A good trip restores and refreshes. I’m especially refreshed today, after a week spent between Stockholm and Vilnius. While Stockholm is (delightfully) old hat—a place where metro connections between my friends’ apartments and the center of the city are seared into my brain—Vilnius was a new discovery.

The capital of Lithuania is a beautiful place, compact and manageable. It boasts harrowing histories, Baroque architecture, winding alleyways, and a few modernist edges to make the place feel gritty as well as magical.

It also has one of the coolest cafes I’ve ever seen. That the Contemporary Art Centre’s bunker-like cafe hasn’t yet been featured in Wallpaper is surprising, to say the least.

This time of year, Vilnius is haunting, cold, and fairly empty of tourists. Local hotel rates, restaurant prices, and transportation fares are all budget-friendly. The absence of a plethora of direct low-cost air links explains why Vilnius hasn’t popped as its Baltic sister capitals Tallinn and Riga have. I got there by flying from Stockholm Skavsta to Kaunas—a good 100km away from Vilnius, and an interesting city in its own right—and connecting by bus.

More about what makes Vilnius exciting over the next few days.

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