The World Countries Voyage Tips and guide

Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva) is one of the three Baltic states of northeast Europe. It's a low-lying, mostly agricultural country bordered by Latvia to the north and east, Belarus to the south, Poland to the southwest, Kaliningrad exclave of Russia to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the northwest. It broke away from the Soviet Union to become an independent republic in 1990, soon followed by Latvia and Estonia the other two Baltic states. With a population of 2.83 million in 2025, Lithuania nowadays extends some 285 km north-south and 375 km east-west; yet this small country once bestrode Europe as far as the Black Sea.

Vilnius the capital is the country's star attraction. Beyond is a compact yet diverse country of forests, castles, churches, lakes, and strange sculptures attesting to its pagan past.

Administratively Lithuania is divided into 10 counties (apskritys) and 60 municipalities (savivaldybės). However for travel and cultural purposes it's considered to have five "ethnographic regions":

Aukštaitija To the northeast and east; the name means "Highlands" though it seldom exceeds 150 m. Panevėžys is the principal town. There are many lakes, rivers and woodlands, and the country's first National Park.

Samogitia To the northwest; Žemaitija means "Lowlands" but it's rolling terrain. Šiauliai is the largest town.

Dzūkija To the southeast, and also called Dainava; low-lying and enclosing Dzūkija National Park. Vilnius is geographically within Dzūkija though its cosmopolitan nature sets it apart.

Sūduva To the south and southwest, and also called Suvalkija. It has the best farmland, and includes Kaunas the country's second city and sometime capital.

Lithuania Minor The narrow coastal strip of Mažoji Lietuva was part of Prussia until the 20th century. Klaipėda is Lithuania’s only port.

55°18′0″N 23°48′0″E

Map of Lithuania

• 54.68722225.281 Vilnius the must-see capital has a gorgeous old town lined with gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical buildings. The best of the country's museums, hotels and eating places are here.
• 54.63333324.9333332 Trakai 28 km west has a picture-perfect lake castle.
• 54.923.9333333 Kaunas the second largest city has interwar modernist architecture and a compact old town. National sports events are staged here.
• 55.712521.1354 Klaipėda is the country's only port, so much is industrial, but with a distinctive half-timbered old town.
• 55.92805623.3166675 Šiauliai has several museums, sculptures and old churches, but is best known for the "Hill of Crosses" 12 km north.
• 55.72524.3638896 Panevėžys is drably industrial but has museums, churches and a heritage narrow-gauge railway.
• 54.424.057 Alytus is only of interest to refrigerator manufacturers, but is a base for exploring Dzūkija National Park further south.
• 54.55666723.3544448 Marijampolė was wrecked in the last war so it's modern, with churches, museums and an art scene.

• 55.27444420.9708331 Curonian Spit is a 99 km strip of sand dunes, forest and secluded villages.
• 56.11666722.0166672 Žemaičių Kalvarija is a pilgrimage site with a large church festival in July.
• 55.34426.0573 Aukštaitija National Park is a land of lakes and forests.
• 54.88333324.854 Kernavė was the capital in medieval times, now an archaeological site.

Capital	Vilnius
Currency	euro (EUR)
Population	2.8 million (2023)
Electricity	220 volt / 50 hertz (Europlug, Schuko)
Country code	+370
Time zone	UTC+02:00, UTC+03:00
Emergencies	112, 02 (police force)
Driving side	right
edit on Wikidata

The last ice age covered the Nordic and Baltic regions from 115,000 to 12,000 years ago. It melted to form a low scoured plain with gravel deposits around its margins, boreal forests, and a great lake that eventually broke through to the ocean and became the Baltic Sea.

