LT
Kaunas
Lithuania’s interwar capital: a medieval old town, UNESCO-listed modernist architecture and a riverside castle
Lithuania’s interwar capital: a medieval old town, UNESCO-listed modernist architecture and a riverside castle
Town Hall Square is the heart of the Old Town, dominated by the white Town Hall, nicknamed the White Swan, and surrounded by churches and merchants’ houses.
Photo: Хомелка, CC BY-SA 3.0
The partly restored castle near the river confluence is one of the oldest stone castles in Lithuania, with a museum inside.
Photo: Pofka, CC BY-SA 4.0
Interwar buildings include the Central Post Office, the Military Officers’ Club and the Church of Christ’s Resurrection, whose roof terrace has city views. Laisvės alėja, the pedestrian avenue, links many of them.
Photo: Хомелка, CC BY-SA 3.0
Part of the city’s 19th-century fortress, the Ninth Fort was used by the Nazis to murder tens of thousands of people, most of them Jews. It is now a museum and memorial.
Photo: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0
On the edge of the Kaunas Reservoir, this 17th-century monastery is one of the finest Baroque ensembles in north-eastern Europe.
Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0
Try cepelinai (potato dumplings with meat), šaltibarščiai (cold pink beetroot soup) in summer, and kibinai pastries. Laisvės alėja and the Old Town have many restaurants and cafés.
Kaunas has a strong craft beer and coffee scene.
Trains connect Kaunas with Vilnius in a little over an hour. Kaunas Airport has flights to several European cities, and Vilnius Airport is about an hour and a half away.
The Aleksotas and Žaliakalnis funiculars, both from the 1930s, climb to viewpoints above the centre.
Lithuania uses the euro (EUR). Kaunas is good value.
Two days for the old and modernist city.
Explore Town Hall Square, the castle and the river confluence, then ride the Aleksotas funicular.
Walk Laisvės alėja, visit the Church of Christ’s Resurrection and the Ninth Fort, or Pažaislis Monastery.
🛂 Entry rules: EES and ETIAS
Lithuania is in the Schengen area, which has two EU border systems for non-EU visitors.
EES (in force): since 10 April 2026 the EU’s Entry/Exit System registers non-EU visitors’ passport details, fingerprints and a photo the first time they enter the Schengen area, replacing passport stamps. Allow extra time at the border on your first trip; later crossings are quicker. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are not registered.
ETIAS (not yet running): a €20 online travel authorisation for visitors who don’t need a visa, such as UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens. It hasn’t started and no start date has been confirmed, so nobody can apply yet; ignore websites that offer to “pre-register” you for a fee.
Visa-free visitors can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, not per country.
Official information: EU: Travel to Europe (EES & ETIAS) · Reviewed September 2026
Ride for cheap viewpoints.
Look for building plaques.
Easy day trip by train.
Pack layers.
Quick answers for planning time in Kaunas.
It served as the temporary capital between the world wars, when Vilnius was outside Lithuanian control.
Yes, Kaunas Modernism Architecture was inscribed in 2023.
A little over an hour by train.
A former fortress where the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of people, now a museum and memorial.
May to September.
Planning a wider trip? Our Lithuania travel guide covers getting there, costs, when to go and more.