Lithuania
Kaunas
The interwar stand-in capital whose modernist streets earned a UNESCO listing.
Kaunas was Lithuania's capital between the wars, and those two decades built the city you see today: a long pedestrian boulevard and whole hillsides of modernist offices, villas and churches, now on the UNESCO list as Modernist Kaunas. Below them a compact Gothic old town runs down to a red-brick castle where the Nemunas and Neris rivers meet. It is Lithuania's second city, a student and basketball town that is quieter and less polished than Vilnius, with the Ninth Fort and Pažaislis Monastery close by.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
Lithuanian
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Kaunas
Interwar modernism street after street of 1920s and 1930s offices, villas, banks and churches from Kaunas's two decades as capital.
Two centres in one a Gothic core of brick churches and merchant houses, then the long tree-lined Laisvės alėja through the modern town.
Rivers and hills the Nemunas and Neris meet below the castle, and 1930s funiculars climb to views over the rooftops.
Easy-going second city students, murals, cafes and basketball, at a gentler pace and with far smaller crowds than Vilnius.
Best time to visit
May-Sep
18-24° days
54.898° N, 23.904° E
UTC+3 · Europe/Vilnius
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Weather & when to go to Kaunas
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Sep
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Kaunas
November to March is cold, grey and short on daylight, with regular frost and snow, so the outdoor walking that makes Kaunas is the main casualty. December still brings the Christmas tree and market to Town Hall Square, and the museums and cafes carry a winter visit, but the city shows best from late spring to early autumn.
Top things to do in Kaunas
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Modernist Kaunas - the interwar architecture walk
culture arts history ⭐ Highly recommendedBetween 1919 and 1939 the stand-in capital built ministries, banks, cinemas and villas in a confident modernist style, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Central Post Office, the Pienocentras building and the domed War Museum are highlights on a walk through the New Town and up Žaliakalnis.
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Christ's Resurrection Church - the rooftop terrace
culture arts scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA towering white modernist church on Žaliakalnis, begun in the 1930s, used as a radio factory under Soviet rule and only consecrated after independence. A lift runs to the flat roof, the best viewpoint over the city and its rivers.
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Town Hall Square - the White Swan
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe heart of Old Town, an open cobbled square ringed by merchant houses and churches, with the tall white-towered town hall nicknamed the White Swan in the middle. The Cathedral Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul stands at one corner.
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Laisvės alėja - the interwar boulevard
culture arts food 👍 PopularA long, straight, linden-lined pedestrian avenue through the New Town, lined with cafes and shops and closed at its eastern end by the blue-domed St Michael the Archangel Church. Walk it end to end and on into Vilniaus gatvė for Old Town.
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Kaunas Castle and the river confluence
history scenicThe partly rebuilt red-brick castle, a frontline fort against the Teutonic Knights, stands at the western tip of Old Town. Santaka Park beyond it runs out to the point where the Neris flows into the Nemunas, best at sunset.
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Devil's Museum - thousands of devils
culture arts 👍 PopularStarted from the painter Antanas Žmuidzinavičius's collection, it fills several floors with devils in wood, clay and metal from Lithuanian folk art and around the world, including a satirical carving of Hitler and Stalin as devils. Odd, funny and very Kaunas.
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M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum
culture artsHome to the main collection of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, the painter-composer whose dreamy symbolist canvases are a cornerstone of Lithuanian culture. The garden it shares with the Vytautas the Great War Museum holds the Unknown Soldier memorial.
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Ninth Fort - memorial and museum
historyA 19th-century fort of the Kaunas Fortress ring on the city's northern edge, used as a prison and then by the Nazi occupiers as the killing site for Kaunas's Jews and Jews deported from across Europe. The casemates, museum and vast Soviet-era memorial sculpture make a sobering visit.
