"Vilnius" Vilnius by SandiMandi

My friend and I were visiting the Baltics in June 2007. First we flew from Helsinki to Vilnius by Air Baltic. When we entered the old town in Vilnius, the weather was absolutely beautiful; sun was shining and it was quite hot. So, great weather for sightseeing! We walked up and down the old town and saw many beautiful buildings and churches. By the time we had seen about half of the lovely old town, it started pouring rain. We headed for the first available restaurant and were forced to stay there a couple of hours since it also started thundering...

Vilnius Old town

In this photo you can see some of the colourful old houses in Vilnius. The old town is very beautiful and clean and so far it's not full of tourists. The main square was under construction: Vilnius will be the European Capital of culture in 2009 so the city wants everything to be ready by then.

Trakai castle

In May 2008 I went to Vilnius again, this time with a group of colleagues. Stayed three nights in Hotel Artis, located next to the presidential palace and the ministry of defense - great location and lovely hotel! This time I saw much more of Vilnius and also visited the beautiful castle in Trakai. There were a lot more tourists in Vilnius this time, I guess it's getting more and more popular.

• Pros:Beautiful architecture, not too much tourists, lovely old town
• Cons:Not so friendly service