Features

Lithuania - Vilnius at Festive Time

by Mike Levy

The rather lovely thing about Vilnius at Christmas is that it’s like being invited to a family party. There is no showy glitz for the tourists or loud extravaganzas put on for the benefit of drunken Brits. In fact drunken Brits are few and far between in this exceptionally pretty little city. When you come to the capital of Lithuania at the festive season, you will be expected to do what the locals do: enjoy the Christmas tree lights in the Cathedral Square, have a warming drink in one of the many family restaurants here (no chains) and enjoy a veritable cultural feast. Christmas is when Vilnius goes musical. From the 21 December to the 7th January there is a glut of classical concerts, choirs, ballet and folk music. You can find out what going on where at http://www.vilnius-events.lt/en.
If music going gets tiring you can always relax on the huge sofa that dominates the Town Hall Square over the holidays. The sofa is 22 metres long and has a coffee museum inside. There is a rather lovely low-key atmosphere in this deeply religious country. But if you want to let your hair down, at say New Years Eve, look into any of the following bars and clubs many of which have special festive celebrations.
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www.pabolatino.lt
www.woo.lt
www.sky-bar.lt
www.mojitonaktys.lt
www.cozy.lt

If clubbing or concerts are not your thing, then why not take a Festive Tour on foot? The tourist office will be organising a series of special walking tours round the beautiful and largely unknown city. More details are online www.vilnius-tourism.lt. You can also find info on the Vilnius City Card which lets you travel on any public transport service and gives you generous discounts in museums, cafes and restaurants.

Vilnius is a picture-postcard city that shuns big gestures and is all the more charming for that. It is an intimate and a nicely old fashioned place where Christmas still means Christmas and New Year is a time for family parties..the nice thing is that you are invited.

How to get there? Aer Lingus runs a daily service from Gatwick to Vilnius direct and it is easy to take a long weekend or a midweek Christmas break to a place that not many of your friends will have visited. The flight is a short two-hourish hop and the airport in Vilnius is very close to the city centre. A taxi costs around £12 and there’s a regular bus service for under a quid.

http://www.aerlingus.com