The Short Guide to Kaunas, Lithuania

I love fact that one minute I’m sitting at home saying, where the hell is Kaunas? And the next I’m sitting in the hotel bar in Kaunas, writing the Short Guide to Kaunas.

Once Lithuania’s capital, now its second city, Kaunas is a city full of history.

The history of the place is reflected in its architecture, where Gothic, Art Deco and Modernist buildings line the streets and avenues.

My husband, Derek, and I visited Kaunas on a whim for two days and three nights. Before booking the flights, I hadn’t even heard of Kaunas, but it turned out to be rather a hidden gem. We went in February when the town was covered in a thick layer of powdery snow, which, along with the festoon lights strung up in the trees, added to the romanticism and cosiness of the place.

Here is how we spent our two days…

I purchased a walking audio tour on an app called VoiceMaps (details below). This app was new to me, but I am pleased to say it was exceptionally good. The tour is approximately an hour and a half, and guided us around some of the major sites. This included some of the following…

Liberty Avenue - the main shopping thoroughfare through Kaunas. This broad, tree-lined avenue is strewn with bars, cafes and restaurants. It is pedestrianised, which means you can stroll along the full length of it at your leisure. At the end of the Avenue sits the picturesque St Michael the Archangel Church, and at night the trees are all lit up like it’s Christmas. As we went in February, when England is usually plunged into a damp darkness, we found this rather lovely.

The Old Town - at the end of Liberty Avenue, the road veers left into Kaunas Old Town. This wide cobbled street was also lined with fir trees donned with twinkling lights, and the architecture regresses back in time to old Lithuania. As you would expect, there are restaurants and cafes, but very few souvenir shops. I found one of the few and duly bought my traditional fridge magnet (which is the law for all weekend travellers).

Just before the underpass down to the main square, we stopped at the Cathedral Basilica of St Peter & St Paul. This red-brick building looks surprisingly modern from the outside, but once inside, it is quite spectacular. It is free to enter and well worth stopping off for five minutes if you have the time.

The main street of the old town leads to the town square, surrounded by more impressive, colourful buildings, including the peachy-pink Church of Francis Xavier and the Town Hall. I imagine that in the warmer months, this area is strewn with tables and chairs from the local restaurants. We took a chance on an underground cellar bar for an afternoon beverage, which turned out to be a rather nice Mexican restaurant.

There is also a public WC on the square (which is the only one I saw on our trip), and it costs 50 cents to pee.

Just a little further on from the square (we did a little detour down to the river, which was quite spectacularly frozen), is the Castle of Kaunas. If I’m honest, it’s really just a turret but, it’s still worth a visit. We didn’t pay to go in, so there may be more of it to see on the inside. While we were there, people were sledging down the hill, but in summer, open-air concerts are held there, which I imagine are rather atmospheric.

The #KAUNAS illuminated sign is right in front of the castle, so if you want your classic Instagram pic, here is the place to take it.

Street Art - All around Kaunas are interesting pieces of street art. Whether they are meaningful statues or colourfully painted murals. Make sure you check out the Kiem Galeriji (we were directed to as part of our audio tour), which is a courtyard full of brightly coloured and meaningful murals. People do live here though, so remember to keep the noise down.

There are also many interesting statues dotted along the avenues, including prominent people and playful depictions of Lithuanian history and everyday life.

Museums

While on our stay, we visited three museums.

Lithuanian Museum of Science and Medicine - €2. This was a bit of a happy mistake. We thought it was the History of Lithuania Museum. Nevertheless, it was a rather interesting museum about the history of Lithuanian medicine and dentistry. The building itself is quirky and sits on several levels, including the cellar. We thought it was well worth the mere €2 entrance fee.

Devil Museum - This is one we had seen on a YouTube video and quite fancied. It was 8€ pp, so a little bit pricier, however, we did enjoy it. It was based on a collection of devil sculptures collected by Antanas Žmuidzinavi?ius, a renowned Lithuanian landscape artist. There are three floors of devil exhibits, and then, as an extra, there is an exhibition of AA’s art and some rooms of his house. I must say, we thought it was great, but I guess it won’t be for everyone.

