{"id":458,"date":"2025-11-16T08:16:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=458"},"modified":"2025-11-16T08:16:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:16:26","slug":"i-spent-48-hours-in-europes-most-affordable-christmas-city-nobody-knows-where-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=458","title":{"rendered":"I spent 48 hours in Europe\u2019s most affordable Christmas city \u2014 \u2018nobody knows where it is\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Winding cobbled alleyways. A bohemian quarter with Baroque architecture. Michelin-starred restaurants and moodily lit jazz bars. It sounds like\u00a0Paris<\/a>, but this is what awaits visitors in\u00a0Vilnius<\/a>,\u00a0Lithuania<\/a>\u2019s pocket-sized and\u00a0underexplored capital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tourism board is willing to laugh at its obscurity, declaring\u00a0the country<\/a>\u00a0the \u2018G-spot of Europe\u2019 \u2014 \u2018amazing, but nobody knows where it is\u2019.<\/p>\n

Beyond the city\u2019s 700-year-old walls is a charming town still reckoning with its complex past, where brutalist\u00a0Soviet<\/a>\u00a0architecture meets high-end boutiques and a rapidly blossoming food scene.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been more than 30 years since Lithuania gained independence from the USSR, but the buzz of freedom is still in the air. And, drawn by vibey nightlife, dark history and reasonable prices, travellers are starting to take note.<\/p>\n

Vilnius has just been named this\u00a0winter<\/a>\u2019s top spot for a bargain Christmas break. The\u00a0city<\/a>\u00a0was found to have the lowest price for a two-night trip for two people out of 15 European destinations, analysed by Post Office Travel Money.<\/p>\n

Taking into account costs such as return flights, bed and breakfast, accommodation, meals and refreshments bought at markets, the total cost for a stay in Vilnius was just \u00a3509 for two people.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a steal when you compare it to the likes of Berlin (\u00a3691.85), Prague (\u00a3901.25), or Copenhagen, the most expensive on the list, which will set a pair back \u00a31,056.55.<\/p>\n

Happiness found<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve barely begun my two-night trip when I am struck by how peaceful Vilnius is. Compared to the heaving\u00a0Tube<\/a>\u00a0carriages of central\u00a0London<\/a>, the silence of the streets is like a warm hug, despite the November chill.<\/p>\n

Only 5% of Brits know more than the name and approximate location of the Lithuanian capital, according to a 2019 survey, and there\u2019s a distinct lack of the British accents you hear in steady streams on the streets of\u00a0Prague\u00a0<\/a>or\u00a0Amsterdam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city is convenient and exceptionally cheap, with an airport just 15 minutes\u2019 drive from the Unesco-listed Old Town and tourist staples like bottles of local beer for \u00a32.75 (\u20ac3.20).<\/p>\n

Arriving late in the evening, I head straight for 14 Horses, a farm-to-table restaurant serving up lamb dumplings, grilled eel on sourdough and potato pancakes with sweetbread (four courses for \u20ac55 per person). Another must-visit is Dziaugsmas, one of four local restaurants to receive a coveted star in this year\u2019s first-ever Michelin guide to Lithuania (try the black pudding doughnuts and bone marrow from the \u20ac67 tasting menu).<\/p>\n

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Outside, the city feels incredibly safe, to the point that I leave my bag and coat unattended on a stand by the door in Nick &\u00a0Nora, one of Vilnius\u2019 best cocktail bars that does an excellent quince gin (\u20ac11).<\/p>\n

Cheap, safe and up for a laugh; little wonder why Lithuania took the top spot in this year\u2019s World Happiness rankings for the under-30s \u2014\u00a0the best place in the world to be young.<\/p>\n

The republic of free spirits<\/h2>\n

On a riverbank near the old town is Uzupis, a free-spirited neighbourhood that declared itself a republic in 1997. Our tour guide, Lina Dusevi\u010dien\u0117, tells us that the district was a no-go area during Soviet times, when its beautiful buildings were used as squats by creatives deemed \u2018undesirable\u2019 by the Communist regime.<\/p>\n

