Having travelled through Poland journeys end and Vilnius was a disappointment (Vilnius)

Member Name: lm09

Product:	Vilnius
Date:	29/01/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap eating and drinking options. Compact sight seeing centre

Disadvantages: The taxis, the station, the Reval Inn, the weather in September

I have travelled pretty extensively and I have to say Vilnius did nothing for me. I came to Vilnius on an overnight bus from Warsaw, Poland having had an amazing 6 days travelling from Krakow through to Warsaw.

On arrival in Vilnius the bus and all international trains stop at the train station. My first Lithuanian experience was the toilets in the station. These are a disgrace worse than any I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. With Vilnius being European Capital of culture and this being such a big hub for the city they are a discrace.

The train and bus station is around half a mile south of the city centre and sites. The walk to the centre is a hilly one and the sights left me un-inspired. The first of the 'un-missable' Vilnius sights are the Gates of Dawn, part of the original 16th century city walls. Behind these gates on the right is a beautiful church, the chapel of the Blessed Mary which is worth a look around if not in use.

The walk down from the Gates of Dawn to the city's other massive sight, the Cathedral takes you through narrow cobbled streets similar to York in this country and is pretty enough.

The Cathedal and Belfry are the symbols of the city and any literature about Vilnius will have a photo of these two sights. The Cathedral inside is cavarnous and empty but pretty enough. Of greater interest to me having spent the previous six days immersed in Polish history was a little plaque stone outside the Cathedral. There are no toursit signs for this stone and superstition tells that locals must keep the whereabouts of the stone secret. The stone called the miracle stone marks the spot for the start of a human chain that in 1989 stretched from the square all the way through to Riga in Latvia right through to Tallinn in Estonia in protest at the occupation of Soviet troops of the Baltic states.

On the subject of the Soviet occupation one of the most interesting places I visited in Lithuania was the Museum of the Genocide Victims. Located around 400 metres from the Cathedral on Auku Gatve this charts some of the horrors of the Soviet occupation and the work of the KGB. The rooms show actual prison cells, interrogation rooms and a wire tapping room. The sides of the building are covered in memorial plaques to the hundreds of people executed there by the KGB.

On a lighter cautionary note I sent 3 post cards home. 2 had reference to the KGB and never arrived. The 1 with no reference arrived around 10 days later. Hmmm darker forces at work or just coincidence?!!!

Ok, important note here. We stayed in the Reval Inn. This is not to be confused with the Reval Hotel. The Reval hotel is wicked and within easy walking distances of all the sights. It has a skybar with supurb views right over Vilnius. The Reval Inn is a flea tip about 4 miles outside the centre. It has supurb views of a very busy road and large soviet style housing estate (as aesthetically pleasing as Wolverhampton!!)

Second important note and absolutely vital to having an ok stay in Vilnius. You will read this in every guidebook (I read it myself but still let my guard down)....never never under any circunstances get into a cab on the street or from outside the station. Only get in a cab that you have called for and agreed the price in advance. For a journey from the station to Reval Inn we paid around £35. On the bus this journey would have cost £0.40. On the return leg going home booking at the hotel reception the taxi cost £8. Its your money but seriously don't do it.

Another sight slightly out of the centre but well worth the walk is the Three Crosses monument which marks the spot where in the 17th century three monks were executed. The Three Crosses hill gives good views back over the city.

I was in Vilnius after my Poland journey to run in the Vilnius International Marathon. Having ran 8 other European marathons I have to also say that the Vilnius marathon is the bleakest I have ran yet.

To be fair to Vilnius I had arrived having had an amazing time in Poland (will really look forward to creating Dooyoo reviews for Warsaw and Krakow) and perhaps I arrived in Vilnius travel weary. The taxi ride and the poor hotel didn't help either.

Sorry to any Lithuanians or Vilnius fans though. Vilnius, of all the places I have been, is the only place I would not recommend. Instead of Vilnius try Riga, Latvia or really treat yourself to a cultural and historical trip and go to Poland.

Summary: Having travelled most of Europe disappointed with Vilnius but you should all experience Lithuania