“Balts” were the Indo-European tribes that settled from 3000 BC. They traded with neighbouring peoples, their prize export being amber, fossilised pine resin. The name “Lithuania” is first recorded in 1009 AD, and two pagan tribes lived in it: the Samogitians west, and the Aukštaitians on higher ground to the east. Their lands lacked natural defensible borders and have continually faced attack, so wherever there was a promising-looking hummock, this was bolstered with gravel and other glacial debris to form a castle mound (piliakalnis) with a wooden palisade.

Two dangerous foes from the 13th century were the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Knights, looting and laying waste under the pretext of Christianising the land. The tribes united under Mindaugas, who was crowned Lithuania’s first and only king in 1253. He converted to Christianity in a peace deal with the Teutonic Knights but reneged when their power ebbed, and there was no widespread conversion of the people. He was assassinated in 1263.

Civil war, assassinations and foreign incursions then roiled the land, but from the 14th century Lithuania had strong capable rulers who give their names to boulevards and squares and monuments everywhere, notably Gediminas (ruled 1316–1341) and Vytautas the Great (ruled 1392–1430). They converted to Christianity, the last European nation to abandon pagan ways, and together with Poland smashed the Teutonic Knights. That alliance was cemented by the Union of Lublin in 1569, creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which for 200 years bestrode Europe as far as the Black Sea.

But Lithuania became hollowed out as power and money drained to Poland, and the Commonwealth was attacked by new European states. It collapsed in 1795 and was partitioned, its east including Lithuania falling under Russian rule, while the west was grabbed by Austria-Hungary and Prussia. Thus matters remained until 1918, when the defeat of Germany and communist overthrow of the tsars created a power vacuum, and Poland and Lithuania briefly became independent again. Poland promptly seized Vilnius and other southern tracts, so Kaunas was made the capital of a rump Lithuania until 1940.

By then Nazi Germany was goose-stepping across western Europe. Russia, as the Soviet Union or USSR, seized Lithuania and fortified Kaunas, only to bolt and fall back to defend the motherland. The Nazis marched in and many welcomed them. Within a few months the large Jewish population of Vilnius was exterminated, and every town in the land witnessed similar scenes: massacres were local as the death camps were not yet on stream.

The Soviet Union recaptured Lithuania in 1944 and held it post-war, with further cruelties under Stalin's reign of terror. That empire crumbled, and on 11 March 1990 Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence. Its status was recognised on 6 Sept 1991, and the last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania integrated its economy with western Europe, joined NATO and the European Union, and adopted the euro. Budget flights brought it even closer to the west.

Bring waterproofs and warm-wear any time of year. Summer gets the most rain, and is a pleasant average of 16°C. Winters average -5°C with snow and sleet. Spring is the driest season.

The coast is more likely to have mild maritime weather, while the southeast including Vilnius has more continental weather with hot sticky summers and bitter winters, but in a small country any day's weather system can override this.

• Independence Day 16 February: Independence from Russian Empire in 1918 following World War I.
• Restitution of Independence 11 March: Restoration of independence from the Soviet Union.
• St John's Day 24 June: midsummer's day, and celebrated mostly according to pagan traditions.
• Statehood Day 6 July: Coronation in 1253 of Mindaugas as the first and only King of Lithuania; later rulers were called Grand Dukes.
• Christmas 25 December

The official site is Lithuania Travel available in English, Lithuanian, German, Polish and Latvian.

We Love Lithuania is an unofficial site in Lithuanian and English.

And see city-specific sites on the relevant pages, especially for info on business and commerce.

See also: Lithuanian phrasebook

Lithuanian is the official language. It's one of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family - Latvian is the other. Its complex grammar makes it difficult to master, and you have to factor learning time against how long you plan to be in the country. But even for a quick trip it's worth learning a few courtesies and basics.

English is widely understood by the post-independence generation, and in the service sector.

Russian is a lingua franca or common tongue among all the nations that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, and not just among ethnic Russians: Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian are not mutually intelligible. An older generation has Russian as its first language. Obviously there are sensitivities about it, especially among the many Ukrainian refugees here. But provided you've first tried Lithuanian then English before defaulting to Russian, no-one's going to suspect you of lusting to drive a tank over their lawn.

