the period since the mid-19th century. One room on the Holocaust.
- KGB House: Former KGB prison.
- Latvijas Okupacijas Muzejs (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia): Key museum covering the period of Soviet occupation. Helps understand where Latvia is today.
- Latvijas Nacionalais Vestures Muzejs (National History Museum): Ancient jewelry, wooden religious sculptures, recreations of Art Nouveau and Art Deco rooms, etc.
- Rigas Geto un Latvijas Holokausta Muzejs (Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum): A lot of the exhibition area is outdoors, so this is iffy on a really rainy day.
- Bikernieku Mezs (Bikernieki Forest) Holocaust Memorial: Most moving memorial in Riga area. 40,000 killed here.
- Rumbulas Mezs (Rumbula Forest), 11 km SE of center: Holocaust memorial site where at least 25,000 Jews were killed.
- Salaspils, 15 km SE of center: Holocaust memorial at site of former concentration camp.
- Latvijas Etnografiskais brivdabas muzejs (Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum: 118 buildings with craftspeople working there in summer.

Jurmala: Wooden Art Nouveau architecture. Busier on weekends.

Outside Bauska: Rundale Palace.

Liepaja: Nicely restored town with some 17C-19C wooden houses and lots of Art Nouveau.
- Liepajas Muzejs, aka Vestures un Maklas Muzejs (Liepaja Museum, or Museum of History and Art): Local-history museum in building with original early-20C interior. Also some art and a small sculpture garden.
- Svetas Trisvienibas Baznica (Holy Trinity Church): Finest interior with gilt and carved wood.
- Okupaciju Rezimos (Occupation Museum): Covers Nazi and Soviet periods.
- Karosta: Russian-speaking northern suburb with two key sights--Sv Nikolaja Pareizticigo Katedrale (St Nicholas’s Orthodox Cathedral), with striking exterior, and Karosta (Military) Prison/

That just scratches the surface. Please get at least one guidebook so you don't miss out on something you'd be especially interested in.

I'll post about Lithuania tomorrow.

Is it possible to rent a car in Lithuania and drop it in Estonia (or even Helsinki) (or vice versa) without too much extra expense? Are there ways to get reasonable deals for long term (30-40 day) rentals?

Any good spots in the countryside to visit?

We just were last August to avoid the heat in Germany at the time - it worked perfectly:-)

As noted before, it could be warm - but rarely above 80 and never the brutal feeling of a Rhine valley heat wave with 105 Fahrenheit.

Safety was a non-issue, quite frankly - crime was effectively nonexistent, and since the bear is still occupied tearing another country apart, there was nothing to worry about…

We had a small rental, which was super convenient - only that Lithuania charges for parking everywhere :-)
Busses seem to have been the method of choice otherwise and might have been the smart one for the Curonian Split, but we have no experience tbh.

Matt, I can't envision any two countries who might have an option of mutual pickup/drop-off of rental cars. As mentioned on the forum before, the cars have to be returned to their country of registration to be rented again, thus the expense of returning it to that country will be borne by the renter. This can be up to 500-1000 euros. As for long term car rentals, we have leased a car for a month in France, with a different drop-off within Freance, at a reduced cost. So yes, it can be cheaper to rent for a longer term. I would definitely look into that if you will return it in the same country where you rented it. Also, be sure the rental company will allow you to take it into another country. We haven't ever had a problem with that, but there may be some rules about it. Just another thing to check with the rental company. Lots of advisors here suggest dropping a car before leaving a country and renting a different one in the next country. That may be the simplest solution for you.

Is it possible to rent a car in Lithuania and drop it in Estonia (or
even Helsinki) (or vice versa) without too much extra expense?

You can only answer that question if you ask the car rental places how much it would be and then decide if that's "too much".

Any good spots in the countryside to visit?

IME, every country in the world has "good spots in the countryside to visit". These three countries are no exception. "Good" is very subjective so only you can decide. That said, we were thrilled with what we found when we went exploring.

About the car rental drop-off fee: we rented a car in Vilnius, drove it all over through western Lithuania, from one end of Latvia to the other, along coastal Estonia and out to multiple Estonian islands in the Baltic (really lovely and a highlight of the trip). We returned the car in Tallinn. So yes, it was a one-way from one country to another.

