Creative Commons licensePhoto by flickr user pkmk

Born from a legend about a howling iron wolf, Vilnius stands at the cusp of east and west, a testament to Lithuanian's record as the last pagans in Europe and warriors who in medieval times expanded their empire as far as the Black Sea. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the city's enchanting Old Town is a visual feast, thanks to its churches, meandering cobbled streets, palaces and intimate courtyards. Amongst a wealth of architectural styles, Baroque is dominant, resulting in echoes of a Jesuit town somewhere in Latin America, except that here the tapering crosses of the Catholic churches combine with the Pagan symbols of the sun and the moon: wife and husband in Lithuanian mythology. As for hotels, there are some notable examples occupying historic Old Town buildings, and others that mimic historic elements; less evident are bolder, more cutting edge places, the sort that Vilnius has, so far, been too modest to produce. Any exploration of Vilnius should, if possible, be combined with a trip to historic Trakai, 28 km away, and Europos Parkas, the open-air museum with over 100 works by world-famous artists, 19 km away. The order by which the hotels are listed bears no reflection on our preference.

Written by Gabriele Civiliene