In 2015, I decided that I wanted to become a Vilnius city guide. I signed up at an accredited school, listened to 250 hours of lectures, and after 5 months, officially became a tour guide of Vilnius. I’ve never made money out of this venture. However, I gave multiple free tours in Vilnius to my foreign friends. I helped them fall in love with this city. In this article, you will find an old town itinerary of Vilnius that most professional tour guides choose to present to our city guests. After reading this, you’ll be able to explore Vilnius like a pro!
From Cathedral Square to the Art Center of Baltic Amber
All walking tours start in the same place – Cathedral Square. This is the place where the capital of Lithuania began to evolve. In pagan times, where the Neris and Vilnia rivers meet, the citizens burned an eternal fire, and ancient Lithuanians performed pagan rituals. Later, when Lithuanians were baptized, the first Christian church rose in the same place. Multiple iterations of the houses of worship burned down and were restored throughout the centuries. The current classicism style appeared in 1820. The entrance to the cathedral is free. Furthermore, you can book a tour of the cathedral’s crypts.
Next to the cathedral stands a belltower which you also can visit. Look up, and you will see another red color tower on the hill. It is Gediminas Tower. There used to be a castle. Now there’s left just some ruins. It’s worth climbing there just to admire a beautiful panoramic view of the Vilnius old town and its red color rooftops. Between the cathedral and the slopes of the hill stands the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. This building hosts a museum. Originally this palace was built in the XVI century but was wholly destroyed in the XIX century. In 2000, the government decided to rebuild it. Finally, in 2013, the palace opened its door for visitors.
In the middle of the square, you’ll find a monument to Grand Duke Gediminas. Legend says that once after the whole day hunt he fell asleep and dreamed of an iron wolf howling on a hill. His personal future-teller explained the meaning of his weird dream – Gediminas must build a city in this place and it will become known worldwide. So he did.
Just a couple hundred meters away from the heart of Vilnius stand another two important buildings – Presidential Palace and Vilnius University complexes. If you arrive in summertime, the entrance to the Presidential Palace garden might be open to the public. Also, you can try to book a free tour inside the palace on their official website.
Vilnius University counts its history since 1579 and is the oldest university in Lithuania. 13 courtyards hide in this building complex. Don’t just walk by it! Take a peek at the beautiful and the most extensive Skargos courtyard. There is also St. Johns church with its belltower. The bell tower is the tallest building in Vilnius’s old town, and I definitely recommend climbing it.
When you reach the oldest street in Vilnius – Pilies (Castle) street – you will find a hotel Narutis. The next building attached to it has a passage to a courtyard. Go there and gaze up. You will see the belltower of St. John’s church and two black angels sitting on it. Legend says that God didn’t create all his angels white. Some of them were black. All the angels were supposed to protect people, but they were afraid of weird-looking black angels. They complained to God that people didn’t like them, so God put the black angels on top of that belltower and ordered them to protect the city of Vilnius.
Another cool place accessible straight from the same courtyard is the Art Center of Baltic Amber. The entrance is free of charge, and tourists can learn a lot about so-called Baltic gold. For instance, did you know that there is red, green, and even blue color amber? On top of that, there you’ll also find different art expositions and jewelry for sale. Don’t worry; staff members are nice and don’t pressure visitors to buy this and that.
From Art Center of Baltic Amber to Literatų street
A few steps away from the Amber Gallery, you’ll see a lovely couple – St. Anne’s church and St. Francis of Assisi (Bernardine) Roman Catholic Church in a few hundred meters. Both of these churches were built in the Gothic style. St. Anne’s church is also called an example of flaming Gothic style and one of the most beautiful churches in Vilnius. Legend says that while Napoleon was residing in Vilnius, he saw St. Anne’s church and liked it so much that he wanted to put it on his palm and take it to Paris. Legends remain legends. The truth was less poetic. Napoleon simply gave the church to use for his soldiers.
Continuing straight, you’ll see a bridge. If you have time, you can walk to an artistic neighborhood of Užupis. To be precise, they call themselves a separate republic with their own weird Constitution. The Constitution of the Republic of Užupis is translated into multiple languages and placed on a wall in Paupio street. Go and see if you’ll find it in your native language.
Literatų street is a narrow pedestrian passage where artists dedicated decorative plaques to writers who were somehow connected with Vilnius. Therefore, there are plaques created for some foreign writers as well.
From Literatų street to Vokiečių street
At the end of Literatų street, you will end up in Pilies street again. Turn left and continue straight. Even though this is one continuous street, it is divided into three sections. Each of them has different names (Pilies, Didžioji, and Aušros Vartų).
In no time in front of you, you will see the second most crucial square of Vilnius – Rotušės square. The building in the middle of it is a representative city hall created by the same architect who designed our cathedral. They have some similarities, don’t you think?
On an intersection with narrow Stiklių street, you will find a plaque that tells about the dark side of the history of Vilnius. In this area used to be Jewish ghettos – the small one and the big one. Ironically, these two ghettos were separated by Vokiečių (German) street that bears this name until now. Take your time to read about both of them.
From Vokiečių street to Gates of Dawn
So now you’re in Vokiečių street. Doesn’t it look a bit too wide for the old town? There is a reason for such a feeling. In Soviet times, some genius decided that it would be a terrific idea to build a long wide street that would lead all the way from Rotušės square to Žaliasis (The Green) bridge. We are talking about nearly 2 km distance. To make this happen, they should have had demolished part of old buildings. They started to do so. Therefore part of the buildings in Vokiečių street is not original. Luckily, Soviets quit this project, avoiding more damage for the Vilnius old town.
Going down the Vokiečių street, you’ll come back to Rotušė square. From there, go up to where this street changes name into Aušros Vartų street. And then you’ll end up in the so-called “the holy triangle.” For ages, Vilnius was considered a multicultural city. “The holy triangle” embodies this multiculturality. There are churches of three different confessions within hundred meters: Holy Trinity Uniate Church, Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, and Church of St. Theresa.
The itinerary ends at the Chapel of the Gates of Dawn. The gate was built at the beginning of the XVI century and is the only one that remained out of 10 city gates. It is a famous Catholic pilgrimage site in Lithuania. There is an icon of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, believed to have miraculous powers.
Honorable mentions
Vilnius street in Vilnius (yes, there is such a thing) is the main nightlife artery. So, if you want to have some fun, this is a place to start with. Gediminas Avenue is a 2 km long street stretching from the Cathedral square and ends at our Parliament. It is one of the main shopping streets.
Things to do in Vilnius in a nutshell
This is a list of places that you shouldn’t miss in Vilnius old town:
Cathedral Square
Cathedral and its bell tower
Gediminas Tower
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
Monument to Grand Duke Gediminas
Presidential Palace
Vilnius university
Pilies street
Art Center of Baltic Amber
St. Anne’s church
St. Francis of Assisi (Bernardine) Roman Catholic Church
Užupis
Literatų street
Rotušės square
Vilnius Ghettos
“The holy triangle”: Holy Trinity Uniate Church, Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, and Church of St. Theresa.
