Taking a taxi is a much better idea and you will only get ripped off if you don't set a fixed price before leaving the airport. Even a taxi to a somewhat remote district should only be about 20 Litas so ask a local on the plane what fare you should agree to. The main advantage aside from saving a huge amount of time is that some addresses in Vilnius are next to impossible for a newcomer to locate (and not always that easy even for the cab drivers).

As for the language barrier, don't worry. Almost anyone associated with the tourist industry will speak basic English and you will find that younger and/or more educated people will speak it quite well. If English doesn't work try German if you know it, particularly with older people. Russian is also widely understood by most adults, but it is unwise to begin any conversation in Russian until you have made it quite clear that you are not Russian and that Russian isn't your language of choice (unless you are or it is). This is in sharp contrast to Latvia, where Russian is still widely spoken and in many places may serve you better than English.

I'm another one -- grandparents on one side and further generations back on the other came from there.

I'm going in 2 weeks. Will report back.

Someone asked about hotels in Vilnius.

I've been to Vilnius on business three times in the past six months - love the city! I always stay at the Radisson SAS Astorija which is at the edge of the old town, and from which you can walk all over the old city, and to the river in about twenty minutes. Negotiate a little - I've never paid over 90 Euros/night for a room in the hotel, the rooms have always been completely functional and very quiet, and a quite nice breakfast buffet is always included.

Don't eat in the hotel restaurant other than for the included breakfast buffet, because the prices are outrageously high. Walk 2 minutes down the street (turn left out the front door of the hotel) and walk in to Grasas or any of 100 other places and you'll eat good food for 1/3 of what the Radisson would charge in its restaurant.

My coworkers have stayed at the Reval hotel just across the river, and also at the Holiday Inn, and these hotels too have served nicely.

Taxi from the airport is more expensive than taxis elsewhere in Vilnius I've noticed, but even so is typically in the 25 to 30 Litas range. It seems that radio dispatched taxis are cheaper than taxis you pick up on the street, or at least so my local friends in Vilnius tell me. I've got the numbers of a couple of taxi services in my cell phone and I call them when I need a ride - warning, though, rarely do the phone dispatchers speak English, so it can be quite hard to explain to them where I am if I'm not standing at a well known landmark (like the Radisson!).

Cell phones - as soon as you walk out of customs at the Vilnius airport, look across and just to the right of the main exit door, and you'll see a little kiosk store. For 10 Litas you can get a local cellular phone SIM card with 10 Litas credit on the prepaid account, and the phone number is good for 180 days. Local cell phone service in Lithuania is very cheap, so on each of my ~3 day visits I have used less than 10 Litas. As in most of the world, incoming calls are free. I use a callback service from DialThru/Rapidlink to make international calls.

Vilnius is a nice, and in my experience safe city. I wouldn't want to be there mid-winter, because the Baltics are bitterly cold, but otherwise I love the place. If you're a single man, or an unfaithful pig, the Lithuanian women are quite something too. (I'm neither, I just look; the very married-with-children Dutch business next to whom I sat on one of my flights departing Vilnius I think fell in to the unfaithful pig category, as by reputation to many Brits, and I'm sure more than a fair share of other Americans, oh well). The reason for the social commentary here is that if you are a single, or lone traveling, western man, you may encounter an odd mix of reactions from the younger generation of Lithuanian women. Some may treat you as a potential sugar daddy, others as though you were dirt on the simple presumption that you're in town for the same reason as some of the dirt which does come to town for that reason. If by chance you do encouner that, don't let it get to you - almost entirely, I have found the Lithuanians to be charming and welcoming people, and some of the women simply have had the bad experience to bring on that reaction to some men.

If it's your thing (not mine), there's quite the casino and adult entertainment sector of the Vilnius economy. Whereas food can generally be had good and cheap, and hotels can be pretty reasonable, what I've seen advertised of the adult entertainment is as expensive as anything in a major European or US city. The entertainment seems to tend more towards stage shows than the more in-your-face American / Canadian form of adult clubs, but not having been inside any of the clubs in Vilnius, I can't say that for sure. (I looked in to it for a friend in Vilnius who was about to turn 21 and expressed curiousity about going to such a place - she demurred when she found out how much they would cost).

On my first visit to Vilnius, in September 2005, I took an extra day and went with a local friend by bus to Trakai - a lovely castle on an island in the middle of a lake about 30 minutes bus ride from Vilnius. The bus was dirt cheap, basically comfortable, rode on a highway in very good condition, and seemed to be driven safely. I understand there are spa towns around an hour outside of Vilnius, and during nice late Spring / Summer weather there's plenty of outdoor things to do in the region, plus along the Baltic coast. I'm hoping to visit Kaunas and Klaipeda on my next trip later this summer.

Have a great time in Lithuania!
-Jay in Atlanta

We just got back from a trip to Lithuania/Latvia over Easter. We spent a quick three days between Vilnius and Riga. In Vilnius, the taxi from the airport to the Scandic hotel (not in the Old town, but within walking distance) was 35, on the way back it was about 25 (radio dispatched taxi), so calling ahead does seem to be cheaper.

We did a Vilnius city tour our first afternoon, then the next day hired a car and drove to Riga via Trakai and Siauliai. The roads were in excellent condition.

Vilnius old town should defineatly be on your list. I loved walking around and discovering beautiful buildings, quirky bars and other places. In my experience walkablevilnius.com has very decent must-see lists and ton of helpful information. Oh, and they offer premade walking tours too!

So what?

The question is timeless and geeraas is presumably offering what she or he considers to be topical advice.

Thanks, geeraas! Welcome to FlyerTalk! Most people here are friendly and we hope you become an active participant.

Actually, the question specifically asked about the currency is outdated. Lithuania is in the Eurozone now. Ancient threads have the annoyingly unhelpful tendency to recommend, for example, restaurants that no longer exist, ways of getting from the airport to town that are outmoded, and leaving out a host of new possibilities. They also tend to get long and go off-topic. Better to open a new thread every couple of years,

Actually, geeraas cleverly avoided saying anything about any outdated currency and instead made timely comments that perfectly address the topic and title of the thread: Lithuania- What to do?

There used to be an FT rule against reviving threads that were inactive for x years. Thankfully, that rule has been revoked and we can now avoid clutter and repetition in the fora by posting in older threads that ask, or say, exactly what we mean.