Vilnius

Angel of Uzupis

In the main square is a statue unveiled on 1 April 2002 of Gabriel blowing a trumpet. He's probably blowing a raspberry.

Artistai

The large courtyard is a great place to relax and watch the sunset. Friendly service, live music.

Mon 11:00-00:00, Tue Wed 11:00-01:00, Thu Fri 11:00-16:00, Sat 12:00-17:00, Sun 12:00-00:00

BIX

Bar founded by BIX rock band. Live rock / metal bands on Friday nights, karaoke on Thursdays, and rock music any time on the dance floor. Surprisingly good food.

Sun-Tue 11:30-23:00, Wed Thu 11:30-02:00, Fri Sat 11:30-04:00

Bastion of Vilnius Defensive Wall

The city walls were built 1503-22 with nine gates (of which only Gate of Dawn survives) and this artillery position. It's now a museum of the city's military history.

Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00·Adult €6, child €3

Belmontas Cafe

Folk-themed outdoor restaurant by a 19th century mill and waterfall.

Summer

Bernadine Cemetery

Established in 1810 by the Bernardine monks of the Church of St Francis in Užupis. It became the main city cemetery, with some 14,000 burial plots, but fell into disrepair from 1945. It was restored from 2010.

Bistro 18

Small restaurant and wine bar with good selection of European cuisine.

Mon-Thu 11:30-21:00, Fri 11:30-22:00, Sat 13:00-21:00

Buga Sotu

Trad food: chicken, dumplings, kibinai, pizzas and carp. Live music on Friday and sometimes on Saturday. You'd most likely eat here if you visited the TV Tower and baulked at their restaurant prices.

Mon-Thu 08:00-23:00, Fri 08:00-01:00, Sat 09:00-01:00, Sun 12:00-22:00

Cathedral of the Theotokos

Dievo Motinos Ėmimo į Dangų katedra

Like St Anne's, this stands by an entrance bridge to Užupis. It was first built in the 1340s by Grand Duke Algirdas before the country became Christian. It's been destroyed, rebuilt and changed use several times - in the 1820s it was the university anatomy department. The present building is from the 1860s in sort-of neoclassical meets the Byzantine style of Georgia. It's Eastern Orthodox (which calls the Virgin Mary Theotokos, god-bearer) and so is the senior church for Russians and Belarusians in Vilnius.

Church of Our Lady of the Sign

Ženklas iš dangaus cerkvė

Built in Neo-Byzantine style in 1903, this is the Eastern Orthodox church you see when looking west along Gedimino prospekt. It was financed by fundraising around the Russian Empire.

Saily 09:00-16:30

Church of Saints Peter and Paul

The first church from around 1500 was wooden and burned down, and its successor was wrecked in the 1650s in the war with Russia. The present building was commissioned by Michał Kazimierz Pac (1624-82), begun in 1668 but only completed in 1704 after his death. The exterior is fairly plain, but inside is baroque run riot.

Daily 07:00-18:30

Church of St Casimir

Baroque RC church completed in 1618. It's been held by various faiths (including a spell as Museum of Atheism) but was re-consecrated in 1991. It often hosts organ recitals.

Mon-Fri 11:00-19:00, Sun 08:00-19:00

Church of St Catherine

Šv. Kotrynos bažnyčia

Built in the 18th century in Baroque style and dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, as part of a Benedictine Nunnery. The church is known for its elegant façade, intricate stucco decorations, but many of its artworks were either lost in WW2 or moved to the Lithuanian National Museum of Art.

Church of St Constantine and St Michael

This orthodox church was built in 1913 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, much good it did them. It's a dinky onion-domed building.

Daily 07:00-20:00

Church of St Francis and St Bernard

Also known as the Bernadine Church, it is next to St Anne's on the riverbank. It's a sturdy Gothic building from the 16th century, incorporated into the city walls, with loopholes toshoot at the Cossacks.

Church of St Philip and St Jacob

Šv Apaštalų Pilypo ir Jokūbo bažnyčia

Red and white Baroque church of the Dominican order, completed in 1722. It houses a large icon of the Virgin Mary "Hodegetria" - in iconography this means "shows the way" as she points to the infant as the salvation of mankind.

