Kaunas travel guide

Kaunas, Lithuania

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Kaunas

Introduction

Kaunas is a major city in Lithuania and one of the largest in the Baltic states, known as an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic and cultural life. Its position at the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers has long made it a significant settlement.

The city has a deep historical pedigree: it was the largest city and the centre of Kaunas County in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate from 1413, and later served as the capital of the Kaunas Governorate in the Russian Empire from 1843 to 1915. That layered past shows in its Old Town and interwar architecture, while the student population keeps the centre lively.

Before you go

Kaunas grew up at the confluence of the country's two main rivers, and its Old Town dates from the 14th century, when the castle was built. It prospered as part of the Hanseatic League, later became the provisional capital of the First Republic, and developed handsome neoclassical, functional and Art Deco buildings that earned it the nickname "Little Paris". The city was also diverse, with a quarter of the population Jewish and engaged in commercial, artisan, professional life and religious learning. That history includes repeated attacks and devastation in the 17th and 18th centuries, Napoleon's Grand Army marching through and retreating, and the German liquidation of the Jewish population in the 1940s. Understanding this past will shape what you notice in the streets.

The best time to visit is May to August, when summers are cool and there are frequent showers. Winter is icy and bitter cold with short days, but the city is well-adapted: streets get snow-plowed, transport keeps running, and museums stay open. Buildings are well-heated with cloakrooms for your clobber, so expect to spend ten minutes shedding layers on entering and ten minutes wrapping up again before you go out. It's companionable, and you can lark about with sledges and snowmen - though choose carefully who you snowball, as the locals have far greater skills than you have. Take the usual precautions about traffic, safeguarding valuables and avoiding damnfool drunks, and note that the station area can be rough at night. The tourist information centre, Kaunas IN, is on Laisvės al in New Town, 100 m west of the prominent Church of St Michael.

Getting there

Kaunas International Airport (KUN) sits about 14 km northeast of the city on the A6/E262, with Ryanair and Wizz Air serving a long list of European cities. The terminal has a restaurant, bars, duty-free shops, car rentals, a travel agency, currency exchange and ATMs, and there are three parking lots. To reach the centre, bus 29 runs from outside Arrivals via Savanoriu Ave to the main railway and bus station, taking about an hour and running once or twice an hour through the day, with a final bus that waits for delayed flights; pay the driver by card or cash. A taxi is another option. Ollex also runs direct buses from the airport to Vilnius and to Klaipėda, the latter stopping midway at the Kryžkalnis highway interchange for other local buses. Vilnius Airport, 100 km east, has far more flights and a direct Ollex bus to Kaunas city centre.

By road, the dual-carriageway motorways and main highways are in good condition and kept open in winter. The Via Baltica E67 links Warsaw via Lithuania to Tallinn, entering from Augustow in Poland and running past Marijampolė to Kaunas before continuing north to Riga and Tallinn. Highway A1/E85 runs west to Klaipėda and east to Vilnius, from where A3/E28 continues towards Minsk, while A6/E262 heads northeast to Jonava, Ukmerge, Utena and Daugavpils in Latvia. By train, two services run daily from Poland, one from Kraków via Warsaw and one from Szczecin via Poznań and Warsaw, both requiring a change at Mockava on the border; trains from Vilnius run hourly and take about 90 minutes, and four daily services connect Klaipėda with a change at Šiauliai. Kaunas railway station is in the southeast corner of the city, with lockers, a tourist office, an ATM and a small café, about 2 km from the Old Town along a riverside footpath. International buses run from Riga, Tallinn, Minsk and Warsaw, with FlixBus also serving Warsaw and Berlin, while Kautra and Toks run frequent departures to Vilnius and hourly services to Klaipėda. The bus station is in New Town, 300 m north of the railway station.

