48hrs in Vilnius

I find it hard to criticise #Ryanair for offering £5 return flights in a flash sale, especially when they are available to book for dates that you actually want to travel. It's even harder to justify not travelling when a cheeky little weekend break to somewhere intriguing like Vilnius in Lithuania costs notably less than an Uber or return bus fare into Nottingham. And so, fate took hold, with the tight parameters of Saturday first thing to school pick up on the Monday we scoured the possibilities within Ryanair's flash £5 sale.

Rarely did such bargain deals suit my availability. However, this time it was meant to be. Was it worth it to fly a potential two- and three-quarter hours for 48 hours in the destination? you betcha! And since the point of booking this cheeky deal, me and the girls have secured another bargain, slightly further to Bucharest in Romania for a 36-hour getaway. You've got to work within what you've got available to you. I personally like the challenge of trying to be as creative as possible within some tight restraints.

We didn't even need to fly and face the mind numbing M11 down to Stansted for this one either, Luton was our airport of departure, and with some of the cheapest airport parking available, only served to make this an absolute belter of a deal, coming in at less than £50 per person for the weekend.

A smooth and efficient processing through Luton, and supported by a brisk tailwind, we arrived a little earlier than scheduled into #Vilnius, an incredibly windy Vilnius. High five to the skilful pilot that navigated the buffeting crosswind. I really love the flight approach, the sense of anticipation of what the destination has in store; the unknown. The landscape in and around Vilnius was spectacular and, as always, I enjoyed the cross references of geographical features against knowledge of maps of the region. What a geek, but nevertheless intrigued to see the location of Gdansk and Klaipeda, a Russian territory, cuddled by #Poland, as we flew in towards Lithuania.

Having such a short trip, you really want all the airport associated bureaucracy, (somewhat heightened in the context of COVID), to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, but this didn't quite go to plan in the case of passport control at Vilnius airport. We waited and waited and waited until finally we were through. Another case of queue lottery when you never seem to win. Although we did overhear talk of a train from the airport into the city, the subsequent search for the train and encountering the abandoned rail station made us revert to the airport bus, which was conveniently waiting and again conveniently seemed to not necessitate any form of ticketing that we could fathom. We hopped off before we felt we were taking the mickey too much with the free bus ride and headed towards our accommodation on foot – banging out the step count for the weekend.

Although there were cheaper options, we opted for the Gabi B & B which looked very traditional and quaint in style and décor, situated in the Old town. It was still hardly steep at 60 pounds for the two of us for the two nights including breakfast. I couldn't recommend this accommodation highly enough. Not only the beauty of the place and the traditional architectural style and decor, the attention to detail in the furnishings, but we also ate in the restaurant as well and the food and hospitality was superb. The hospitality in everywhere we went over the course of the weekend was warm and welcoming. Whilst getting our bearings on the first afternoon, because it was afternoon by the time, we cleared the passport queue and made our way into the city we pulled up a pue on the heated terrace of a traditional looking restaurant and warmed ourselves with some mulled wine, bread and cheese and boiled peas with bacon bits, or crackling as it was described.

The city was quiet and serene, it had a really nice atmosphere about it. Although we were informed that it was unusually quiet on account of COVID, and that there are more restrictions still in place than we are experiencing here in the UK. For example, if going into a bar, restaurant, or cafe you have to show your COVID pass. If you can't or won't then you simply won't be served. Fair enough. But not for some people who seem keen to argue the toss. After having located and dumped our bags at the accommodation we set out to explore the city. As usual, we enjoyed exploring the city on foot and found it the best way to get about and see what Vilnius had to offer. The city has a beautiful architectural style and quaint Old Town. This is combined with superb hospitality offer, which seems to lie mainly in restaurants rather than lively bars and clubs. Or perhaps it might just be a sign of the times in the current day. What was notable, is that the city had an affluent feel, a lot of effort and creativity is invested in shop and restaurant frontages, and they seem to be going the extra mile to prepare for the festive season.

On TripAdvisor’s recommendation, we headed for the autonomous district of Uzapis, touted as being a hip, bohemian up and coming area. Whether it was something to do with the season or the impact of COVID, we didn't really see it this way. There are a few, much more overpriced bars, and restaurants it appeared. The better prospects seemed to be in the centre of the Old Town not too far from where we were staying.

The next day it was a drizzly and cold, but we decided to go for a run. Yes, a run! A wonderful way, I have learned, to see a bit more of the destination in higher speed. Now, I'm not going to make any claims for high speed, but we managed a slow 8-kilometre plod along a scenic loop along the river through some residential areas and back along the main shopping street into the city centre. Feeling smug we treated ourselves to a two-course brunch at one of the close by cafes including a scrummy crepe pudding.

Feeling like we'd exhausted the main sights the day before in the city centre, and. Needing to have a purpose to be out all day in the cold drizzle, we decided to head further out and visit, what was touted to be, one of the top sites and tourist attractions in Lithuania. Big expectations! To confirm, with my tourism management hat on, Trakai castle is not a very good tourist attraction per se, and is actually pretty dull (unless staring at room after room of broken bits of china) but it is outstandingly beautiful and located in a very beautiful forested and lake area. It was easy to catch the two-euro Minibus from Vilnius bus station before the 30-minute drive to Trakai. I can imagine in both the summer season and the midst of winter Trakai is a must for a visit and, personally I'm glad that we still went although there was very little open, except for the super cool #Mojo, Tibetan themed restaurant. I just wish that we had had time to sample some of their delicious smelling cuisine. We did however warm our cockles with some mulled wine, which became a staple favourite of the weekend.

We spent a lot of time in #Trakai, it seemed, walking around in circles trying to find somewhere to eat and drink, as the castle didn't occupy us for as long as we anticipated it would, and the placed was a ghosttown. I would love to go back to Trakai however, possibly with Duggie in the summer months because it really was a beautiful place. We headed back to the city and back to the #Gabi for dinner. I can't recommend this place enough as both a place to stay if visiting Vilnius but also a restaurant as well. The quality of the food and the price was just fantastic, but the real gem was the traditional style of decor and the toasty warm surroundings. We headed back the next morning, city centre to airport via a short bus ride at a cost of two euro's from Vilnius bus station back to Vilnius airport.

Would I recommend Vilnius? Most certainly! Although personally I don't think I’d stay any longer than a couple of days before wanting to explore further afield. I'm incredibly keen to revisit Lithuania on a longer trip, into the countryside. But travelling that distance for a 48-hour time frame?, absolutely it was well worth it. There's something interesting about the suspension of place and time in a tourism setting, in that time seems suspended. After just 24 hours there it felt like we'd been away for much longer, hence the #rejuvenating effects of even a short break to a different place no matter how near or far.