A 24-Hour Trip for Peak 24

I landed in Vilnius at noon on a chilly, mid-November Sunday. I’d booked this trip pretty last-minute and hadn’t researched much beyond booking essentials. Everything was a pleasant surprise (: even starting with the airport…

The arrivals hall felt more like a train station, and there’s a reason for this! It was built in 1954, while part of the Soviet Union (as it was until 1990). It’s been expensive to maintain, and there is discussion around tearing it down, as it’s half the cost of trying to preserve even parts of it as they expand the terminal’s capacity. Currently, it’s listed on Lithuania’s Cultural Heritage Register. If you want more details on this airport and the controversy around the building itself, there’s a 5-minute YouTube video covering it by Lithuania Explained!

From the terminal, it was a short walk to Eurorenta, where I rented a car for just a few hours, as the highest hill is only a half-hour drive away. Some Crown of Europers have a taxi take them there and back, and I believe costs are similar. I didn’t want to feel rushed with the photos, especially as there was rain in the forecast (easier to wait it out in a rental car than a cab), and the rental I found was only 25 euros.

On the way, there were signs for Minsk, Belarus. Unfortunately, neither of my passports allow me to cross that land border during the current conflict. From the Lithuanian high point itself, the border is 3 kilometers away on foot. The closest official crossing is under 8 kilometers away by vehicle. …oh well!

The High Point

Aukštojas Hill has a small parking area accessed via a gravel road. From there, it’s a short stroll through farmland to an observation tower and the official rock marker.

It was more scenic than expected, with a layer of frost over parts of the landscape and golden hour just beginning.

After taking the flag photos, I headed up the 30-meter observation tower. Lithuania is pretty flat…so there were views all around from up there!

On the way out, I walked around to the other little markers around the tower, including the Balts’ Sun Circle shown below. It was completed in 2012, includes 4 granite horse heads, and symbolizes the history, faith, and folk art of ancient Lithuania.

So, technically…that rock circled above is the official high point marker. My hands were way too frozen to take another set of flag photos there, but I did walk right past it on the way out. Therefore, high point #24 complete! (:

In 2007, new measurements were taken of Lithuania’s highest points. Similar to Denmark, there are very small differences among the top 3 high points. This one is 293.84 meters, Kruopinė (Žybartonys) Hill is 293.65, and Juozapinė Hill is 292.7. They’re all within ~1 meter of each other! Kruopinė was previously thought to be highest, and you can’t fault them…a 0.19-meter difference is pretty insignificant. Juozapinė is directly next to Aukštojas, and Kruopinė is 13 kilometers away (on the way back to Vilnius). If you have the time (and did proper research before, which I did not), it could be worth a quick detour to these other 2 points.

Vilnius

After dropping off the car, I hopped in a 5-euro Uber to Vilnius Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the middle of Lithuania’s capital and largest city. There are public buses for just a euro as well (contactless payment accepted), but I was pretty hungry and went straight to a restaurant with great gluten-free options (The Urban Garden). The sun sets fairly early this time of year in the Baltics, just after 4pm. Same as in London, sadly.

As I left dinner, it had started to rain. I decided to take a scenic walk through the Old Town to my hotel to see the Christmas decorations already lining the cobbled streets. The actual markets weren’t open just yet, which meant fewer crowds. The city was already very much in the Christmas spirit, though!

I decided to call it a night and continue the sightseeing in daylight.

I spent the night at the Artagonist Hotel, which was fully covered by (not even that many) credit card points and very centrally located. This really is a great city for tighter budgets. Just half a kilometer down the road was the first stop on my self-guided tour the next morning: Cathedral Square!

Vilnius Cathedral sits in this large, open square, with a historic bell tower that was 6 euros to ascend. Steep, uneven/charming (depending on your perspective) stairs and ladders lead up to the top floor at 45 meters, while the tower extends another 7 meters beyond that, followed by a 5-meter cross on top.

One of the floors has bells you can actually play! They didn’t seem to be in any particular order of notes, so I didn’t manage to play any recognizable songs. (‘: Those are in the Instagram highlights for Lithuania. There are 360-degree views of the city from that top floor, but they are a bit blocked by bulky barriers.

The three sculptures lining the roof of the cathedral depict St. Helena, St. Casimir, and St. Stanislaus. These are the patron saints of Lithuania and were only added to it in 1996! There’s a nice view of them from the bell tower, with Castle Hill in the background.

This historic mound, also called Gediminas Hill for the tower that sits atop it, juts nearly 50 meters above the surrounding area. Still, it’s not even half the elevation of the country’s highest point! The tower is the only surviving remnant of the original castle built by Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. It dates back to the Middle Ages, although much has needed to be rebuilt since then.

From there, I took a stroll through more of the Old Town, admiring the unique architecture and color palette. I popped into a coffee shop called Coffee Circus Piano. The place is what you might expect: eclectic designs and a piano in the middle. The coffee itself was excellent (and I do still remember what good coffee is, despite living in London). (:

As far as those hand sculptures, I have no recollection of where exactly they were, can’t figure out what they’re called, and do not know who made them. Anyway, my final stop in the capital would be the bus station, for one more adventure before the next high point.

Kaunas

From Vilnius, I caught a 1.5-hour bus to Kaunas, the next-largest city in the country. Unfortunately, my lack of planning meant that I’d failed to check opening days and hours for Kaunas Castle. I was there on a Monday…the only day it’s closed. I could have hopped on a bus over there to see it from the outside, but I decided to take it easy and stroll into coffee shops and the area around the stunning Church of St. Michael the Archangel. I had caught a glimpse of it from the bus and thought it looked impressive!

The walkway to it along the Laisvės alėja, dotted with trees and fountains decorated for Christmas, made it even more magical. The Laisvės alėja is the main pedestrian walkway of the city.

This Neo-Byzantine church was built from 1891 to 1895, initially as an Orthodox church (though the land was previously intended for a Roman Catholic church). It went back and forth a few times but has been Catholic since 1991.

After dinner, it was only a euro to catch a bus to the airport just outside the city. Finding a <20 euro flight from Kaunas to Copenhagen was partly how this trip came to be, so that would be the next and final high point of 2025: Denmark! (Will link to that blog post once complete)

THANK YOU ❤

Thanks for reading my twenty-fourth Crown of Cureope blog post! At the time I stood on the top of Lithuania, we had raised $1,750 for the American Association for Cancer Research to fund lifesaving discoveries. As of publishing this post, we’re at $2,725 raised. There’s still plenty of time to donate in 2026, as the fundraising won’t stop until the hiking challenge is complete! (: Thank you so much to everyone who’s contributed and spread the word so far, and to fellow hikers for tips and company along the way to these high points.