Vilnius

From the CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.

Vilnius is the capital city of Lithuania. The city inhabits about 550.000 people of which around 500 currently are Couchsurfers. Vilnius has a rich cultural life and a very active Couchsurfing-community.

1 Tips
2 Meetings
- 2.1 Meeting Organisers
- 2.2 Coffee or a drink
3 Media Mentions

Tips

Some useful tips about Vilnius for Couchsurfers:

Arrival

From the airport Vilnius international airport is quite close to the centre (approx. 7 km). You can get to the centre by

- bus buses No 1 (to the bus station, close to the center) and No 2 (center) go from/to the airport;

- taxi - advice: avoid taxis standing outside the airport, they will charge you much more than usually would, better call one.

Bus station and Railway station they are close to each other. From there you can get anywhere by bus or trolleybus.

Transportation within Vilnius

Walking - if you stay in the Old town, walking is the best way to get to know this city, most sights are in the walking distance.

Buses and trolleybuses If you dont like walking or staying far from the centre, you can use buses and trolleybuses. Here is the Vilnius public transport map: [1]. You can buy a ticket from the driver or Spauda kiosk (costs 1,4 Lt). Buses and trolleybuses usually start operating around 4-5 in the morning and stops at around 11-12 p.m. There are limited number of night buses, but only on weekends- here is night buses map: [2]. For the traffic schedules and route planning : [3]

Taxi It is cheaper to call a taxi than to catch one on the street. It costs around 2 Lt per km. Some phone numbers: [4]

Currency exchange

You can only exchange money in the banks in Lithuania. Fee is very small though (1-2 Lt and no commissions).

Banks are usually open till 5 or 6 p.m. during the working days and till afternoon on Saturdays, closed on Sundays. There is Parex bank right next to the train station which is open 24 hours. Also banks work till 10 p.m. all days in the shopping centres like Akropolis and Europa.

Lithuanian SIM cards

If you you can use your phone with other SIM cards, it would be cheaper to buy local sim card and not to pay roaming charges. The most popular ones are Tele2 Pildyk, Labas, Ezys, Extra. The SIM card costs from 5 to 10 lt (1,5-2,5 euros) and you can top it up. You can buy SIM cards from Spauda kiosks or from mobile companies' shops.

Baggage lockers

There are baggage lockers in the bus station.

Tourist information centres

If your host cannot show you around, you can find useful information in Tourism information centres in the Old Town and center: one is in the Townhall (on Didzioji street) and another on Vilniaus street. They will provide you with free city guides containing basic info about the city and maps. I suggest you taking a look at "Vilnius in your pocket" guide: they have essential information on accomodation, sights and up to date reviews on bars and restaurants.

Events and entertainment

Ask you host about events and parties in Vilnius! Otherwise here are some useful websites:

http://www.eb.lt/en.php3 For most events going on in Lithuania, english page is not very good though;

http://www.vilnius-tourism.lt/index.php?lang=EN Tourism office website

http://www.djscene.lt/event For clubbing scene in Vilnius

http://www.ore.lt/event.php?action=index&kur=Vilnius Another website for events in the clubs

http://www.culturelive.lt/en/main/ As Vilnius is preparing to be European capital of culture in 2009, there are many free events organised throughout the year.

Tips from CS'ers about bars and clubs in Vilnius:

Tips by Martynas Savickis for good drinks, try the following:

Snekutis, two places - one in sv. stepono str, another in uzupis district (behind the river) - drinking traditional beer the lithuanian country way
Rudolfas II, gedimino str, good selection of czech beers
Avilys, gedimino street - expensive microbrewery-restaurant serving austrian style beers
Busi trecias, totoriu str 18 - microbrewery brewing and serving affordable czech style beers and hearty food
Transilvanija - student and ex-pat place serving irish and czech beers
Dubliners - you know it from the name
Bobo, traku str - dark, sort of trendy hangout in the city center
Blusyne - saviciaus 5, a nice bar in the heart of old town, cosier cousin of bobo
In vino - good place for a few drinks late in the night on working days when everybody's gone to sleep (by midnight). good food
Cosy club/bar - same as the latter.