You might also hear Polish, German or other languages, but they're more likely to be tourists than linguistic minorities here.

	Visa restrictions: Admission to Lithuania will be refused to citizens of Russia.
	(Information last updated Apr 2023)

Lithuania is a member of the Schengen Agreement. See Travelling around the Schengen Area for more information on how the scheme works, what countries are members and what the requirements are for your nationality. In summary:

• There are normally no immigration controls between countries that have signed and implemented the treaty; there may be such controls temporarily, such as in connection with important events and various crises.
• The operators may carry out identity checks before passengers board international flights or ferries, even between Schengen countries.
• Citizens of the EEA countries and Switzerland do not need visas to travel in the Schengen area, and may stay up to 90 days with no requirements other than having a valid ID card or passport. See European Union#EEA citizens.
• Normal visas granted by any Schengen member are valid in all countries that have signed and implemented the treaty (with exceptions for some overseas territories). The granting country may offer additional rights (such as longer stays or right to work) that apply only locally.

Vilnius Airport (VNO ^IATA) has the best selection of flights.

Kaunas (KUN ^IATA) has Ryanair and other low cost flights from across Europe.

Palanga (PLQ ^IATA) near Klaipėda has few flights, mostly seasonal.

Riga (RIX ^IATA) in Latvia has a wide choice of flights. Long-distance buses from Riga city stop here on their way into Lithuania.

Lithuania has a broad-gauge railway (1520 mm / 4 ft 11 27⁄32 in), same as Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Russia, so trains can't cross the border with Poland. "Rail Baltica" is a project to convert this to standard gauge (1435 mm / 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), to strengthen links with the west. It's a slow process and you might encounter disruptions or substitute buses as the works grind on.

From Poland: a daily train runs from Kraków at 04:00 via Warsaw Centralna at 07:30 to reach the border towards 15:00. Here you change onto the Lithuanian train for Kaunas at 16:30 and Vilnius at 17:30. The westbound train sets off from Vilnius at noon.

Another train lumbers on Saturday and Sunday between Białystok, Marijampolė and Kaunas, an older route pre-dating the Rail Baltica line. It's slower than the Kraków-Vilnius train and you'd only use it to reach one of the towns along the old route.

From Belarus: trains from Minsk to Vilnius have been suspended since 2022.

From Russia: trains from Moscow to Kaliningrad transit Lithuania, but since 2022 they're "sealed" here, neither picking up nor setting down passengers.

From Latvia and Estonia: a daily train runs from Tallinn via Tartu to Riga, connecting with a train to Vilnius. The Riga-Vilnius section often sells out.

There is no longer a rail link between Lithuania and Daugavpils in Latvia.

Via Baltica is the main highway (toll-free) from Warsaw to Kaunas, continuing to Riga and Tallinn. This is partly dual carriageway, in good repair, and has service areas with cafes, fuel and toilets. Other major highways are mostly undivided.

Minor roads in the country are often pot-holed, they haven't the money for repairs. In winter it gets dark early, and wandering deer have no road sense.

FlixBus is the market leader in European long-distance bus travel, and has gobbled up many smaller lines, though some continue to trade locally under their old identity.

Flixbus runs from Warsaw six times a day, taking 7 hours to Kaunas via Białystok and Marijampolė; these buses may start from Kraków or Prague. Buses from Berlin take 19 hours via Gdańsk. From Kaunas they may continue to Vilnius or to Riga and Tallinn. Buses between Riga and Vilnius take 4 hr 30 min via Panevėžys.

Eurolines and Ecolines run similar routes.

Klaipėda is the ferry port. DFDS car ferries sail here overnight from Kiel in Germany (M-Sa, 21 hr) and Karlshamn in Sweden (Su-F, 15 hr).

