Vilnius Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

The route: Gates of Dawn, Cathedral Square, Gediminas Hill and across the Vilnia to Užupis

10 stops · about 58 min walking · start: Gates of Dawn · finish: Angel of Užupis

The hunt starts at the Gates of Dawn and runs north through the Old Town to Town Hall Square and Literatų gatvė. At Cathedral Square you visit Vilnius Cathedral, the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and the New Arsenal, then climb to Gediminas Castle Tower. You come back down to the Bernardine Garden and St Anne's Church and cross the river Vilnia to finish at the Angel of Užupis. Every riddle is answered from the street or the hilltop, so no ticket office ever stands between you and the next stop, and the app lets you open the game at the cathedral instead or play the stops in another order.

Open the route map ↗

1. 

   1Gates of DawnStart

   The Gates of Dawn are the only surviving gate of the city wall of Vilnius, built in the early 16th century. A chapel above the arch keeps a 17th-century painting of the Virgin Mary, believed to work miracles and venerated by Catholic and Orthodox believers alike. Many people stop to pray in the street below the chapel window.

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2. 

   2Town Hall Square

   Town Hall Square has been a market and meeting place since the Middle Ages. The Town Hall was rebuilt in classical style with a columned portico at the end of the 18th century, to designs by the architect Laurynas Gucevičius. Today the square hosts fairs, concerts and the city's Christmas tree.

3. 

   3Literatų gatvė (Literature Street)

   This short street in the Old Town has a wall covered with hundreds of small artworks, each dedicated to a writer linked to Vilnius or Lithuania. The project began in 2008, and new pieces are still added. The poet Adam Mickiewicz is said to have lived on this street in the 1820s.

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4. 

   4Vilnius Cathedral

   The Cathedral of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus stands where Lithuania's rulers built churches from the 13th century on. Its present classical look, with a columned portico and three statues on the roof, dates from the late 18th century and the architect Laurynas Gucevičius. In Soviet times it served as an art gallery and it was returned to the Church in 1989.

5. 

   5Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

   The rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lived in this palace at the Lower Castle. The Russian imperial authorities had it demolished around 1801, and after years of excavation it was rebuilt and opened as a museum in 2013. Inside, remains of the original walls are on show.

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6. 

   6New Arsenal – National Museum of Lithuania

   The New Arsenal, once a military building in the castle area below Gediminas Hill, is part of the National Museum of Lithuania. Its exhibitions tell the country's history from early times to the 20th century. In front stands a statue of Mindaugas, crowned in 1253 as the first and only king of Lithuania.

7. 

   7Gediminas Castle Tower

   The red-brick tower on Gediminas Hill is what remains of the Upper Castle, rebuilt in brick in the early 15th century. According to legend, Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf howling on this hill and founded the city here. Vilnius first appears in his letters of 1323, and the Lithuanian flag flies from the tower.

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8. 

   8Bernardine Garden

   This park beside the river Vilnia takes its name from the Bernardine monks, whose monastery garden once lay here. It was restored in 2013 to recall its 19th-century layout, with flower beds, paths and fountains. Its old trees and benches make it a popular place to rest in the centre.

9. 

   9St Anne's Church

   St Anne's Church, built around 1500, is a late Gothic church made of bricks in more than 30 different shapes. Its narrow façade is full of pointed arches and slim towers. Legend has it that Napoleon, passing through Vilnius in 1812, wished he could carry the church back to Paris in the palm of his hand.

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10. 

    10Angel of UžupisFinish

    Užupis, the artists' district across the river Vilnia, declared itself a republic in 1997 as a playful gesture. Its symbol, a bronze angel blowing a trumpet on top of a column, was unveiled on the main square in 2002. Nearby, the district's humorous constitution is displayed on a wall in many languages.

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