I am drinking tea and eating "Šakotis" (tasty Lithuanian pastry) at this late night hour, ready to start presenting my impressions from my recent, last week's trip to the beautiful capital of Lithuania - Vilnius (as well as summer paradise island Malta).
This was not my first trip to Vilnius, so this time I prepared very well and explored previously what I want to visit. Mostly it was view points from hills and some nature places inside the city, but, of course, we couldn't miss the charming Old Town too.
I traveled by car together with my girlfriend, and we saw almost every viewpoint we planned except Karoliniškes outcrop - left it for another time.
Road network in Vilnius is good - there are many highways which interconnects the city's parts (scattered between the chunks of nature) well. However, it can't be said about the road quality - I was unpleasantly surprised about the bad condition of the asphalt on most of the streets. If roads in Lithuania to Vilnius (especially the superb Paņevežys-Vilnius highway, where one can easily go with 130-140 km/h) provides a relaxed pleasure, then driving in Vilnius asks cautious concentration - not only because of the road quality which is much worse than in Riga (one forumer here said it some months ago but then I couldn't believe it), but also because of... Lithuanian drivers. Some of them really behaves shamelessly. For example, one idiot beeped at me just because I didn't started immediately to move when the signal lights switched from red to orange (not even green yet)... :nuts: And some of them makes just stupid moves - for example, drives out from minor to major road and wonders why others are not giving them way. In overall, drivers culture in Riga seems to be at better level - although 2,5 days may be too less to judge, probably had just bad luck.
OK, enough complaining, now we can start with photos of the city....
1. Gediminas street - a model street in Vilnius, looks as perfect as 5 years ago. I guess, this street is the same for Vilnius like Champs De Elyssees for Paris.
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2. One of the easiest reachable view points on the city's skyline lies next to Subačiaus and Maironio street crossing, right besides Old Town. There is also one of few places in center where you can park a car for free - and surprisingly, there is always some free place. A good point to locate your car and then go to explore Old Town.
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3. Even from here, the city's new skyline manages to stay in reverential distance from most of it's Old Town spires - and so it does from most of other view points
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4. OK, it mixes up a little bit here
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8. Much better view opens up from nearby hill on the other side of Subačiaus street. Empty beer bottles and other trash there proves - the place is used by locals to enjoy a view on their city (tourists would probably not imagine to climb up there):
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9. Here you see how the main advantage of Vilnius is it's enviable layout - the historical centre in the valley encircled by hills with living districts on them. It's a perfect formula of cosiness, imho.
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12. From here is seen Hill of Three Crosses - another great view point, will visit it later.
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13. Looks autumnish, but Vilnius charmes also in rainy weather
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14. As in any larger city, there is a dark side of it. However, a bit unusal is that you encounter this by entering Old Town on one of tourist landmarks in the city - Gates of Dawn (Aušros Vartai)!
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15. Vilnius has opened a rental bike places now. In Riga, similar project "Baltic Bikes" flunked - after some two years, the bikes has gone from the streets this year, apparently it wasn't repaying. Municipality announced a new procurement and noone applied... Interesting, how this business is succeeding in Vilnius?
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16. In Vilnius, you can also stumble upon many weird, artistic places - artistic, young, alternative (in a positive manner) atmosphere is one of the things Vilnius is proud for.
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To be continued...
This was not my first trip to Vilnius, so this time I prepared very well and explored previously what I want to visit. Mostly it was view points from hills and some nature places inside the city, but, of course, we couldn't miss the charming Old Town too.
I traveled by car together with my girlfriend, and we saw almost every viewpoint we planned except Karoliniškes outcrop - left it for another time.
Road network in Vilnius is good - there are many highways which interconnects the city's parts (scattered between the chunks of nature) well. However, it can't be said about the road quality - I was unpleasantly surprised about the bad condition of the asphalt on most of the streets. If roads in Lithuania to Vilnius (especially the superb Paņevežys-Vilnius highway, where one can easily go with 130-140 km/h) provides a relaxed pleasure, then driving in Vilnius asks cautious concentration - not only because of the road quality which is much worse than in Riga (one forumer here said it some months ago but then I couldn't believe it), but also because of... Lithuanian drivers. Some of them really behaves shamelessly. For example, one idiot beeped at me just because I didn't started immediately to move when the signal lights switched from red to orange (not even green yet)... :nuts: And some of them makes just stupid moves - for example, drives out from minor to major road and wonders why others are not giving them way. In overall, drivers culture in Riga seems to be at better level - although 2,5 days may be too less to judge, probably had just bad luck.
OK, enough complaining, now we can start with photos of the city....
1. Gediminas street - a model street in Vilnius, looks as perfect as 5 years ago. I guess, this street is the same for Vilnius like Champs De Elyssees for Paris.
2. One of the easiest reachable view points on the city's skyline lies next to Subačiaus and Maironio street crossing, right besides Old Town. There is also one of few places in center where you can park a car for free - and surprisingly, there is always some free place. A good point to locate your car and then go to explore Old Town.
3. Even from here, the city's new skyline manages to stay in reverential distance from most of it's Old Town spires - and so it does from most of other view points
4. OK, it mixes up a little bit here
5.
6.
7.
8. Much better view opens up from nearby hill on the other side of Subačiaus street. Empty beer bottles and other trash there proves - the place is used by locals to enjoy a view on their city (tourists would probably not imagine to climb up there):
9. Here you see how the main advantage of Vilnius is it's enviable layout - the historical centre in the valley encircled by hills with living districts on them. It's a perfect formula of cosiness, imho.
10.
11.
12. From here is seen Hill of Three Crosses - another great view point, will visit it later.
13. Looks autumnish, but Vilnius charmes also in rainy weather
14. As in any larger city, there is a dark side of it. However, a bit unusal is that you encounter this by entering Old Town on one of tourist landmarks in the city - Gates of Dawn (Aušros Vartai)!
15. Vilnius has opened a rental bike places now. In Riga, similar project "Baltic Bikes" flunked - after some two years, the bikes has gone from the streets this year, apparently it wasn't repaying. Municipality announced a new procurement and noone applied... Interesting, how this business is succeeding in Vilnius?
16. In Vilnius, you can also stumble upon many weird, artistic places - artistic, young, alternative (in a positive manner) atmosphere is one of the things Vilnius is proud for.
To be continued...