Lithuania has a small but useful rail network, run by LTG Link - see their website for timetables, fares and online tickets.

The chief domestic route is Vilnius - Kaunas: these run hourly and take 70-90 min, with a single adult standard fare of €8-10 in 2025. First class is 50% more than standard, but for this you get a complimentary bottle of water, cup of coffee and cookie. The price of a return is simply the sum of each single, and child fares are 50% of adult. Discounts are available, eg for Lithuanian students or ISIC card holders. There's no extra fare to ride the domestic sector of the international trains from Warsaw or Riga.

The biggest problem is that trains are infrequent apart from Vilnius-Kaunas, and they're small, only 3 or 4 cars; so they may sell out. Flying into the country you might be reluctant to commit to a particular train, but if you leave it till arrival you could find all trains booked out for the rest of the day. The other problem is train access with limited mobility, as platforms are low and doors are high.

Tickets can be bought online, at stations, or on the train if you board at a rural station without facilities. Ticket machines are simple to use and accept western bank cards. The station "information centre" doesn't sell tickets but the clerk spends much of her time helping visitors with the machines.

Trains are more spacious than buses so they're suitable for large bags, skis and bicycles. The typical layout is two seats each side of the aisle in either airline or saloon style. A few coaches have compartments, 3 seats facing 3 seats then a partition from the corridor.

The only working heritage railway is the narrow-gauge line from Panevėžys.

Buses reach all towns, all three airports and most villages in Lithuania, with routes radiating from Vilnius and Kaunas. Buses between those two cities run every 30 min taking 90 min, for a fare in 2025 of €10, same as the trains.

The portal for timetables and tickets is Autobusubilietai.lt. It’s available in English and other languages, and accepts western payment cards. It includes buses to Latvia, Estonia and Poland. The main bus lines are TOKS and Kautra. Others include Klaipėdos Autobusų, Busturas and Transrevis. Their websites are rudimentary, or company- not passenger-focussed, so stick to Autobusubilietai.lt.

When booking pay attention to the journey time, trukmės. Some routes are very slow and roundabout, or take you all the way into Vilnius to change and travel out again, so look for alternatives or the train. Neither railway nor bus websites can handle a mixed-mode journey so do your own research.

Buses and trolley-buses within towns are nowadays cashless. Pay by travel card, or tap your bank card.

Students with Lithuanian or European ISIC cards get 50% discount on buses within towns and inter-city.

Drive on the right, same as elsewhere in mainland Europe, with headlights on at all times.

Speed limits are posted in km. For M1 category vehicles:

• 50 km/h in cities
• 90 km/h on rural roads
• 70 km/h on roads without an asphalt or cement surface
• 130 km/h April-Oct and 110 km/h Nov-March on highways
• 120 km/h April-Oct and 110 km/h Nov-March on motorways

You may only turn right through a red traffic light when indicated by a green arrow, and when it does not endanger other traffic. "Filtering" is otherwise illegal. Pay attention to other permitted / restricted lane movements at bigger junctions.

A lane marked "A" (usually on the right) is a dedicated bus lane, and a lane marked "A / TAKSI" may also be used by taxis. Electric vehicles may also use these lanes if indicated. Other road users may only enter them to turn off to the right.

The blood alcohol limit is 0.4% for drivers of private passenger cars. It's a zero limit for commercial vehicles and novice drivers (holding a full license for less than two years).

Fixed speed cameras are common; they may be announced by a sign. Most monitor spot-speed but some are for average speed.

You will be surprised and shocked to learn that not all motorists in Lithuania observe traffic regulations, and as for the deer and stray cattle . . .

Petrol and diesel fuel are available at all filling stations. LPG is available at larger stations. EV is less common though gaining ground.

Petrol (green nozzles) as standard is 95 RON, some filling stations also have 98.

Diesel (black nozzles) is labelled as D. At rural stations you might notice cheaper DK but you may not buy this for motoring - it's agricultural diesel for tractors and other big muddy machines, with a lower tax rate.