Church of St Theresa

Just north of the Gate of Dawn (indeed serving as the entrance to get up to the gate's Virgin Mary icon) is a Roman Catholic church popular with worshippers also outside mass, completed in 1650.

Church of Vytautas the Great

It's Roman Catholic, redbrick Gothic, dating to 1400 but 19th century in its present form. Also known as the Church of the Assumption.

Contemporary Art Centre

Šiuolaikinio meno centras

This has a permanent display of Fluxus artwork plus other rotating exhibitions.

Closed for rebuilding

Cozy

Well-named place, with laid-back restaurant upstairs, DJ-bar downstairs, serves hearty modern food with a few vegetarian options.

Daily 10:00-01:00

Dėvėti

Calls itself a gastropub, more like a bar with pizza and pita bread sandwiches.

Sun-Wed 16:00-00:00, Thu-Sat 16:00-01:00

Energy and Technology Museum

This was the city's first power plant, opened in 1903. It exhibits electricity generation, industrial technologies, child-friendly interactions and transformation, the Tesla-inspired wizardry that enables long-distance transmission of electricity. They also have an Escape Room, €50 for 2-4 players.

Tue-Sun 10.00-18.30·Adult €7, child or conc €3.5

Fabai

Vilnius doesn't have much by way of Caucasus cuisine, so it may be worth the trip out to this bar grill - and you'll have to queue at peak times. It's styled like a country tavern, with grillroom, ballroom, bar, and two billiard halls.

Mon-Thu 11:00-23:00, Fri 11:00-00:00, Sat 12:00-00:00, Sun 12:00-23:00

Fortas

This is the original of what has become a chain. They do pub-style food with theme days on different nations' cuisines. Other outlets are at Vilniaus 18 in Old Town and Konstitucijos pr 7A north of the river.

Mon-Fri 09:00-23:00, Sat Sun 11:00-23:00

Franciscan Monastery

Founded in 1334 and it's their monks who are commemorated by the Three Crosses. It's in shabby condition, but you can access the church daily 07:00-22:30.

Frank Zappa bust

Frank Zappa (1940-1993) is commemorated by a bust on Kalinausko gatve. He was never here, but local fans erected it in 1995, donating a replica to Baltimore, Maryland, his childhood home.

Fėjų kepyklėlė

Little Bakery Of The Fairies

Bakery-cafe with pastries, snacks, pizza and ice cream. It's infested with Lithuanian fairies, which you'll either adore or upchuck over.

Mon-Thu 07:30-19:00, Fri 07:30-18:00

Gate of Dawn

Aušros vartai

The last survivor of the walled city's nine gates, various called Medininkai Gate as the street led south to that village, Sharp Gate, and now Gate of Dawn. It's straddled by a chapel with a large icon of the Virgin Mary, painted in the 1620s, which has become a pilgrimage destination. Mass is held daily in Lithuanian and Polish. Enter the chapel via the Church of St Theresa, just follow the head-scarves. When the chapel windows are opened, you see the icon from the street below, and she can see you and your sins. The alley through the gate is pedestrianised and open 24 hours: south you emerge blinking into a modern world of traffic.

Chapel daily 07:00-19:00

Gediminas Castle

This is the Upper Castle of a complex of three built from the 13th century, much bashed about, and abandoned from the 16th. (The Lower Castle became the site of the Arsenal, Palace and Cathedral, and the "Crooked Castle" was destroyed in 1394.) You can ascend the cobbled lane and enter the courtyard free for views of the city, and the Three Crosses on the hill east. The ducal palace east side of the courtyard is just a shell, converted into a performance space. West side is the three storey red brick tower, now a museum.

Daily 10:00-20:00·Tower adult €8, conc or child €4

Halės turgus

The main market hall of Vilnius, built in 1906 and looking like a railway terminus. Inside, its east side has food stalls and a couple of eateries. Adjacent is the modern wing for clothing and household wares.

Tue-Sat 07:00-18:00, Sun 07:00-16:00