Lithuanian War Museum - What can I say, it is a history of Lithuania's wars and battles. I admit the hubster was probably more interested in this than I was, but I did actually find it interesting. The building itself is impressive, and at only €5 entry, it’s a good way to kill an hour. Plus, it sits right in front of the Devil museum, so you can kill two birds with one stone.

Other Kaunas stuff..

“Funicular” - Once at the corner of the main square in the Old Town, take the road on the left until you reach an old red brick Catholic Church - the Church of the Assumption, which is the oldest church in Kaunas. Just behind this church, you’ll find the river and a bridge over it. Cross this bridge, and at the other side you’ll find the Kaunas Funicular railway. This is a very short (but fun!) trip up the hill to a viewing area. It only costs only €1 each, so is a cheap thing to do. At the top is a viewpoint to the town of Kaunas, which I think is well worth a euro. There is not much else up there, so don’t expect a coffee shop or a hot chocolate van. The funicular closes for lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 so avoid this time, or take the steps down, like we did.

As we didn't venture out of the town, we didn't make it to the Ninth Fort or the Pažaislis Monastery. If we ever return to Kaunas, these will be at the top of my list. I'd like to come back in the summer months and experience Kaunas when it's not covered with snow!

Places we ate -

Bajory Kiemos - On Liberty Avenue - Traditional Lithuanian food. We had traditional fried bread and cheese to start, followed by various potato dishes. Staff were friendly, the location was central, and the food was lovely (if a little rich for me). It wasn’t very busy like most places, but I would highly recommend it. The brown sign isn’t that clear, but it’s on the right as you walk away from the church.

Vero - Italian place along Liberty Avenue. We must have arrived at the right time, as when we left, there was a queue to the door. Food choice was everything from Italian to burgers, through to salads. I had a salad with grilled prawns, which was delish.

We did stop at a couple of cafes in the old town, but didn't make a note of their names. We found that often the windows were dark, making it difficult to see in, and very few had menus outside, so picking a place was a bit of a gamble. But I guess that's part of the fun!

In conclusion...

We loved Kaunas. If we had had any prior expectations, Kaunas would have exceeded them. It is a quiet town (it was pretty much deserted while we were there in February), where the people were friendly, and the prices were cheap. But there is plenty to do if you look for it. I wouldn’t say it is for thrill seekers who crave adventure or pumping nightlife, but if you like to explore old towns with interesting architecture, without the pressure of having to ‘fit everything in’, then I think you’ll like Kaunas. The snowy streets added an extra level of interest and fun for us, so don’t be put off going in the winter months. It’s well worth seeing.

To see more pictures of our time in Kaunas, head over to my Instagram page.

Practical Stuff

Getting from the airport.

According to my research, there is a bus in to Kaunas from the airport which costs about a euro (do your own research on this). Had we arrived in daylight, we would have taken this option, however, as we arrived at 9:00 at night, we opted for an airport transfer from our hotel, which cost €30. This seemed to be the going rate for a taxi from the airport into town.

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel, Kaunas. This is a 4 Star hotel, which was relatively cheap due to it being in Lithuania, so we thought we would treat ourselves. This hotel is approximately 5 minutes from the main Liberty Avenue and about 30 minutes from the Old Town. We found it to be a lovely hotel in a convenient location. There is also a Casino attached to the hotel if you fancy a flutter. We don’t, so we didn’t.

I am currently sitting in the hotel bar with a Lithuanian beer, writing this post - otherwise known as ‘my happy place.’ The snow is still falling outside the window, covering the street in a new blanket of white, and I am warm and toasty inside the hotel bar, strewn with twinkly lights, sitting typing at my iPad with nice dry socks on, bliss.

The Radisson Hotel was booked through booking.com

The flights were RyanAir and at the time we booked were £44 each. Flight time is 2 hours 45 minutes-ish.

The VoiceMap app tour was also booked through booking.com and cost €9 pp, and was well worth it. Note that you need your own headphones. The tour we chose was ‘Best of Kaunas: Modernism, Street Art & Medieval History.

We didn’t use the public transport system as everything we wanted to see was walkable. Although there are frequent buses around Kaunas and out of town, if you have time.

I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned in this post. All information was correct to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting.

If you love reading about faraway places, you might like my 'A Place in Greece' book series, available on Amazon.