Page 390 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

388 SUR VIV AL GUIDE
TRAVELLING TO LITHUANIA

The quickest and easiest way to reach regular departures from London, Paris
Lithuania is by air. Most airlines fly to Vilnius, and other European capitals. However,
which has direct connections with many getting to Lithuania by car is long and
European cities. Some international flights hazardous, given the bad roads in Poland.
arrive at Kaunas and Palanga airports. A daily train service links Warsaw with
Lithuania has only one sea port, at Klaipėda, Kaunas and Vilnius, with a change at
which offers a limited number of passenger Sestokai, on the Polish-Lithuanian frontier.
ferry services across the Baltic Sea to Lithuania is not covered by Eurail or
Germany and Scandinavia. By land, it is best InterRail, making travelling by train from
to travel to Lithuania by coach. There are Western Europe expensive.

Arriving by Air
Lithuania is well connected
with Europe and, via major
European transport hubs such
as London, Copenhagen and
Amsterdam, to the rest of the
world. Connectivity has
improved, with flights to and
from Vilnius timing in well with
intercontinental flights. Since
March 2008, the control of
internal borders among the
Schengen states, which also
include Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania, was abolished.
Opened in 1944, Vilnius
Airport is the arrival point for
most flights. It is the only
airport among the Baltic International check-in hall at Vilnius Airport
capitals to have maintained its
original appearance of a Airlines, Norwegian, Nordica, as the majority of tickets are
formulaic, erstwhile Soviet-era Finnair, Lufthansa, Ryanair purchased on the Internet. In
terminal. Services at the airport and SAS. accordance with inter national
include car rental offices, From the United States, the agreements, most airline
currency exchange and cafés, most common routes to services operate a system of
as well as news paper kiosks Lithuania are via Warsaw, then reduced rates for children,
which also sell bus tickets. on to Vilnius with LOT; students and pensioners, as
airBaltic offers increased Stockholm or Copenhagen, well as pre-arranged groups.
services between Rīga and then on to Vilnius with SAS;
Vilnius, and direct services from or Helsinki, then on to Vilnius
Vilnius to several European with Finnair. Norwegian airlines From Vilnius Airport to
cities, including Amsterdam, fly via Oslo. the City Centre
Copenhagen, Dublin and Canadian visitors tend to Vilnius Airport is located 5 km
London. British Airways pulled fly via Frankfurt and Brussels (3 miles) south of the city
out of serving Vilnius due to with Lufthansa. centre. There is a train from the
low-cost airline competition. Travelling from Australia airport to Vilnius Main Station,
As a result, major international or New Zealand also requires which takes about 7 minutes,
flights and low-cost carriers multiple carriers, and it is although buses also operate.
from around 40 cities arrive in worth shopping around for Tickets are cheaper if bought
Lithuanian airports. These the best prices. at airport kiosks.
include almost all the capitals airBaltic has implemented a The bus stop and taxi rank
of Western Europe, as well as one-way ticket system, which are both outside the arrivals
Prague, Moscow, Minsk, Gomel, ensures the prices of tickets area. The official rate for taxis
Kiev, St Petersburg, Tbilisi, depend directly on demand. into town is about €8, but
Kaliningrad, Baku, Tel Aviv and The traditional “Sunday rule”, tourists will find it difficult to
other cities further east. Other with prices being higher on pay less than €15. Taxis take
European carriers that serve weekdays than on the about 20 minutes to reach
Vilnius include Austrian weekends, does not hold true, the city centre.