LPG may also be labelled as SND. Alongside the dispensers are cabinets marked DUJŲ BALIONAI - these hold 50 litre gas canisters, for cooking in areas with no piped gas supply. They're too big for caravans.

EV chargers can be found at some large filling stations and private establishments.

Filling station chains in Lithuania are Viada^{[dead link]}, Circle K, Orlen Lietuva, Neste, EMSI^{[dead link]} and Baltic Petroleum.

You usually pay before filling within the store, at the desk marked PARDUOTUVĖ. Some stations have a self-service machine by the store entrance. You seldom pay at the pump.

An EU or UK standard driving licence suffices for car rental, but other citizens (including US) may need to obtain an International Driving Licence.

The major companies are represented at Vilnius and Kaunas airports and downtown. They may also permit you to bring a car from western EU countries, and to continue into Latvia and Estonia, but will charge extra even though you return it to the pick-up location. They've figured out that their car will do unusually heavy mileage, and with the risk of a breakdown needing a distant recovery.

Small independent companies deliver and pick up the car at an agreed address. Find them through the two main portals:

• Autoplius > Skelbimai > Daugiau > Transporto nuoma > Lengvųjų automobilių nuoma (Classified ads > More > Vehicle rental > Car rental)
• Autogidas > Nuoma > Automobilių nuoma (Rent > Car rent).

CityBee offers smartphone app-based car rental.

Taxis are run on a meter and can be booked by the phone numbers shown on their door. They're inexpensive by western European standards, but it's always better to order by phone instead of hailing one in the street. Rip-offs are uncommon, and especially in Vilnius you might be taken a long way round simply because of inner city traffic restrictions. Ride-hailing is available through:

• TAKSI 1820, only in Vilnius (+370 52 500 500 or smartphone app).
• Bolt has the widest coverage.
• Uber only in Vilnius.
• Etransport covers most cities in Lithuania.
• Forus by smartphone.

Cities have marked bicycle pathways. On other roads you're sharing with impatient motorists, perhaps in poor visibility.

Two international EuroVelo cycle routes cross the country, EuroVelo 10 and 11. They're waymarked and in good repair.

Hitchhiking in Lithuania is generally good; however, there have been some incidents in the early 2020s. Use common sense. Get to the outskirts of the city, but before cars speed up to the highway speeds.

• Vilnius Old Town is a 2 km strip from Aušros vartai ("Gates of Dawn") south, past the Town Hall and University quarter, to the castle, cathedral and main museum in the north. It's a part-pedestrianised mix of gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical buildings, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Užupis is a boho eastern district of Vilnius that proclaimed itself a wacky independent republic.
• Trakai Island Castle is the most attractive of the country's castles for its setting, with its red towers reflected as if in an infinity pool.
• Curonian Spit is a 99 km bootlace of sand dunes and forest reached by a short ferry ride from Klaipėda. "Hill of Witches" near the village of Juodkrantė is decorated with sculptures illustrating the country's folktales and legends.
• Hill of Crosses 12 km north of Šiauliai has been planted with over 100,000 crosses, from the small and simple to the huge and exuberant.
• Aukštaitija National Park is a landscape of lakes and forest, home to elk, deer and wild boar.
• Kernavė north of Vilnius is a well-preserved archaeological site.

• Beaches: Palanga has the best, long and sandy, punctuated by a curious L-shaped pier.

Curonian Spit is good for water sports on its breezy west coast. The sheltered lagoon is better for kiddy-bathing.

• Football: The men's national soccer team usually play in Kaunas, which has the country's principal sports venues. The domestic playing season is March-Nov to avoid the harsh Baltic winter. Ten clubs play in A Lyga the top tier.
• Basketball is an even bigger sport in Lithuania, and major clubs such as Žalgiris in Kaunas field basketball, soccer, ice hockey and other sports teams.
• Nemunas Delta is a wetland near Šilutė, a quiet place for bird-watching and fishing.
• Pilgrimage: Žemaičių Kalvarija is the main focus, with a "Stations of the Cross" walking route around the village.