Was there a drop-off fee for doing that? Yes. Was it ruinous? No. IIRC it was between 100-200 Euros, and IMHO acceptable, even a bargain, since it allowed us complete freedom to go wherever we wanted, in the order we wanted to, and we got away from the capital cities out into the hinterlands (the cities are great, but I like hinterlands, too - though the car was of no use in the cities, same as in any big city). We flew into Vilnius, picked up the car when we were ready to move on, drove it all over, parked it for a few days in Riga, then drove on through more of Latvia and all of Estonia. When we arrived in Tallinn, our last stop, we returned the car there. So we had no big city parking or driving hassles, except when we arrived, parked, then departed from Riga a few days later. It was a great way to go (at least for us, YMMV).

So yes, expect a fee to pick up a car in one country and drop off in another, but shop around a bit, see what the actual cost would be, and then decide if that's a deal-breaker for you or acceptable as "the cost of doing business". It might be shockingly expensive, or maybe not. For me, in this case, it was a no-brainer - because it let us do exactly what we wanted at a cost I could easily justify. Maybe it'll be different for you but if you don't look you won't know.

Thanks to those who responded. David's posts about the Baltics sparked my interest in visiting, and his post about car rental is going to mean I will be doing some homework. 200 euros is doable; for 1000 euros I am driving the car back.

Hi Chris. I can’t help you with info about the other Baltic countries but I just wanted to say that we went on the RS Poland tour in June and it was incredible. Absolutely loved it. The weather was great. Not too hot not too cold. No crowds except for lots of school kids on their end of the year field trips :-) Have you booked your tour yet? I noticed the dates are almost all full.

Some worthwhile sights in Lithuania:

Vilnius

• Senamiestis: One of largest old towns in Europe and one of most attractive town centers. Cobblestones, Gothic to classical architecture. Many candy-colored Baroque churches. Didzioji is main street.
• Europos Parkas Open-Air Museum of the Center of Europe (Europe Park), Joneikiskes, 10 km N of city: 136-acre park with 100 sculptures about 19 km NNE of town. Park has forests, hills and lakes.
  
• Universiteto Botanikos Sodas (University Botanical Garden)
• Sv Petro ir Povilo Baznycia (Church of St. Peter and St. Paul): Breathtaking interior with over 2000 white stucco figures.
• Nacionaline Dailes Galerija (National Art Gallery): 20C/21C Lith art; also good temporary exhibitions.
• Okupaciju ir Laisves Kovu Muziejus (Museum of Occupation & Freedom Fights aka KGB Museum, aka Museum of Genocide Victims: Primarily about victimization of Lithuanians under Communism, with some English-subtitled videos.
• Taikomosios Dailes ir Dizaino Muziejus (Applied Arts Museum): History of Lithuania, sacred art and 17C-19C folk art (including wooden crosses).
• Triju Kryziu Kalnas (Hill of Three Crosses): Replica of monument destroyed by Soviets in 1950s. Best view of Old Town.
  
• Nacionalinis Muziejus (National Museum): History and ethnography 13C to present.
• Archeologijos Ekspozicija (Archaeology Exposition): Archaeology from 13C; extremely well presented.
• Didziosios Kunigaikstystes Valdovu Rumai (Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania), Katedros aikste 4: Part of Zemutines pilis (Lower Castle). Destroyed by Tsarist authorities in 1802. Totally reconstructed early 21C and now serving as history museum.
• Sv. Stanislovo ir Sv. Vladislovo Arkikatedra Bazilika (Cathedral-Basilica of St. Stanislaus & St. Ladislaus): Part of Lower Castle. Austere exterior; majestic interior,
• Holokausto Ekspozicija, Green House: Annex of Jewish Mus. Small, mainly photos.
  
• Galerija Vartai, Mokytoju namai (Teachers’ House): Some of best contemporary-art shows in spectacular A. N. building.
• Teatro, Muzikos, Kino Muziejus (Theatre, Music and Film Museum): Theatre memorabilia and superb collection of folk instruments.
• Literatu gatve: Outdoor gallery of 100+ artworks dedicated to writers with Vilnius connection.
• Bernardinu gatve: One of Old Town’s most appealing back streets; narrow with 17C and 18C houses.
• Sv Onos Baznycia (Church of St. Anne): Flamboyant red-brick Gothic masterpiece, 1582; Lithuania’s most outstanding Gothic building.
• Uzupis: Hilly Bohemian neighborhood. Narrow streets with cafes, art galleries and hidden courtyards.
• Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Ctr: Contemp. art exhib; much international avant garde work.
• Pilies gatve: Narrow lanes, hidden ctyds and some of Old Town’s finest architecture nearby.
• Paveikslu Galerija (Vilnius Picture Gallery): Lithuanian Art 16C to beginning of 20C in charming 17C palace. Permanent collection is patchy; temporary exhibitions help make it worthwhile.
• Kazio Varnelio Namai-Muziejus: Extraordinary collection of modern art (including international), sculptures, furniture and ceramics.
• Valstybinis Vilniaus gaono zydu muziejus (Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum): Thin collection but has room of righteous Lithuanians and several rooms on anti-Nazi resistance.
• Choral Synagogue: 1903; beautiful, Moorish style.
• Ausros Vartai (Gate of Dawn): Classical chapel (1829) upstairs from door on left, at gateway in old city walls. Pilgrimage site with silver-covered painting of Virgin Mary.
• Vilniaus Televizijos Bokstas (TV Tower): Free 13th of January (1991) revolution exhibition on ground floor. Outside city.
• Paneriu Memorialinis Muziejus (Paneriai/Ponary Memorial): Small museum with memorial to WWII victims (must pre-book); and multiple Holocaust memorial sites. Well outside city.

