The largest and most southerly Baltic state, Lithuania pairs a baroque, leafy capital with lake districts, primeval forest and a coastline of shifting dunes. Vilnius holds one of Europe's biggest surviving Old Towns, Kaunas brings interwar modernist architecture and a lively arts scene, and the seaside Curonian Spit feels like another world of sand and pine. Inland, the wooded Aukstaitija lakelands and the moving Hill of Crosses speak to a deep Catholic and pagan-tinged…
HBO's “Chernobyl” (2019) was shot in Vilnius — the Fabijoniškės district stands in for Pripyat.
Užupis, Vilnius's artists' quarter, declared itself a “republic” with its own constitution — guaranteeing everyone the right to be happy, and cats the right not to love their owner.
Trakai Castle, set on its island, is 30 minutes away by train. An eSIM helps: Bolt in Vilnius, LTG train times and reviews of Užupis's cafés.