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Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania, the fourth-largest city in the Baltic states, and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life.

Plan a trip to Kaunas From Vilnius

Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of Kaunas County in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.

Get in

Getting to Kaunas

  1. 01
    Kaunas International Airport
  2. 02
    Kaunas
  3. 03
    Kaunas bus station is in New Town

    300 m north of the railway station.

See

Worth seeing

City sightseeing tours are available, see Kaunas IN offerings. They also tout a Kaunastic card but this is simply a gift card for retail outlets, it doesn't grant entry to the sights or rides on the buses.

  1. 01
    Kaunas Castle

    The first castle was built mid-14th century at the confluence of the rivers Nemunas and Neris.

  2. 02
    Church of St George

    A wooden church was built outside the castle in 1471, then rebuilt in Gothic redbrick from 1492.

  3. 03
    Cathedral of Sts Peter & Paul

    This is first documented in 1413, in the reign of Vytautas the Great, but construction dragged on to 1624, nicely in time to get smashed up by the Russians and Swedes.

  4. 04
    Church of Vytautas the Great
Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    State Musical Theatre

    Variety of classical opera and operettas in their original language.

  2. 02
    National Kaunas Drama Theatre

    Laisvės al 71,.

  3. 03
    Aura Dance Theatre

    Founded in 1980, they host a contemporary dance festival in autumn.

  4. 04
    State Philharmonic Orchestra

    The concert hall is within the former Parliament House.

  5. 05
    Žalgirio Arena

    Karaliaus Mindaugo pr 50, kasa@zalgirioarena.lt.

Eat

Where to eat

Lithuanian food isn't easy to find elsewhere in the world so this is a good place to try it. Plenty of other cuisines are available. Hesburger is a Finnish burger chain, with outlets at Vilniaus g 43, Laisvės al 48 (within Monk's Bunk), Karaliaus Mindaugo pr 49 (within Akropolis Centre), Savanorių pr 222B, Mega shopping mall, Pramones al 6A, and more further out. They're mostly open M-Sa 10:00-22:00, Su 12:00-22:00.

  1. 01
    Radharanė

    Vegetarian Indian food at very reasonable prices.

  2. 02
    Arena Pizza

    Offers a huge range of pizzas and side dishes at good prices.

  3. 03
    Miesto Sodas
  4. 04
    Moksha

    Fresh food with vegan options, great service.

  5. 05
    Bella Italia

    Buon Giorno, S Daukanto g 14 (next to Bella Italia),.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.