Vilnius family trip, vacation on the road

Vacation on the road

Vilnius family trip is part of a greater plan of visiting Poland and Lithuania. Instead of heading towards all inclusive packages for the summer we decided to spend our vacation differently.

We started in Prague and we had two stops: one in Lodz and the second was in Bialystok.

One thing that we remarked right away was the fact that the city is sooooooo green. The nature is present everywhere in the country but was quite a surprise to find a city in the forest or a forest in the city. 🙂

There are parks too but you can not fail to miss the nature in the purest form. In fact our hotel was right next to the forest.

Vilnius family trip

Because we had little F with us we planned to spend more time outdoors. And the perfect solution was to explore the old town, or as much as possible. We went by car and we parked it in a paid parking place very close to the city center. And from there we walked. Of course we had the stroller with us.

The first main point of attraction was Vilnius Cathedral. It is a very grand place with a few great chapels. What remained in my memory was the fact that we could all go inside in the same time. The entrance is more stroller friendly than the average church. I have to say that there were many babies inside in their strollers.

The ceiling is very pretty with the its white decorations .

But there are many beautiful works of art everywhere.

One chapel looked like the main feature was silver.

Vilnius the city of many religions

Vilnius family trip in the old town started with a cathedral. And it continued with many other religious places. The city is full of churches, one more beautiful than the other.

Some are in a great conditions some are in the process of renovations.

One of more interesting churches is the Orthodox Church. When we visited the outside was undergoing some reparations.

Old Campus of Vilnius University

I do not remember who recomended us to visit the campus of Vilnius University but it was a very good choice. Firstly because it was not crowded. That is a major plus with us because we are not very comfortable when there are a lot of tourists. But aside the fact that it was a quiet and peaceful place in the heart of the old town there are many things to see and to admire.

From the church that is part of the complex to the bookshop, everything is full of history.

In a corner of the complex we found a very cute art shop. We ended up buying a small paint.

There is a small fountain where little F was happy to splash water. 😉

Pilies street, food and other attractions

While in town we follow for a while the Pilies street which is very charming with its shops and restaurants.

Very close to this street is Presidential Palace.

When it came to food we choose a restaurant that was catering mostly to offices. But they had high chairs for the kids and the service was very good. They serve one of the best soups too!

Fortunately F behaved and he was not served espresso! 🙂

TV Tower and the best view in Vilnius

Our hotel was very close to TV Tower and in our last evening we decided to have a closer look. The down part is that the access for strollers is not very good. Basically we had to carry it between each others. But the view is absolutely great!

There is a restaurant on the top level and you can have a seat and admire a 360 degree view. It was an awesome experience.

Last thoughts on our Vilnius family trip

The differences between the old town and the new neighborhoods are quite striking. There are many Communistic buildings that need a face lift. On the other hand you can see a lot of forest in the city and outside the city.

Vilnius was the first city that we visited in Lithuania and I have to say that we didn’t have any problems making us understood. English was used by many people but we noticed that other languages were also used.

Oh and on TV all the movies were dubbed. 🙂

Did you visit Lithuania? Where did you go?