Should you visit VILNIUS, LITHUANIA? Old Town & Lithuanian Food
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- čas přidán 11. 12. 2023
- Hi everyone! This is episode two of my Baltics plus Finland series in which I travel to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. In this video, I am in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
We start our tour at the Gate of Dawn and walk through the Old Town of Vilnius which dates back to the 14th century. There is a plethora of churches in this area, and we explore the exterior of several of these magnificent buildings. I note that the history and description of these buildings are clearly signposted. We also walk past several restaurants, hotels and other shops in the area.
At the Town Hall and Town Hall Square, I talk about my own accommodation experience in Vilnius and compare the price I paid to that of backpackers I found online. I might have incidentally created a useful rule of thumb for backpackers regarding whether to choose a single room or a dormitory bed!
The next stop is food. I visit Lokys Restaurant, the oldest restaurant in the Old Town and drink some local Lithuanian drink, whilst feasting on some unusual but very traditional Lithuanian food. I also explore the rest of the restaurant.
With my stomach filled, I explore more of the Old Town's churches and even stumble upon a palace and some street markets. I also try my first ever Narvesen coffee and give it a rating out of ten.
It is impossible to do justice to all the churches in the Old Town - there are just so many. However, I decide to cherry-pick a few more before the vlog ends, and where I talk more about my experiences in Vilnius and whether or not you should visit this city.
I hope you find this vlog useful and informative! If you haven't done it yet, I would really appreciate it if you could give this video a LIKE and please SUBSCRIBE to the channel. It is completely free to do so and it really helps me out!
Happy exploring!
Willie
It was so good to see all the old places in Vilnius again! We were there in summertime,so had a lot of cold foods ,that we could eat while walking in the old Town! Also ,when your feet needed resting,you would settle down in a church!!
And in all the squares there were always shows! Mostly folk dances and music,which was a bonus for me,as a music teacher....!🎵🎶🎵🎶🎺🎻🥁💃💃💃💃🕺❤
Hi Emmerentia, I can tell from your responses on this video and the previous one that Lithuania and Vilnius hold special memories for you. Glad I can show you a bit of the winter magic in Vilnius. Groete!
Hey Willie Vilnius does feel like a museum , one can definitely see the layers upon layers of history, during summer I'm sure the city will have a totally different vibe affordability wise grocery price's seem pretty affordable judging from the price of 10 euro's that you've paid in the last video
Believe me here in Montreal , Canada you would have payed at least 25$ to 30$ CAD for all that food
Vilnius definitely worth visiting it's such a unique city
Keep up the good work man 🔥🔥👊👍
Cheers my friend, always a pleasure! Yeah it is definitely not an expensive place overall, but there are pockets (no pun intended) that might surprise the odd tourist if they don't do proper research. I felt I needed to say it as many regard Vilnius as the cheapest place in Europe, which is a big statement to make in my view. I guess having just visited Madeira where I paid 1 euro for a cappuccino might have influenced my verdict too. But yes, I can imagine that in Canada that meal would have been a lot of money! Thanks for all your support!
Very beautiful old town, the buildings are superb 👍👍
The architecture is special my friend. Cheers for watching!
Great report, thanks a lot. I am amazed for the level of historical facts you're providing durinf your videos! Really usefull as well as extra mile for your followers and proper respect for the country you're visiting❤
What a wonderful comment to receive, thank you very much! Glad you enjoy my videos and find them informative. I certainly loved my time in Vilnius!
You have excellent reports from all the places you visit. Your privity is also impressive, as is your ability to understand local specifics. Thank you very much!
What a wonderful compliment to receive! Aciu :) Glad you enjoy my content and all the best for 2024!
@@willieexplore
Thank you very much! I wish you a happy and successful New Year 2024!
I often have my dinner whilst watching your travels, today was Curry night...Looking forward for more of your wintery escapades in the baltics!
Very nice to hear from you my friend! Glad you enjoy my videos, and yes, there will be more coming soon! All the best
Very beautiful, Lithuania.❤
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Very interesting again Willie. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Vilnius City all its beautiful architecture and churches. Thank you for the tour of the old city. . .Kiwi from Virginia
Always a pleasure to have you travelling with me virtually, Swanoaks! I'm sure I missed a few good spots but felt I did ok for the limited time I had. Hope all is well!
Absolutely yes! Its a beautiful city!
Certainly lots to take in! Thanks for watching and supporting my channel :)
Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for your support!
Great video as always, Willie Explore! Keep it up!
Cheers my man, really nice to hear!
So much to see and do in Vilnius, Willie. I am guessing you would need several days to really see it all. Loved the pastel colours and all the architecture of the churches. Good on you trying the local food too, maybe not for me that particular dish (sorry, "fish"😂) but it looked well presented.
Certainly loads to take in, Sheila! And I'm not just referring to the "fish", haha! Those buildings really look great, especially as a collective. It really feels like walking in an open air museum, but I'm sure I missed a few hidden gems too. Hope all is well!
lovely!
Cheers!
Another first class video from Willie and plenty of more information about this place especially how on living there as well the weather freezing cold plus keeping warm but i notice electric heating is cheaper than other countries compared to this and other interesting features in baltic looking for viewing more and future videos useful hints and tips
Thanks as always for watching and commenting my friend, much appreciated!
Man, I’ve just returned back home to the Uk from South Africa, I couldn’t get hold of you on insta and TikTok! You’re still out travelling, that explains it! Great video as always Willie! Struggling with the cold weather here, after 36 degrees in SA, must be much worse for you!