Getting around

Kaunas is compact enough that you can cover much of the centre on foot, mixing walking with public transport and filling in the gaps with taxis or shared cars when you need to reach outlying sights. There is no metro, tram or suburban rail network for getting around the city itself; instead, an extensive web of bus and trolleybus routes criss-crosses Kaunas, with frequent service during the day, so almost any part of the city is reachable by surface transport.

Where to stay

Budget options cluster in New Town and the Old Town. The Monks' Bunk on Laisvės alėja is a clean, friendly hostel with a fully equipped kitchen, though no meals are included. Mr Jo's Hostel sits midway between the bus and railway stations, a short walk from either, and also gives you a kitchen rather than breakfast. In the Old Town, the Apple Economy Hotel is a basic place with a small number of double rooms; staff don't speak English and there's no lift to the upper floors, so you head out to the nearby cafes for meals. The Kaunas Archdiocese Guesthouse puts you at the heart of the Old Town with clean, modern rooms and internet access. Further out, Baltosios Bures is a cheap motel at the yacht club on the lakeshore, with doubles that have TV, Wi-Fi and showers, but no catering, nearby facilities or public transport, so bring supplies or eat on the way.

Mid-range choices are mostly central. The Amberton Cozy Hotel is very central in the Old Town, though there are no lifts, top-floor rooms are cramped under the roof pitch, cleanliness varies and there's no reception, so you need a code to get in. The Daugirdas Hotel occupies a restored centuries-old building in the Old Town, and the Kaunas City Hotel on Laisvės alėja offers large rooms, a cafe, a grocery store and 24-hour reception in New Town. The Metropolis is an old-fashioned, good-value option very central in New Town, while the Ibis Kaunas Centre and Ibis Styles Kaunas Centre are clean, well-run chain hotels on either side of the bus station. Quieter stays include the Babilonas Hotel in Žaliakalnis, with a restaurant and conference hall, and the small Olympus Hotel in the residential district of Vilijampole. At the top end, the Radisson in New Town is the city's largest hotel and gets good reviews for service and comfort, with a gym and buffet breakfast; the Victoria Hotel near Akropolis shopping mall has free parking and is often busy with conferences; the Best Western Santakos has free parking and a nightclub and restaurant next door; the Hotel Kaunas in New Town adds a fitness centre; and the Pažaislis Park Hotel, out by the reservoir, is a quirky small place whose restaurant serves European, Chinese and Indian food.

Food & drink

Lithuanian food is not easy to find elsewhere in the world, so Kaunas is a good place to try it — though plenty of other cuisines are available too. For traditional fare, head to Bernelių Užeiga in the Old Town, facing the Cathedral of Sts Peter & Paul, where you can try cepelinai, the potato dumplings known as "zeppelins" and considered Lithuania's national dish, alongside soup served in bowls made of bread and home-brewed beer. Spurginė on Laisvės alėja is one of the few places in the city still making the traditional Lithuanian doughnut, the spurga. For something more modern, Uoksas and Nüman both serve modern Lithuanian cuisine using local ingredients.

Budget options include the Finnish burger chain Hesburger and the Japanese fast-food chain Sushi Express, both with multiple outlets, while Radharanė serves vegetarian Indian food and Arena Pizza and Pizza Express cover pizza. Mid-range choices range from Indian at Moksha and Georgian at Mtevani to Italian at Bella Italia and the New Town trattoria Buon Giorno, with European cuisine at Miesto Sodas and Pas Stanley. For a splurge, Medžiotojų užeiga facing City Hall serves high-quality game dishes, and Bokštas sits on the city wall near the Music Theatre. Beer is alus in Lithuanian — think "ales" — with popular local brands including Utenos, Švyturys and Horn. Avilys brews its own beer and serves beer-based dishes such as soups and desserts, rePUBlic No 1 offers a wide range of beers, whiskeys and Lithuanian liquors, and Džem'pub has live music. Kauno Alus Brewery and Genys Brewery both offer tours, and Stumbras distillery makes vodka, brandy and liqueurs.