Šiluva and the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai are two others.

Lithuania uses the euro, like several other European countries. One euro is divided into 100 cents. The official symbol for the euro is €, and its ISO code is EUR. There is no official symbol for the cent.

All banknotes and coins of this common currency are legal tender within all the countries, except that low-denomination coins (one and two cent) are phased out in some of them. The banknotes look the same across countries, while coins have a standard common design on the reverse, expressing the value, and a national country-specific design on the obverse. The obverse is also used for different designs of commemorative coins. The design of the obverse does not affect the coin's acceptability.

Lithuania adopted the euro as its currency in 2015, replacing the litas. You can exchange the old currency at Lietuvos Bank indefinitely and without charge, at a fixed rate of €1=3.4528 litas. Bring your ID, and expect questions if the amount is over €10,000, the notes are damaged, or are pre-1991 issue. The LB exchange offices are at Žirmūnų g 151 in Vilnius and Maironio g 25 in Kaunas. Their standard hours are M-Th 08:30–15:30, F 08:30–14:30; but to 18:00 on Monday in Vilnius and on Thursday in Kaunas.

If you are an EU student, bring your ISIC. Many places (museums, bus, etc.) in Lithuania have great discounts for EU students with an ISIC.

Tipping in Lithuania is not as deeply ingrained as in some other countries, but it is generally appreciated, especially in the service industry. 5% is standard and may already be in your bill, or the card machine may invite you to add it.

Most shopping is in malls, which keep out the winter weather. Most towns have one; in Vilnius the biggest is Akropolis, which also has an ice skating rink, bowling lanes and a cinema.

Supermarket chains include Aibė, Lidl, Maxima, IKI, Rimi, Čia Market, Vynoteka and Grūstė. This means keen price competition.

Gariunai 5 km west of Vilnius is the Baltic's largest open air market: people come from as far away as Ukraine to buy fake designer goods and pirate CDs and software. Don't be surprised to spend an hour queuing to get in and the same to get out.

Gifts: amber is the signature jewel of the Baltic, the semi-precious stone formed millions of years ago when pine forests were submerged by sea rise and their resin was fossilised. Lots of shops and market stalls sell it.

You can buy food produce to take home within the EU, but don't export it to any other country unless you've carefully checked the regulations.

Lithuanians like their meat, and eagerly consume all parts of the pig - partly this symbolises escape from repressive impoverished times. Vegetarians and vegans should do okay in Vilnius and Kaunas but may struggle elsewhere, and there's not much in the way of international cuisine, since Lithuania never drew in the overseas workforce, cultures and cuisines that you encounter in the west.

If you're given a menu in English or German, take a glance at the Lithuanian version in case it offers lower prices.

Appetisers: Piršteliai prie alaus are thin, rolled-up puff pastries served with beer. Soups include Šaltibarščiai a summer soup based on beets and soured milk, Juka (blood soup), or Cabbage soup flavoured with carrots, ham, onions. Ruginė duona - dark rye bread - goes well with soup.

Cepelinai (Zeppelins) are potato dumplings with meat. Vėdarai is sausage, a potato-stuffed pig intestine. Skilandis is pig's stomach stuffed with ground meat and garlic, cold-smoked. Plokštainis is a serving of potatoes. Bulviniai blynai are grated potato pancakes with different sauces. Virtinukai are curd patties. Kastinys is soft sour cream butter. Šaltnosiukai are dumplings filled with lingon berry.

Fish (pike or perch) may be baked whole or stuffed, or made into gefilte fish. Silkė is herring, marinated, baked, fried or served in aspic.