Other cities to follow.

@chris, I will just add my vote for one (or two) of the Baltic capitals. I spent 3 weeks in Sept 2024 with a week in each country: 5 nights in each capital and 2 nights in a smaller town picked a bit randomly in between. So while there is plenty to see, if you don’t want to include Tallinn on this trip, Vilnius and Riga can easily fill a week each.

Vilnius has plenty to see and wasn’t at all crowded when I was there - despite a large marathon on one of my days.

@Matt, I am going to second David in Seattle. I picked up a car leaving Vilnius and dropped arriving in Tallinn. The extra fee was about as David remembers. However I just ran a quick check - AutoEurope (which I used) doesn’t even find a result for the different drop off location. Enterprise will, but it adds $300-$400 to the cost. Not ideal. Just out of curiosity, I also checked booking dot com - it finds Alamo (and maybe others) but adds $350 to the price for one way - double the cost. And it’s about an 8 hr drive back to Vilnius from Tallinn. Dropping in Riga still doubled the drop off fee, but the whole rental was half of going on to Tallinn - even keeping the car the same amount of days. So I think you’ll just have to research and think. Bus or train between, then with different rental cars in each country for some countryside stays, might be more economically feasible. Or you just decide the drop off fee is worth it.

I loved the Baltics. Riga was my favorite and I am headed back next month for a few days for their markets and some music.

Just a few of the sights in Lithuania outside Vilnius:

Trakai: Between Vilnius and Kaunas.

• Salos Pilis (Trakai Castle): Well-restored medieval castle in middle of lake. Decorative arts exhibits. Very popular.
  
• Karaim houses (wooden with gable ends and 3 windows facing street) and small Karaim Museum on Karaimu St.

Kaunas: Very recommended second city.

• Senamiestis (Old Town): Medieval with red-brick buildings and colorful churches. Well-preserved buildings back to 14C.
  
• Vilijampole: Former Jewish district across Neris River from Senamiestis with attractive timber houses.
• Devintas Fortas (IX Fortas, Ninth Fort): Tsarist fort, later Nazi prison/extermination center and Soviet political prison. Large Holocaust memorial nearby. Significant museum-like displays. Takes time to see.
• Rotuses aikste (Town Hall Square): White Old Town Hall, pastel Church of Holy Trinity (mass Sun 1000) and pastel 15C/16C merchants’ houses.
• Meno Parkas Galerija: High-profile contemporary art exhibitions. Tue-Fri 1100-1830, Sat-Sun 1100-1600; closed Aug 15.
• Katedros Basilika (Saints Peter and Paul): 15C with red-brick Gothic/Renaissance exterior (reconstructed often), breathtaking Late Baroque interior (largely unchanged since 1800).
• A Zmuidzinavicius Kuriniu ir Rinkiniu Muziejus (Velnius Muziejus--Devil’s Museum): Fine depictions of devils, witches, etc., and wooden folk sculpture.
  
• Choraline Sinagoga Ohel Jakov: Beautifully restored synagogue with carved altar. Memorial to lost children behind synagogue. Must call to arrange visit (+370) 61 40 31 00 or (+370) 37 20 68 80 (info from 2019).
• Vytautas Didziojo Karo Muziejus (WWII museum): Focuses on weaponry and aviation; has exhibition on resistance 1941-1956.
• M K Ciurlionio Dailes Muziejus: Largest art collection in country but has room to display only a small fraction.
  