Hi there! Sorry for not being active on those platforms you mentioned and seeing your messages. Yes, still travelling. Hope you had a wonderful time!
Been absolutely Fantastic Willie! I understand, hard to keep up with more than one platform while travelling, I posted my South African experience on Instagram, will do the other sites later! Nice to hear from you , Enjoy 🍺🍺
So funny, you said you have not seen many murals as you were standing next to entry into a very famous neighborhood called Užupis (translates to “passed river” or “beyond River”) that is famous for street art and murals …
Very funny! Now I know for next time, thanks :)
Going in three weeks Cant wait
I'm sure you'll have a great time! Thanks for watching
@@willieexplore thanks
Willie ek like Vilnius! Goeie program. Groete!
Dankie Tosca! Dis verseker 'n baie stimulerende plek vanuit 'n geskiedkundige- en argitektuur-perspektief. Mooi loop!
speaking of sculptures in Vilnius - we have a sculpture for our only breed of hunting dogs - the Lithuanian hound and even a cat from the Republic of Užupis. We have many Ukrainian flags - we were at war with the Muscovites for 500 years, so we understand their situation well, besides, almost the entire territory of the present-day Ukraine was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (which consisted of the present-day Lithuania, Belarus or Gudia, almost the entire territory of Poland and Ukraine).
That is very interesting! Thanks for providing this insight. I really enjoyed reading up about the history of Lithuania for my trip. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was vast!
Lokis is one of the more expensive restaurants in Vilnius. There are plenty of reasonably priced restaurants with good food and prices. Next time try capellini, the national dish of Lithuania. They’re great on a cold winter day and wash them down with an alus.
Cheers Jim! Yes I did consider many food options but the 'fish' I had just needed to be tested. I'm sure other places will be good value for money. Maybe I was just used to paying 1 euro for a coffee in Madeira recently, so it was more the coffee prices which caught me off guard a little! Thanks for watching and supporting my channel
-5 is warm. -25 is considered cold here.
Yes my friend, but where I am from we get +40 in summer. So a bit of a weather change, you can say...
@@willieexplore If you come back after 6 months, the temperature should be about the same as in your country during winter.
@@zzelionka haha! Well, I have been there in summer and I know it is very nice. Despite the "cold", I had a wonderful time in Vilnius :)
I wouldn't say -5 is warm but it's rather a mild winter we are having here this year. The main issue with Lithuanian climate is to "survive" the lack of sun during this season.. it tears you down to go to the work when its dark and to return back home while it's still dark p.s. it's a really light coverage of snow you're seeing there :D trust me, it can go x10 times in a couple of hours
@@Tar1ff I believe you when you say it can get very cold!
The entrance to the Gate of Dawn is the side door at St Theresa's church.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Kavas is in Russian. In Lithuanian its Gira. Its a drink made from bread.
Cheers! Interesting then that the Lithuanian restaurant still lists Kvass on their menu.
@@willieexploreits due to all opression and russafication we went through in tzar times, hence in the will to preserve as close and authentic when they founded they kept kvass as a title.
You missed helluva lot of nice places, the park behind those last 2 churces, the presidential court, the cathedral, the oldest castle (Gediminas castle) and lots more, but I guess you leave it as a surprise for other tourists.
To answer your question, last year 1.2 million tourists visited vilnius.
The Very fat meal averages on about 14 euros in old town (if you dont order something exotic hehe)
And if you are in Vilnius, you must travel to Trakai too! (30 km from Vilnius), thats one of the oldest and gorgeous looking castles. Plus there is "100 tatars" story, where duke Vytautas invited all foreign countries to come and live and work and 100 tatars from mongolian empire came and established the living. Still lots of thei heirs alive and well there.
@@truethera thanks for engaging! If you watch my first video on Vilnius (this was the second video) you will see that I saw some more places. Lots more to see in Lithuania, I'm sure!
So man! I’m so glad to enjoy our biggiest towns.. But the soul of Lithuania is in small ones.. Food and culture is not there at all… Like the London and Yorkshire.. You could be stunned.. of quality of food in our counties.. I mean real cooking.. healthy as Mother Nature provides.. no crap of any kind.. a lot of fat.. but it’s your problem to get rid of it.. We love Britain, because so many Lithuanians found a second Mother Land, and respect your country like our own.. God bless us!🇱🇹🏴🇺🇸👋❤️
Thanks for watching my friend! I completely get your point about food outside of the capital or bigger cities. I hope to explore more of Lithuania at some point!
So claustrophobic spaces in the brick basement.
Just a bit ;) Thanks for watching!
I live down the end of that street and wife is Radvilaitė
Thanks Harry! Appreciate you checking out my videos!
❤Aciu
esate laukiami :)
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Aciu! :)
Lithuanian "kvas" (that's in Russian) is actually "girà".
Yeah, strange that they list is as Kvass on the Lithuanian menu!
I'm LITHUANIAN. And I never had beaver meat. I'm half way through the video, but so far it looks like you choosing most expensive/most comfortable options and not really exploring real LITHUANIAN culture or food.
I'd say eating at the oldest restaurant in the Old Town is pretty Lithuanian. And I had a Narvesen coffee, didn't I? Cheers for watching :)
I think kvass is more of russian origin than Lithuanian
Yes a few have pointed it out, wonder why the menu lists the Russian wording. Cheers for watching!
Запоминайте, а то благодоря властям Литвы, этой красоты скоро не станет.......
Not sure what you're saying there my friend, but thanks for watching!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for watching, glad you love the video :)