Wild berries, mushrooms and cheese are common ingredients, and honey and poppy seeds are commonly used as filling in pastries. For desserts, try Žagarėliai - twisted, thin deep-fried pastries dusted with powdered sugar - or Spurgos, doughnuts often filled with preserves.

Beer is the main drink: in Lithuanian ask for alus, think of "ales". Popular brands are Svyturys, Kalnapilis, Utenos, Volfas Engelman and Gubernija. These are every bit as good as international brands, without the price tag.

Vodka (degtinė) is consumed, but not as much as you might expect for East Europe, and there's only two distilleries in the whole country. Samane traditionally meant moonshine, you only concussed yourself with it because the authorities advocated sobriety, but like Irish Poitín it's become a mainstream brand.

Midus is mead, fermented honey. Its strength ranges from that of beer (3.5% abv) to that of fortified wine (20% abv) and it can be distilled into brandy or honeyjack at 40%+.

Wine: for a list of Lithuanian vineyards click ---> here <---. Until climate change alters this, sparkling wines such as Alita or Mindaugas are made from imported grape concentrates.

Alcohol cannot be sold in shops between 20:00 (15:00 on Sundays) and 10:00, but can be purchased in bars, cafes and restaurants any time they're open.

Tea and coffee is widely available, with local and foreign brands. Kavinės - coffee-houses - often serve "lazy" coffee: boiling water over coffee grounds, unfiltered, leaving a bitter gloop of grounds at the bottom of the cup.

Smoking is banned in cafés, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, discothèques and other public establishments. Nightclubs may have smoking rooms.

Vilnius has by far the best selection in all price categories, and Kaunas has a good selection. Since it's a small country, you can base there and day-trip most places.

Viesbutis is the word for a hotel and the larger provincial towns have one or two, see individual pages. They're mostly aimed at business travellers and are clean and modern.

"Staying with grandmother" means renting someone's spare room, though grandmother has probably been shunted elsewhere to free up more lucrative space. The countryside is dotted with self-catering lets and these pages don't attempt to list them, but they show up on Google Map. Countryside.lt is one third-party website that catalogues them.

Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Šiauliai have universities, see the city pages. Their main offering is 3-year degree courses, taught in Lithuanian. They may offer summer schools or other short courses in English, as frankly they need the foreign income.

You need to be reasonably fluent in Lithuanian for any public-facing job.

Any EU national can work and live freely in Lithuania, but to stay longer than 90 days in any 180-day period you need a residence permit (teisės Lietuvos Respublikoje gyventi pažymėjimas or TLRGP). This status may be temporary or permanent, and is issued by the Department of Migration. Their website (available in English) guides you through the evidence required, such as your health insurance, source of income, and accommodation.

Non-EU nationals need a residence permit and a registered address before taking up work or long-term study; apply via the same portal.

In general Lithuania is a safe country, but you should take basic precautions:

• Dark corners: you have no reason to be in rough neighbourhoods, especially at night, but any short cut through a darkened park or apartment complex may expose you to opportunistic attack. Stay on main roads, which are lit and may have CCTV coverage. Take a taxi if it's any distance.
• Road safety: drive defensively, the other fellow won't, and pedestrians never imagine that vehicles will respect pedestrian crossings. Never leave valuables on display in cars.
• Homophobia is official, Lithuania has "anti-gay propaganda" laws similar to those of Russia, Poland and Ukraine. Hotels and similar premises may proclaim themselves LGBTQIA+ friendly but attitudes on the street are another matter. Public displays of affection between same-gender partners may result in a confrontation from onlookers.
• Racism is not official but endemic. Outright attack is uncommon, but Blacks, Chinese and Indians may be made uncomfortable, and Roma are openly despised.

You need adequate health insurance: for visitors an annual multi-trip policy is often the best deal. An EHIC / GHIC card covers immediate life-saving treatment, always a good start, but doesn't go anywhere near the full cost of a hospital stay, and a medical repatriation could be ruinously expensive.