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Sugihara House - the visas for life
historyThe former Japanese consulate on Žaliakalnis, where in 1940 consul Chiune Sugihara wrote transit visas that let Jewish refugees escape east across the Soviet Union. A small museum tells the story in his restored office.
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House of Perkūnas and Vytautas' Church - Gothic Kaunas
history culture artsTwo of the finest brick Gothic buildings in Lithuania, a few steps apart near the Nemunas: the ornate gabled merchant house of the Hanseatic era, and the church on the riverbank that is among the oldest in the city.
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Žaliakalnis funicular - up to the green hill
history scenicA 1930s funicular with wooden cars hauls up from the New Town to Žaliakalnis, the hillside quarter of interwar villas and wooden houses; a second runs up to the Aleksotas viewpoint across the Nemunas. The long stairways beside them are the walking alternative.
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Pažaislis Monastery - Italian baroque on the reservoir
culture arts historyA 17th-century Camaldolese monastery on the shore of the Kaunas Reservoir at the city's eastern edge, with a domed church and frescoes by Italian painters that make it the high point of baroque in Lithuania. Summer concerts use the church and courtyard.
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Žalgiris Arena - a basketball night
nightlife musicBasketball is close to a religion in Lithuania and Kaunas is its capital. A Žalgiris game in the big arena on Nemunas Island, with the whole crowd in green, is the liveliest night out in town during the season.
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Cepelinai and šaltibarščiai - Lithuanian home cooking
foodGrated-potato dumplings stuffed with meat or curd and served with sour cream and crackling, kugelis potato bake, and in summer a startling pink cold beetroot soup with hot potatoes on the side. Old Town and Laisvės alėja cafes serve all three.
Best areas to stay in Kaunas
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Old Town (Senamiestis)
First-time visitors $$Gothic lanes between castle and churches
Explore hotels in Old Town (Senamiestis) →
New Town and Laisvės alėja
Architecture and cafes $$Interwar boulevard of cafes and museums
Explore hotels in New Town and Laisvės alėja →
Žaliakalnis
Quiet residential $Leafy hillside of interwar villas
Explore hotels in Žaliakalnis →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Kaunas
Getting to & around Kaunas
Getting there
Fly into Kaunas Airport, a short bus or taxi ride from the centre, or arrive by train or coach from Vilnius
Flight
Kaunas Airport (KUN)
A city bus runs from the terminal to the centre in about 30-40 minutes; taxis and ride-hailing take about 20 minutes.
Train
Kaunas railway station
Frequent trains from Vilnius take about 1-1.5 hours, and cross-border services run towards Poland; the station sits at the southern end of the New Town
Coach
Kaunas bus station
Coaches link Vilnius, Vilnius airport, Klaipėda, Riga and Warsaw; the bus station is a short walk from the railway station
Drive
The A1 motorway runs between Vilnius and Klaipėda via Kaunas, about an hour from the capital
Getting around
Walk
Old Town and the New Town are linked by Vilniaus gatvė and Laisvės alėja, an easy flat walk; Žaliakalnis means a funicular or stairs
Free
Bus and trolleybus
A dense network of trolleybuses and buses covers the city, including the Ninth Fort, Pažaislis and the airport
TBC
Taxi and ride-hailing
Ride-hailing apps are widely used and the easy way to the Ninth Fort or the airport
TBC
Day trips from Kaunas
Lithuanian Open-Air Museum, Rumšiškės
Half dayOpen-air folk museum
Farmsteads, windmills, a wooden church and whole village streets moved here from every region of Lithuania, spread over a large site above the Kaunas Reservoir. Wear good shoes; it is a long walk round.
Getting there
car | bus
About 30 min by car or bus
Vilnius
Full dayBaroque capital
Lithuania's capital has one of the largest baroque old towns in Europe, a UNESCO site of church domes and courtyards, plus Gediminas Tower above it and the artists' quarter of Užupis. A full contrast to Kaunas's interwar style.
