Hostels in Lithuania

Lithuania is a relatively new country, having only declared its independence at the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Prior to this, it has had an incredibly long and sad history of occupation, especially during the final decade at the hands of the Germans and the Soviets. You can learn about that history when visiting some incredible museums and memorials across the country.

Majority of the hostels in Lithuania are in its capital city, Vilnius. Aside from the capital, there are a few other places that have a couple of hostels but none in large supply, so you will need to make sure you book your Lithuanian hostels in advance, especially if you are traveling during the summer months anywhere outside of Vilnius.

Vilnius has some stunning architecture that you could easily spend a couple of days exploring. There are some spectacular churches as well as the KGB Museum (Museum of Genocide Victims), which is the best of its kind in the Baltic region and definitely worth a visit. While you are here, it is also a good idea to try some local foods. Zeppelins (Cepelinai) are potatoes with meat in the middle and a really nice, cheap option to try. Do it in a cheaper restaurant that is outside of the old town as it will be more authentic.

Kaunas is the second largest city and is also home to some interesting history. Much of it can be found at the Ninth Fort, which is a fortification turned prison during the times of the Soviet and Nazi occupations. The museum here is excellent and gives a guided history of what happened. There is also a memorial here for all of those individuals who died at the fort, some of those being the first Jews that were executed by the Nazis during World War 2. Kaunas is also home to the Devil's Museum, a quirky museum consisting of a bunch of devil sculptures from around the world that originally started from one guy’s personal collection. It is also worth a visit.

Klaipeda is a small port city on the coast of Lithuania. You can easily explore the city within the space of a day. Most people come here as it is the gateway for exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Curonian Spit. The main town on the spit is Nida, but there are a few others you can stop at along the way. To get here, you can take the ferry that leaves multiple times a day as well as busses, which run along the spit with different frequencies depending on the season. There are not many hostels in either Klaipeda or on the spit so you need to make sure that you book well in advance if you are planning to travel here during the summer season. During the winter season, not many of the attractions or the hostels are open on the spit so it is worth investigating before planning your trip if you are planning on going during off season.

Traveling around Lithuania is fairly easy and the busses run quite frequently between the major cities. They also run quite frequently up into Latvia from Klaipeda, Kaunas and Vilnius. If you have the luxury of foresight, booking buses in advance makes the fare cheaper.

Handwritten by local expert for Lithuania hostels Globetrotter