Lonely Planet guide to Lithuania

Lithuania owes much to the rich cultural currents of central Europe: it once shared an empire with neighbouring Poland that stretched from the Baltic Sea almost to the Black Sea.

Its capital Vilnius boasts a Baroque Old Town that is the largest in Eastern Europe and praised as the ‘New Prague’.

When To Go:

Summer and spring (May through September) are far and away the best times of year to travel in Lithuania.

In spring, the weather is warm, the days are long, flowery cottage gardens blossom and the cultural calendar oozes fun. April and May, when the land and its people open up after winter, convey a real magic.

June is midsummer-madness month and equally evoke the Baltic peoples’ close ties to nature and their pagan past.

During the high season (July and August) low-budget hotels and hostels can be fully booked. While these are the warmest and busiest months, and a time when many Balts go on holiday too, they can also be the wettest and subject to the odd thunderstorm.

There’s usually a picturesque sprinkling of snow on the ground in winter (November through March), but there’s also only a few hours of daylight each day and, when the snow thaws, it brings with it far too much slush for enjoyment.

April and October have cold, sharp, wintry days as well as mild springlike or autumnal ones.

Lithuania – Fast facts

Full Name: Republic of Lithuania
Capital City: Vilnius
Area: 65,200 sq km / 25,174 sq miles
Population: 3,425,324
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2 ()
Languages: Lithuanian (official) One of only two surviving languages of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. The other is Latvian. Russian (other)
Religion: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical Christian Baptist, Islam, Judaism
Currency: Lithuanian Litas (Lt)
Electricity: 220V 50HzHz
Electric Plug Details: European plug with two circular metal pins
Country Dialing Code: 370