Lithuania Travel
Lithuania, the southernmost and biggest of the 3 Baltic states (a term given to the countries in northeastern Europe situated on the Baltic Sea namely Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), was an influential empire that controlled much of eastern Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries before entering the Polish-Lithuanian confederation for the next 2 centuries.
Lithuania was under Russia from 1795, ruled by Germany for a short duration throughout World War II, and annexed into the U.S.S.R. in 1944 as one of its constituent republics. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania announced its independence by a consentaneous vote of its freshly chosen parliament. Lithuania joined the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004. Its capital is Vilnius.
Through this series of articles, I intend to share our stories and experiences of traveling across Lithuania with our fellow photography and travel enthusiasts. I hope they help you plan your travels across this beautiful country!
December in Vilnius is a unique time as Christmas and New Year draw closer and bring the associated festivities. Vilnius got extremely popular when ‘The Guardian’ listed Vilnius’ Christmas Tree amongst the most gorgeous ones globally in 2015. Its appeal increased with the Christmas Trees of 2016 and 2017. In 2019 when we visited, Vilnius set up a 27 meters (around 90 feet) high metal Christmas Tree made with 600+ branches and over 5 km of lighting themed on the Queen of Chess (ranked as finest Christmas Tree in Europe that year), surrounded by stalls offering well-crafted distinct handmade products, a wide variety of dining establishments open till midnight and youth choirs shouting Christmas carols all around. Certainly, Vilnius is a must-visit Christmas location.