• Mykolo Zilinsko Dailes Galerija: 16C-20C paintings and porcelain, including early Soviet avant-garde art and pre-war Baltic paintings and sculptures, propaganda porcelain and Art Deco plates.
• Sugihara House, Vaizganto 30: Former residence of Japanese diplomat who saved many Jews during Nazi occupation. Informative displays.
• Pazaislio Vienuolynas (Monastery): 7 km E of town. One of Eastern Europe’s great Baroque monuments, 17C with finely detailed stucco work and frescoes.
  
• VDU Botanikos Sodas: 62.5 hectare garden and greenhouse; spectacular at height of summer. Just S of city center.
• Zapyskis Church: One of country’s loveliest buildings. Very well preserved 16C red-brick Gothic.
  
• Liaudies Buities Muziejus Rumsiskese (Open Air Folk Museum): Large open-air museum with rural buildings (wooden houses). Much walking required. 15 km E of Kaunas.
  

Druskininkai: Popular Soviet-era spa/resort town with wacky Soviet architecture mixed with old wooden cottages.

• Gruto Parkas: About 90 Soviet-era statues and busts on forest trail with English info on each; allow at least an hour to walk around. Propaganda films shown in projection hall that also displays posters. 6 mi. from town.

Klaipeda: Charming city with tiny lanes, half-timbered buildings and many cafes and museums in Old Town.

• Botanikos Sodas: Botanical garden.
• Pranas Domsaitis Gallery and Sculpture Park: 20C Lithuanian art and permanent exhibition of works by Domsaitis. Sculpture park with 116 sculptures.
• Laikrodziu Muziejus (Watch/Clock Museum): Excellent museum in impressive building.
• Museum 39/45: WWII in Klaipeda.
• Mazosios Kalvystes Muziejus (Blacksmiths’ Museum): Many crosses, plus fences and cemetery gates.

Curonian Spit: Villas and beaches. Ferry from Klaipeda, then bus.

• Aquarium
• Hill of Witches

@saf:

Hi Chris. I can’t help you with info about the other Baltic countries but I just wanted to say that we went on the RS Poland tour in June and it was incredible. Absolutely loved it. The weather was great. Not too hot not too cold. No crowds except for lots of school kids on their end of the year field trips :-) Have you booked your tour yet? I noticed the dates are almost all full.

We've only done 2 RS tours so far, both earlier this year (Switzerland, then Germany/Austria/Switzerland), and both booked from the wait-list. So we are 'somewhat optimistic' that we can get a tour through the wait-list - but we need to decide on a time-period first. It's looking like May/June or Aug/Sept will work for both Poland and the Baltics, so I'll be going on the wait-lists shortly! As an aside, have you had success with the wait-list? I don't know if we just got lucky or not. Booking far in advance is not our style (but we should get better at it!).

@acraven:

Thanks for the great, detailed suggestions! I've copied everything into my master planning document for further review. Thanks again!

No, I’ve never booked off the waitlist. I’m one of the early planning types. I would be too nervous hoping to get off a waitlist haha. But it’s also because I still work part time so I need to be mindful of when I’m taking off work and also because I want to keep an eye on airfares. I see there are still some May and June dates open for the Poland tour. Not sure if they are your ideal dates though.

Matt, Judy, David: Our rental last August was about 350,- total for ten days from Vilnius to Tallinn - so I doubt the fee was significant. As a matter of fact, we received an Estonian car in Lithuania and thus I assume it was us wo did the return trip to its home base - I assume because it is so popular to do all the baltics and the countries are so small and used to cooperate, it is so cheap and easy.

Matt, Judy, David: Our rental last August was about 350,- total for ten days from Vilnius to Tallinn - so I doubt the fee was significant. As a matter of fact, we received an Estonian car in Lithuania and thus I assume it was us wo did the return trip to its home base - I assume because it is so popular to do all the baltics and the countries are so small and used to cooperate, it is so cheap and easy.

That makes sense to me! Logically, if there are roughly the same number of people heading in both directions, then they don't need to worry about 're-patriating' cars - it will take care of itself, statistically, through normal business. Given the three countries are part of the EU, I imagine common insurance requirements, etc. The idea that an 'Estonian' car dropped off in Vilnius would have to be driven back to Tallinn by a car-rental employee makes no sense to me. If I drop off an 'Estonian' registered car in Vilnius, why can't the rental company in Vilnius just rent that car in Vilnius until some customer comes along who wants to go to Estonia. Of course, this assumes the rental company has offices (and a fleet of vehicles) in both locations, and both locations have similar car and insurance costs (which I assume the EU helps to normalize). Slapping a big fee on a transaction sounds like more opportunity pricing than anything else!