Getting there
train | bus
About 1-1.5 hours by train or bus
Trakai
Full dayIsland castle
The red-brick Island Castle stands on Lake Galvė, reached by footbridges, in the old Grand Duchy capital. The lakeside village is home to the Karaim community, whose baked kibinai pastries are the reason many people stay for lunch.
Getting there
car | bus
About 1-1.5 hours by car or bus
Birštonas
Half dayRiver spa town
A small mineral-spring resort tucked into a wide loop of the Nemunas, with riverside promenades, old sanatoria and pine forest around it. An easy, quiet half day of walking and spa time.
Getting there
car | bus
About 45 min by car or bus
Hill of Crosses
Full dayPilgrimage site
A low hill near Šiauliai covered in crosses, rosaries and statues left by pilgrims. Soviet authorities bulldozed it more than once and the crosses kept coming back, which is what makes it so moving.
Getting there
car | tour
About 2 hours by car or tour
A little history of Kaunas
Kaunas grew up where the Neris flows into the Nemunas, and its brick castle was a frontline fort against the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century. Town rights followed in 1408, Hanseatic merchants traded through the river port and left Gothic houses behind, and after the partitions of Poland-Lithuania the city became a Russian garrison town, ringed with forts from the 1880s.
Its defining era came after the First World War. With Vilnius held by Poland, Kaunas served as Lithuania's temporary capital from 1920 to 1939 and built itself a capital's worth of ministries, banks, cinemas and villas in a confident modernist style. The Second World War ended that: the city's large Jewish community was confined to a ghetto and many were murdered at the Ninth Fort, and Soviet rule followed. Kaunas was a European Capital of Culture in 2022, and its interwar architecture joined the UNESCO list a year later.
The Teutonic Order besieges and destroys Kaunas Castle
Kaunas is granted Magdeburg town rights
Napoleon's Grande Armee crosses the Nemunas at Kaunas to invade Russia
With Vilnius lost to Poland, Kaunas becomes Lithuania's temporary capital
Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara issues transit visas to Jewish refugees
Nazi Germany occupies the city; the Kaunas Ghetto is set up and mass killings begin at the Ninth Fort
Student Romas Kalanta sets himself on fire in protest at Soviet rule, sparking street demonstrations
Lithuania declares the restoration of its independence
Modernist Kaunas is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+370
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Kaunas
▸ When is the best time to visit Kaunas?
May to September is the season: long light evenings, mild to warm days and cafe terraces out along Laisvės alėja. November to March is cold, dark and often icy, though December has the Christmas tree and market on Town Hall Square. April and October are shoulder months that can go either way.
▸ How many days do you need in Kaunas?
Two days covers Old Town, Laisvės alėja, a modernist architecture walk and a couple of museums. A third adds the Ninth Fort and Pažaislis, or a day trip to Rumšiškės or Trakai.
▸ Is Kaunas worth visiting if I am already seeing Vilnius?
Yes, because it is different rather than smaller. Vilnius is baroque and grand; Kaunas is Gothic at its core and interwar modernist everywhere else, with a more everyday, student-town feel. Many people day-trip from Vilnius, but a night lets you see both centres without rushing and usually costs less.
▸ What is Modernist Kaunas?
The UNESCO-listed architecture of the 1919-1939 years, when Kaunas was capital and built almost a whole modern city in two decades. Look for the Central Post Office, the Pienocentras building, the War Museum and Christ's Resurrection Church, plus hundreds of villas and apartment blocks on Žaliakalnis and in the New Town.
▸ Is basketball really that big in Kaunas?
Very. Basketball is Lithuania's national passion and Kaunas is the home of Žalgiris, one of Europe's best-known clubs. Big games fill the arena and the bars around town, and catching one is a memorable night even if you know little about the sport.
▸ How do I get from Kaunas to Vilnius?
Trains and buses both run frequently and take about 1-1.5 hours, arriving at stations next to each other in each city. The motorway makes it about an hour by car.
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