5 tourist spots to start exploring Kaunas, Lithuania

The town itself is not so big, just around 350000 people, and most of them are Lithuanians. It's a student town, so the clubs are full on weekends (not that I'm very big on clubs, but if you are, I recommend trying DeJavu). You can walk through the main pedestrian avenue (Laisvės alėja) and the old town in roughly 30-40 minutes.

The places to go to:

Laisvės alėja

This avenue is the main pedestrian avenue. If you stand in the middle of it for two hours you might probably meet at least 50% of people you know in Kaunas. It is full with little cafes and shops AND there's free WiFi. The cafe culture is strong in Lithuania and cafes are not just a place to run in and take your coffee and flee - it's a place to meet friends, sit back, relax, enjoy the tastes or just have a moment for yourself. My favorite cafe is Mio, but Vero Cafe and CoffeeInn are good as well. The avenue starts with Soboras (the big white church you can see) and ends with Vilnius street, where the old town starts.

The Naked Man

Yes, well...It's art, ok?? The most famous sculpture in Kaunas, tourists love taking pictures of him and near him. One person actually almost got late for his flight because he refused to leave Kaunas before taking a picture with this guy. He's weird, but he's our naked guy and you should see the look on people's faces when you tell them "You have to see the naked man!"

Vilnius Street (Old Town)

It's not the old houses that usually gets people going here: it's the variety of bars, pubs, cafes and bakeries. This street is crawling with little shops with friendly staff who are ready to serve! Bars worth checking out: Gyvas (you get live beer there, variety of Lithuanian beers), RePUBlica (awesome atmosphere, great beer). Yzy - with a cozy atmosphere and sweet cherry beer. And check out Groovy (in the old town square) - cheap and good cocktails to go.

Aleksotas hill

You can either climb stairs or go with a funicular to see the beautiful Kaunas panorama. You get a great overview of Kaunas old town and you see not only the center from up there as well. (I'm not putting the picture of panorama, so you have to go see it yourself) It's a great place to just stop for a minute and relax (and you need to rest after those stairs as well!).

The top of Resurrection Church

More climbing! Yay! So yes, you can climb to the roof of this church (4Lt if you take the stairs, 8Lt if you take the elevator). On top you will get a great view of the center and old town and you can see Aleksotas hill from here as well.

Of course, there are other nice places to see in Kaunas: Pažaislis and its monastery, Ąžuolynas (the oak tree forest), Santaka (the place where Neris and Nemunas - two main rivers - meet into one), War museum courtyard (eternal flame and memorial in there), Kauno marios (artificial lake), Lampėdžių karjeras (you can go swimming there), but the ones that I've mentioned are the first five you should check out.