Vilnius

My favourite thing about Vilnius is that it sits some forty kilometres from the Belarussian border. It is so close that there are road signs pointing to Minsk at many points throughout the city. Such proximity means that travel agencies have jumped at the opportunity to provide travellers with the means to go to Europe's last remaining dictatorship (subject to disagreement, I'm sure).

It is possible, I found out, to get a Belarussian visa within 6 hours and be on the train that evening. Three guys staying at the same hostel as me did exactly that. Simply remarkable. If there is one reason to return to Vilnius in the future, this is it.

Apart from this Belarussian detail, Vilnius is yet another Eastern European capital that has become exorbitantly expensive. Its feature attraction is an old city filled with churches. Why does that sound familiar? Oh ya, because every other European city boasts exactly that.

You can break the monotony by attending one of the many cultural performances or by taking day trips outside the city. Otherwise, you won't find much that you can't find in Riga, Prague, Warsaw, or Krakow.