Vilnius comes alive each Christmas as Lithuanians flock to the capital’s Christmas tree (Picture: AP)
If you’re looking for a magical festive break – then forget Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, which have all taken the top three slots in the UK for this year’s best Christmas markets.
Instead, you need to look a little further afield to Lithuania – to its capital city of Vilnius, to be specific.
While it may be over 2,000km away, it’s less than three hours from London by plane, with flight prices starting at an incredibly reasonable £42 -far more budget friendly than many train tickets within the UK.
I travelled to Lithuania earlier this month to mark the beginning of its winter celebrations, and with -7C predicted, a new coat and thermals were nervously bought for the occasion.
But as we made the 15 minute drive from Vilnius Airport to Hotel Vilniai (€80 a night) it quickly became clear that Lithuania just does cold right. While snow blanketed the hills and banks, the main roads and pavements were gritted constantly.
Santa Claus plays his trumpet near National Christmas tree at Cathedral Square (Picture: AP)
A view fit for a postcard: an aerial view of Vilnius old town in winter (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
With the lack of rain, there’s also less of that miserable cold that leaves you shaking in your bones, like we feel on a freezing train station platform in Britain. Instead, it’s a bright and crisp morning when we meet our guide, Asta, for a walk around Vilnius.
It felt at points like we were walking through a film set, with cobbled streets in the Old Town, a dusting of snow on the churches and extravagant festive decorations on shop fronts – which will be in situ until early January.
We’re told to stop in front of Vilnius Cathedral. There’s a small square on the ground and Asta instructs us to stand on it, turn three times and make a wish. The square marks one end of the ‘Baltic Way’ which saw two million create a human chain on August 23, 1989 – when Soviet rule was in full force.
The incredible protest had seen residents of what is now Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania join hands to demand independence from the Kremlin.
The human chain brought global attention to the Baltic cause (Picture: Kusurija/Wikimedia Commons)
Our guide, Asta, outside Vilnius Cathedral, where the Baltic Way began (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
‘I was at university at the time’, Asta tells us. ‘We drove 80km on the highway to reach the end of the human chain, it just kept going. After ten minutes of standing together people started to shout “freedom, freedom, freedom”. It was very powerful. A year later, we got our independence.’
Asta takes us for lunch at Lokys Restaurant in the city’s Jewish Quarter, where we try Šaltibarščiai (€7), a traditional cold beetroot soup served with warm potatoes and hemp seed salt. It’s followed by a hearty beaver stew (€19).
I have coeliac disease and a fellow traveller a dairy intolerance, but fortunately there were plenty of gluten and dairy free options during our entire stay.
To work off some of our food, we tried our hand at ice-skating (€8) at a pop-up rink within the Grand Dukes Palace Yard in Vilnius. I held onto a 4ft-high penguin with handles to guide me round the rink while others less confident could opt for a simiarily sized panda.
We were lapped by Lithuanians of all ages who glided over the ice with ease. But after about 15 minutes, we gained enough confidence to go hands free as we whizzed round the rink until closing time.
Inside the secret society of Vilinus hiding in plain sight
The constitution of the Republic of Uzupis is displayed in 20 languages (Picture: Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images)
Spend long enough in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius and you’ll start to notice a mysterious emblem.
A ‘Holy Hand’ with a large circle in the palm crops up on flags, stickers and windows. But don’t worry, it’s not a mad cult or anything suspicious. The secret is something far more exciting.
It represents the ‘Republic of Užupis’ – a weird and wonderful ‘micronation’ within Vilnius, which dates back to 1387.
For years, the infamous neighbourhood had been known as a ‘dangerous’ place. The district’s Jewish population was near obliterated in World War Two and many buildings were destroyed or abandoned following the subsequent Soviet occupation. Užupis, on the banks of the River Vilnelė, was overrun with criminals.
Today, it couldn’t be more different. Užupis is home to 7,000 people, 1,000 of which are artists. The 1 sqm area is accessed by two bridges which, once you cross, allow you to ‘become yourself’.
Journalists Jack Hardwick, Kirsten Robertson and Aliya Arman in the art district (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
A washing machine made out of stone, Banksy-style graffiti of a hedgehog on a computer and a giant angel statue are among the sights on your walk through the district.
The ‘self-proclaimed’ status of the ‘Republic of Užupis’ is slightly tongue in cheek, with the micronation’s independence day marked on April Fools Day. Once a year, Užupis National Day is held where ‘border checkpoints’ are created on the bridges which lead you in.
Its constitution – displayed in 22 languages – is etched into a wall. It proclaims that ‘everyone has the right to be unique’, ‘everyone has the right to make mistakes’ and ‘everyone has the right to love and take care of a cat.’
On our way to dinner – everything in the city is within walking distance – we ducked into the cosy-looking Eskedar Coffee.
The wi-fi password was ‘Smile at the Bartender’. We did, and a man called Alexander came over with our white wine to tell us more about his own journey to Lithuania. Born in Eritrea, he escaped the conflict there and later reached Russia. War, once again, displaced him.
More than 80,000 war refugees have arrived in Lithuania since the conflict began in February 2022. Ukrainian flags are draped from windows and balconies across the city and for sale in most major supermarkets as locals show their support.
Lithuania’s history and delicate positioning – it shares a border with Belarus and with Russia – is best explained via the means of locals. But if you don’t have a guide, there’s a multitude of museums which can start your journey into Lithuania’s history.
Shopfronts – such as this one outside the Poniu Laime restaurant in the Jewish Quarter – felt like something out a movie set (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
Outside Poniu Laime, a local art group had gathered to sketch the festive street from a pop-up table (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, situated in the former KGB building, is on my list for a next visit.
We learned more about Lithuania’s past, present and future in Europe via our guide Rolanda when we visited the city of Kaunas, just an hour outside Vilnius.
The Aleksotas Observation Deck provides the best view of this sprawling city. You can walk up the hill, drive up or – for just €1 – travel up on a funicular.
After taking in the views, we headed to chicken-themed restaurant Višta Puode for lunch, and I had a huge portion of beef steak with carrot crisps and lashings of garlic butter (€23). As we left , a tall man squeezed past our group on the stairs. Rolanda – after a double take – whispered that it was none other than Mantas Kalnietis, a famous former basketball player.
Kaunas sits between two largest Lithuanian rivers: Nemunas and Neris (Picture: Getty Images)
You can get a cable car to the Aleksotas Observation Deck to see the city in all its glory (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
She explains the sport is a ‘second religion’ to Lithuanians and is a symbol of their freedom since Soviet times. After the country’s independence was granted in 1990, the restored national basketball team marked the occasion by winning bronze in the 1992 Olympics.
We drove back from Kaunas to Vilnius as darkness fell. After dinner, lights were still twinkling in the Christmas Market within Cathedral Square and the mulled wine was flowing. A man dressed as a giant bear and a boy in a Harry Potter costume – complete with a real owl – are doing the rounds to keep children entertained as the clock strikes 11pm.
Opposite the Christmas Market, there was a man and woman performing a captivating fire display as a huge crowd watched on. Fleeting shadows can be seen on a nearby hill as a group of young people sledge through darkness.
Watch out New York, Vilnius could soon grab the title of the perfect Christmas city that never sleeps.
HOW TO GET THERE
I stayed at the Hotel Vilnia which starts at €80 a night per person/per night. Direct one-way flights from London Stanstead Airport to Vilnius International Airport are available from £42 on Ryanair. For a deeper dive into what Lithuania has to offer, you can explore more at www.lithuania.travel
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It’s less than three hours from London by plane, with flights starting at an incredibly reasonable £42.
