Lithuania
Lithuania is the largest and southernmost of the three Baltic states, sharing a 65-million-strong cultural triangle with Latvia and Estonia but with its own decidedly Central-European feel. Roughly 2.8 million people live across 65,000 square kilometres of forests, lakes, dunes and a short Baltic Sea coast. The country was the first Soviet republic to declare independence in March 1990, joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, the Schengen Area in 2007 and adopted the euro in 2015. Vilnius, the capital, holds one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Europe — a UNESCO-listed warren of Baroque churches, courtyards and university quadrangles built largely by Italian masters during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lithuanian itself is one of the most archaic surviving Indo-European languages, frequently cited by linguists as a window onto reconstructed proto-language. Beyond Vilnius, Trakai's island castle on Lake Galvė is the country's most-photographed sight; Kaunas — the interwar capital — was European Capital of Culture in 2022; the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai holds well over 100,000 votive crosses; and the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO sand-dune peninsula shared with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, hides Thomas Mann's summer house at Nida. Schengen entry, the euro, English and Russian widely understood, very low crime — Lithuania is the simplest of the Baltic states for travellers and the most affordable.
Visa Requirements for Lithuania
Lithuania is a full member of the Schengen Area, so standard Schengen rules apply at every border. Citizens of the European Union, EEA and Switzerland enter freely with a national ID card or passport. Citizens of around sixty visa-exempt third countries — including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and most of Latin America — may enter visa-free for up to 90 days within any 180-day period across the entire Schengen Area, not Lithuania alone. Travellers from countries on the Schengen visa list apply for a Schengen short-stay visa at the Lithuanian embassy or consulate responsible for their place of residence, or at any other Schengen mission representing Lithuania. A passport valid for at least three months beyond the planned departure date is required for entry; six months is the safer benchmark for visa applications. Travel medical insurance at the Schengen minimum coverage level, return travel arrangements and proof of accommodation and funds are standard supporting documents. The ETIAS travel authorisation system will apply to currently visa-exempt travellers when it enters into operation.
Visa types
Tourism, business, family visits and short courses for citizens of around sixty visa-exempt third countries.
Guides
Lithuania rewards travellers who like compact, culture-dense destinations rather than vast wilderness. Vilnius is the obvious base: its UNESCO old town is one of the largest in Europe, packed with Baroque churches, university courtyards, the Gates of Dawn pilgrimage chapel and the bohemian self-declared Republic of Užupis on the other side of the Vilnia. From Vilnius the country opens out — Trakai's red-brick island castle and the Karaim community Vytautas the Great brought from the Crimean peninsula sit forty minutes west; Kaunas, European Capital of Culture in 2022, holds the country's best interwar modernist architecture and Ninth Fort memorial; the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai is one of the most affecting Catholic pilgrimage sites in Europe. The Baltic coast is short but distinctive: Klaipėda preserves visible Memelland-era German architecture, and the Curonian Spit — a UNESCO sand-dune peninsula shared with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave — leads to Nida, the artist colony where Thomas Mann built a summer house in 1929. Lithuanian Litvak Jewish heritage adds another deep layer — Vilna was once known as the Jerusalem of the North, and Vilnius alone holds the State Jewish Museum and the YIVO institute archives. Distances are short, roads are good, English and Russian are widely understood, and the country is among the safest in Europe.
Lithuania travel guide →
The full guide — Baroque Vilnius, the island castle, the Spit's dunes and the hill of 100,000 crosses.
Money in Lithuania →
Euros in practice — contactless coverage, cash habits and how far a budget genuinely stretches.
Eating in Lithuania →
A national dish named after an airship and a bright-pink summer soup — everyday staples, not novelties.
Getting around Lithuania →
Compact enough for a week's full circuit — good roads, real rail links and the coast ferry.
Health & safety in Lithuania →
Among Europe's safest countries — safe tap water everywhere, low crime and one emergency number.
Cities & planning
Regions
Embassies & missions
Accredited missions for Lithuania
Frequently asked questions
Lithuania is a full Schengen member, so the standard rules apply: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens enter freely with an ID card, and citizens of some sixty countries — the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and most of Latin America among them — get 90 days in any 180 across the whole Schengen Area. Others apply for a Schengen C visa through a Lithuanian mission. Keep an eye on ETIAS: the pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers applies once the system is operating.
A long weekend covers Vilnius with a Trakai half-day; a week does the country properly — two or three days in Vilnius, an overnight in Kaunas for the modernist circuit, then the coast: Klaipėda and a full day on the Curonian Spit, with the Hill of Crosses as a stop on the cross-country leg. Distances are short (Vilnius-Kaunas 90 minutes, Kaunas-Klaipėda under three hours), roads and rail are good, and one week fits it all without hurry.
May-June and September are the sweet spots: long daylight, mild temperatures, and the old towns and the Spit without peak crowds. July-August is warmest and busiest, especially in Nida, where accommodation books out. December trades daylight for one of the region's better Christmas-market seasons in Vilnius and Kaunas; deep winter is atmospheric but dark by mid-afternoon.
Treat this Visaja page as your starting point: verify the current rules directly with the official source before you submit an application.