Be up-to-date on all the immunisations recommended for your own country (including seasonal flu for older people), you don't need anything extra here. Along with your usual medications (plus a bit extra in case of travel delay) bring evidence that they were properly prescribed.

Tap water is safe to drink. If you prefer bottled, a 5-litre bottle is not much more expensive than a one-litre bottle.

Lithuania was declared rabies-free in 2022. So if bitten by a dog or wild animal, get the cut seen to (it's likely to become infected) but you won't need anti-rabies vaccine. Re-introduction of rabies from Poland or Belarus remains an outside risk.

The only venomous snake is the European Viper (angis), with a bite no worse than a bad hornet sting to a healthy adult but possibly fatal to a dog or small child.

Mosquitoes are a confounded nuisance in summer: they carry no disease, but think twice about camping if you react badly to bites. Forest ticks confer a risk of Lyme disease or encephalitis.

Vilnius is a lively cosmopolitan place, but beyond (and in its less affluent suburbs) lies a rather traditional, conservative society. Roman Catholicism is the main religion, with only a small presence of Lutherans and Orthodox.

As your plane descends towards Kaunas or Vilnius, it passes between the paws of a dangerous bear. Left / north is Russia, easily identified by the line of the Curonian Split, while right / south is Belarus. After 30 years of independence the Lithuanians were beginning to think the bad old days were behind them, and there were few ethnic tensions with their Russian minority, but since 2022 all bets are off. This means that symbols of national identity and pride are more fiercely defended. The many Ukrainian refugees here might say: "And welcome to my world. Who's next?"

Lithuania's phone code is +370, so if calling from abroad, substitute that for the leading zero. Thus the number for Vilnius airport changes from 0612 44442 to +370 612 44442, where + denotes your local system for initiating an international call.

Land lines have a monopoly operator TEO, jointly owned by Telia of Sweden and Sonera of Finland. Land line phones and booths are still to be found, though they're retreating before the advance of mobiles. Public phones don't take cash, you need a card, obtained from newspaper kiosks and shops displaying a TEO sign.

Mobile phones have three operators: Bitė, Telia (also branded as Ezys) and Tele2 (also branded as Pildyk). About 97% of the country has at least 4G coverage, and the major cities and highways have 5G. Quiet parks and forests may have no signal. See individual city pages for more detail, which may influence your choice.

Pre-paid SIM cards are available from any kiosk or store chain for each operator. As well as price and coverage, you might want to check their deal for other countries, as EU roaming may be included in the deal or incur extra charges.

If you're staying longer and use the phone a lot, a monthly plan is better. You may have to supply proof of residence, as the companies reckon that every international crook is trying to freeload on their network. For extended stays (eg studying), get a plan that includes a mobile signature (mobilusis parašas). With this you can log in by phone to government services, banks, utilities and similar, without needing multiple apps or sign-ups.

Internet: Wifi is widely available in public places, but may be charged for. The main social media are Facebook, Instagram and Reddit, and Whatsapp is not much used.

Lietuvos paštas on a storefront does not indicate a pasta shop, nor does it deliver pizza. It's the national postal service, with a branch in almost every settlement and several in each city. Services include letter and parcel delivery, express and tracked mail and parcels, and money transfer.

• Latvia: highways and trains head north to Riga, the must-see capital. Routes west, crossing near Daugavpils, are better for transit towards Estonia.
• Estonia: Tartu and the capital Tallinn both rank as must-see. A fast ferry plies from Tallinn to Helsinki.
• Poland: the obvious destination is Warsaw, but take time to explore the country's eastern parks, where bison roam.
• Belarus since 2022 is difficult to enter. Minsk the capital is squeaky-clean, to reassure visitors that the rest of the country under its wise leadership is equally immaculate.
• Kaliningrad Oblast as part of Russia is likewise difficult. The main city Kaliningrad was once Königsberg in Prussia.