The best short haul Christmas break is not where you think
Vilnius in Lithuania blends modern Christmas traditions with a strong heritage for the festive season. Daniel Edward gets into the spirit
Vilnius is this year’s European Christmas Capital and with three daily flights from London, it’s an easy festive getaway. So I hopped on LOT’s evening flight from London City Airport to join the city’s big holiday weekend.
But first things first, what exactly is a European Christmas Capital? The award is handed out to cities showcasing incredible efforts to celebrate the festive season. The winner is decided by the Christmas Cities Network, a group that marks each destination by its cultural heritage, values, sustainability credentials and how much the locals get involved.
Vilnius is an obvious choice to join the likes of Kyiv in Ukraine and Genoa in Italy. Their central Cathedral Square Christmas tree is recognised as one of the most beautiful in the world; they have a huge range of annual events from lights shows to train rides; and a beautiful, historic setting that looks stunning in the winter.
Amid the crowd in Cathedral Square, I concocted a way to hold a lidless hot chocolate, a tub of varškés spurgytés, and my camera. I did not want to drop the varškés spurgytés – sugar dusted doughnut bites made with curd cheese – because it is a dish so sweet and tart you want to savour every bite.
The ultimate Christmas break
The Christmas tree would soon emerge from its present grey shadow and as the cathedral bell-tower burst into song, DJ Leon Somov hit the decks with Wham’s Last Christmas. I have no idea how many people were there – if it were a London rally, organisers would say three million. It felt like all of Vilnius had turned up for the most unmissable annual attraction in Lithuania.
People moved forward, drawn by the tree, the crowd contorting to make way for more people to cram in. I found myself wedged between a young couple celebrating their first Christmas together, and a teenage girl with her parents. They had very different evenings; two of them are still talking.
DJ Leon handed over to a variety of Lithuanian popstars, who – together with the warming effects of hot wine and cocoa – geed up the crowd ahead of the countdown. With a surge of festive spirit, the tree glittered into spectacular vision of sparkling fairy lights, muddled with red and gold baubles. This year’s tree returns thematically to the classic elegance of nature, something Lithuania has in spades. It’s a gorgeous centrepiece for a truly magical city, putting Trafalgar Square’s effort to shame.
The food
Later that evening I took a seat at the chef’s table at Michelin starred restaurant Pas Mus, which translates to ‘our house’, where I learned more about the country’s culture and why Christmas matters so much over here.
The 10-course tasting menu highlighted Lithuania’s traditions of conserving food to last the winter. Everything is local and seasonal (or at least it is when it’s plonked in pickle).
The first plate incorporated fermented fruits and vegetables, my favourite being blackened rhubarb topped with fermented rose petals. The signature dark rye bread with caraway seeds has been served at every meal for the last seven years, according to sous chef Dominykas.
I worked off lunch with a wander, exploring stalls selling handmade Christmas crafts and festive food
I’ll skip over the deconstructed beef tartare with glazed brioche and spare you an account of the rich duck breast that sommelier Giedre paired with Chateau Musar Red from Lebanon. But I must tell you about head chef Vita Gražulytė’s ‘cherry snow’ dessert. If there isn’t a little Christmas fairy dust in this recipe, I don’t know how she makes it. Imagine a white chocolate Ferrero Rocher and add the bright sharpness of a winter berry. Now, with a swish and flick, transform your creation into snowflakes. Sensational.
On Sunday morning I told my tour guide, Lena, about Pas Mus. “People were surprised when this mystery restaurant on the main street of Old Town was awarded a Michelin star… And it’s kept it,” she said, referring to both the 2024 and 2025 Michelin guides.
What to see
I recommend a free walking tour for first time visitors (Vilnius With Locals is my pick), but hanging out with a private guide is an excellent way to enhance return visits (and believe me, you’ll be back).
Vilnius was surprisingly lively on Sunday morning, which Lena ascribes to the country’s strong connection to Catholicism – three in four Lithuanians follow the religion, and in the Old Town there are more churches (40-plus) than there are letters in the Lithuanian alphabet (32), a statistic that’s all the more surprising given the country was the last surviving Pagan state in Europe.
But if there’s another religion people connect with Vilnius, it’s Judaism. Before the Holocaust, there were over 100 prayer houses, synagogues and kloizes in the city but the atrocities of the second world war saw 90 per cent of the Jewish community exterminated. Litvak traditions, however, survive, especially in the cuisine.
Indeed, you’ve probably eaten Litvak food: some say the hol(e)y bagel originates from here (although Poland’s Kraków probably holds a stronger claim). I headed to Baleboste to try one for myself, a beautifully boiled-and-baked bagel accompanied by a hearty bowl of chicken soup with beef dumplings. Oy.
Baleboste is within Halės Market, so I worked off lunch with a wander, exploring stalls selling handmade Christmas crafts and festive food, including kibinai and cranberry kissel – both part of Lithuania’s 12-dish Christmas Eve dinner, Kūčios.
And the Christmas markets don’t stop there – at the other end of Gediminas Avenue, Lukiškės Prison, a former top-security prison, turned arts hub, hosts another village of wooden huts, complete with a seasonal pop up sauna.
It’s quite the transformation for a lock-up that previously detained political prisoners of the Russian Empire, processed enemies of the KGB, and as recently as 2019 incarcerated Lithuania’s most infamous inmates.
The history
This is a city with 700 years of stories to tell, from the legendary to the personal, through eras of great wealth to harrowing occupations that threatened to crush it entirely.
But throughout it all, against countless Goliaths, Vilnius’ David always comes through. The iconic hilltop castle has seen it all and become a symbol of this nation’s commitment to independence. I passed in its shadow as I walked back through the Unesco-listed Old Town, watched over by a choir of Vilnian Baroque church towers.
With the bite of winter in the air and the stunning beauty of this ancient city, it’s little wonder it’s officially the place to go for festive cheer.
Book a Christmas break
The Artagonist Art Hotel starts from £130 per night; flights from London City to Vilnius with LOT is from £149pp. To book visit lot.com
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