The main thoroughfare was once nicknamed the \u2018Street of Death\u2019 due to high crime rates and the district\u2019s Jewish population, which was decimated in the\u00a0Holocaust<\/a>. But life has returned. \u2018It was here that people turned [when the Soviet Union fell],\u2019 says Lina. \u2018People had always been themselves here. They helped others to become individuals again.\u2019<\/p>\n

Uzupis is home to an eclectic group of writers, artists and musicians, with a constitution that captures the essence of the neighbourhood\u2019s wacky but well-meaning ideals. Some of the more bizarre clauses include \u2018a dog has the right to be a dog\u2019, and \u2018everyone has the right to understand\u2019 (followed by \u2018everyone has the right to understand nothing\u2019). The charter is printed in more than 30 languages on mirrored rectangles on Paupio Street, right around the corner from parliament house \u2014 which also functions as a cafe-cum-pub.\u00a0I sveikat\u0105<\/em>\u00a0(cheers) to that.<\/p>\n

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I stop to refuel at Momo\u2019s Grill, a cosy lunch spot that serves beef tartare (\u20ac15) and classic Lithuanian fare such as pickled onion and beetroot soup (\u20ac7), the national dish which now has\u00a0an annual festival in its honour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outside, stalls for\u00a0the Christmas market<\/a>\u00a0are being assembled. It\u2019s too early to experience the magic, but festive tourists are sure to descend on Vilnius very soon.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are Baltic\u2019<\/h2>\n

Home to around 2.8 million people, Lithuania \u2013 the largest and most southerly of the three Baltic states \u2013 sits on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Russian region of Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n

Lithuania declared independence in March 1990, the first former Soviet country to do so, a move that prompted a full-throated embrace of its own ideals.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are Baltic, not Russian, not eastern European,\u2019 Lina explains. \u2018We are proud of our heritage, and we want people to know about it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Where to stay in Vilnius<\/h2>\n
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Vilnius has a smorgasbord of affordable accommodation, and it\u2019s hard to look past the\u00a0Comfort Hotel LT \u2013 Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll<\/a>, TripAdvisor\u2019s top rated for value with rooms in December from \u00a367.17 per night.<\/p>\n

For luxury, head to\u00a0Hotel Pacai<\/a>, a stylish hotel inside a Baroque palace where Napoleon Bonaparte once stayed. The 104 rooms feature glossy marble bathrooms, centuries-old exposed brickwork and beds so comfortable you won\u2019t want to get up. But the real draw is the location, on what was once Vilnius\u2019 \u2018royal mile\u2019. Step out of the cobbled courtyard and you\u2019re right beside the old town, minutes from the city\u2019s finest restaurants, boutiques and landmarks. Double rooms with breakfast start in December from \u00a3173.22 per night.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the prestigious Cato Institute published an article titled \u2018How Lithuania destroyed the Soviet Union\u2019, and it\u2019s true that the country\u2019s national pride played a key role in the collapse of communism.<\/p>\n

These dark days are detailed in the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights (\u00a35\/\u20ac6), an incredible archive of KGB brutality which was used as a filming location for the hit\u00a0HBO miniseries Chernobyl<\/a>. A harrowing but worthwhile glimpse into the most repressive parts of the country\u2019s history, I spent 90 minutes here \u2014\u00a0but you could stay and learn for a lot longer.<\/p>\n

Today, an enduring belief in the right to self-determination explains Lithuania\u2019s fierce solidarity with\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>. Support is evident on every street corner, with Lithuanian and Ukrainian flags flying side by side and \u2018Slava Ukraini<\/em>!\u2019 (Glory to Ukraine) banners in most shop windows.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winding cobbled alleyways. A bohemian quarter with Baroque architecture. Michelin-starred restaurants and moodily lit jazz bars. It sounds like\u00a0Paris, but this is what awaits visitors in\u00a0Vilnius,\u00a0Lithuania\u2019s pocket-sized and\u00a0underexplored capital. The tourism board is willing to laugh at its obscurity, declaring\u00a0the country\u00a0the \u2018G-spot of Europe\u2019 \u2014 \u2018amazing, but nobody knows where it is\u2019. Beyond the city\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t