What to see and do

Old Town clusters around Rotušės aikštė, the City Hall Square that has been the focus of the district since the 14th century and holds a mix of museums and old churches. Kaunas Castle, the city's oldest building, stands at the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers; its round tower now houses an art gallery, and Santakos Park occupies the tip of the confluence. Nearby are the Gothic redbrick Church of St George and the Church of Vytautas the Great, built for Franciscan monks and repeatedly battered by floods and occupying armies. The renaissance City Hall, known as the White Swan, contains the Kaunas Ceramics museum in its cellars and the city history museum, while the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy holds a collection of skulls, herbs and medical relics. Other Old Town sights include the Church of Holy Trinity, the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature in Siručiai Palace, and the rococo Church of St Francis Xavier, where sacral music concerts are held. The Cathedral of Sts Peter & Paul is a mostly red-brick Gothic structure with Renaissance and Baroque additions, and the striking flamboyant-Gothic Perkūnas House, once the offices of Hanseatic merchants, now holds a small museum about Adam Mickiewicz. The Vytis Monument, a bronze sculpture of the knight on horseback, stands next to the castle. Across the Vytautas the Great Bridge, the Aleksotas Funicular climbs the hill to the Aleksotas district.

New Town is organised along Laisvės alėja, a pedestrianised boulevard lined with linden trees, seating and flower beds, with shops, restaurants, museums and a central post office along its length; vendors sell food and souvenirs in the late morning and afternoon. The strip ends at the Church of St Michael the Archangel. Here you'll find the neo-baroque Historical Presidential Palace, home to Lithuania's interwar presidents and their furnishings and artwork, the Gothic redbrick Church of St Gertrude, and the Vytautas' Monument, re-erected in 1990 after the Soviets demolished the original. A memorial on the west side of the gardens fronting the monument commemorates Romas Kalanta, who self-immolated there in protest against Soviet oppression. The Kaunas Picture Gallery, opposite the cathedral, shows 20th-century Lithuanian and émigré art alongside a collection of North American Indian art, and a combined ticket with the M K Čiurlionis Museum of Art is available. City sightseeing tours run, but note that the Kaunastic card is a retail gift card and does not grant entry to sights or buses.

When to go

Summer is the recommended window for a visit, running from May to August. Days are cool rather than hot, with July the warmest month, and showers are frequent, so plan for rain even in the height of the season.

Winter is icy and bitterly cold, with short days. The city copes well, though: streets are snow-plowed, transport keeps running, and museums and similar facilities stay open. Buildings are well-heated and provide cloakrooms and storage, so you shed layers on entering and wrap up again before going out. Outside, the snow is there to be enjoyed — you can sledge, build snowmen and snowball the locals.

Three days in Kaunas

Day one: Start in Kaunas, Lithuania's second city, where the Nemunas and Neris rivers meet. Begin in the Old Town, whose Hanseatic League heritage and First Republic buildings give it a distinct character. Walk Laisvės alėja, the pedestrian spine of New Town, and note the Art Deco architecture that earned Kaunas the nickname Little Paris. Visit the Church of St Michael the Archangel. In the evening, eat Lithuanian dishes in the Old Town.

Day two: Explore the layers of Kaunas history. The city passed through the Duchy, Trakai Palatinate, Kaunas Governorate and the Russian Empire, and its Jewish community left a lasting mark. Napoleon's Grand Army passed through in 1812, and German forces occupied the city in the twentieth century. Understanding these chapters helps you read the buildings around you. In May and August the city is at its liveliest; winter is bitterly cold, so plan indoor stops.

Day three: Take a day trip to Trakai, in the Grand Duchy's old heartland, or stay in Kaunas and revisit the Old Town at a slower pace. If you are flying out, Kaunas International Airport (KUN) is served by Ryanair, and Kaunas County surrounds the city. Use your last hours to walk the riverbanks where the Nemunas and Neris meet and to see the Old Town's buildings in softer light.

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