Tips by Akviliute: Some more bars and clubs not mentioned before:

Chaplin bar (on Totoriu/Labdariu street) - nice and cozy place, drinks and food are cheap. We had quite many CS meetings held there.

Woo (on Vilniaus street): more if you like cocktails, on weekdays they have happy hour from 5 to 8 p.m. and you get 2 cocktails for a price of one (so good cocktail costs you from 1.5 to 2 euros). Its more like a club on weekends, playing mostly electronic music. Its one of my favorite places in Vilnius.

Briusly (Sv. Ignoto street) - nice and cozy place, cheap and good cocktails, tiny place so gets very crowded on weekends. Also offers quite cheap asian food.

Brodvejus pub (Mesiniu street) and Prospekto pub (on Gedimino pr.) - places crowded 7 days a week. Mostly students and foreigners. Music is mostly pop and hip hop, in Brodvejus its like pop music 10 years ago:))) They ask for cover charge as well.

Tamsta (Strazdelio street) - good for live music concerts.

Artistai pub (on Kazimiero street) - laid back, relaxed pub, popular among students.

Havana Social Club (Sermuksniu st) - new place but getting very popular. They have live music concerts,jazz on thursday and entrance usually free till 11 p.m. and after that not very expensive. Their Cuba Libre are the best:) Really recommend!

Mojito nights (Arkliu street) - cocktail bar famous for their Mojitos (the best in town). Quite expensive and posh:) Djs on weekend and never charging for entrance.

Pabo latino (on Traku street)- if you like salsa dancing. Cover charge is at least 30lt, strict face control, mostly older people go there, good but expensive cocktails).

Pacha club (Gyneju street) - name already speaks for itself, one of best clubs in Vilnius. Posh and expensive but worth it! Best Djs usually play in this club.

Gravity club is also good for electronic music gigs.

Also you can check inyourpocket guide here: http://www.inyourpocket.com/lithuania/vilnius/Pubs,_Bars__and__Clubs/chapter/177-Pubs,_Bars__and__Clubs.html

Free Vilnius

The Museum of Genocide Victims is for a free. Only a tour costs a small fee. They have teh former KGB-prison in the basement and a large exhibition on the 1st floor. Take a look, it is a Vilnius-must! Other museums in Vilnius are not expensive either.
Gedimino-castle on top of one of the hills costs an entrance fee. But if you don't enter it and just take a walk around you get almost the same astonishing view for free!
Take a walk through the narrow streets of Old Town and Uzupis. It costs nothing and will give you a good impression of what Vilnius looked like in the last centuries!
Hitch-hiking Club: There is a hitch-hiking club in Vilnius. Its members can help you for tips on where to depart and where are good spot and what are best hitch-hiking-routes to nearby countries.
Free Wifi internet spots are available at many cafes in the whole city. Please ask the staff or watch for a Wifi-sign at the door.

An impression of Vilnius

Couchsurfers' favourite places

There are many good places in town but here is a list of tips that locals advice you to check out:

Sightseeing tours by CSers

We organise guided tours every once in a while. But you can also simply ask your host to give you one or ask who you could contact for that. Famous tours are organised by Kinderis, Akvile and Peter.

Meetings

There is a regular meeting in Vilnius every second Friday of each month. Find more information in the Lithuania and Vilnius groups.

There are also many irregular meetings and sometimes they are not posted on Events page, only in the forums.

Everyone is welcome to organise a meeting!

Some photos from CS Lithuania meetings: http://picasaweb.google.com/cslithuania

Meeting Organisers

Most active meeting organisers are at present:

Coffee or a drink

There are a number of members in the city that can not host but are eager to meet people for coffee or drinks. But of course we encourage any visitors to ask new people to show them around and get them more active this way.