The New York Times: 36 Hours in Vilnius, a City Coming Into Its Own

The New York Times has featured Vilnius in its long-running "36 Hours" series, with a piece by longtime contributor Evan Rail and photography by Andrej Vasilenko. Compared with other cities in the region, the Times notes, Vilnius took a while to find its audience — but the wait paid off. Sitting at the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers, the Lithuanian capital has come into its own.

The article credits a dining scene that blends modern Scandinavian technique with Lithuanian tradition, a booming tech sector breathing new life into one of Northern Europe's largest surviving Old Towns, and recent additions like electric ferries and the first of two new airport terminals. It also points to Vilnius's rising profile on screen, mentioning "How to Divorce During the War," whose director, Andrius Blaževičius, won an award at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

The itinerary moves easily between old and new: the Palace of the Grand Dukes, Gediminas' Tower and the Gates of Dawn sit alongside the independent-minded Užupis district, the Jewish history preserved at the Vilna Gaon Museum, and Lukiškės Prison, known equally for its Soviet-era past and its second life as a Netflix filming location. Contemporary art gets its due at the Daniel Libeskind–designed MO Museum, and the food follows suit — farmhouse ales, cepelinai, and a tasting menu built on modern Lithuanian technique.

The piece ultimately makes a simple case: Vilnius is worth the trip precisely because it never rushed to make itself easy to package for tourists.