Cultural & History Tours in Vilnius

I joined the two hour walking tour dedicated to the history of the Jews in Vilnius. The tour became one of the high points on my 6th visit to Vilnius. I had never taken a guided walking tour before, and this tour gave me much more than I had expected, thanks to the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide, Milda Jukniute.
I had been reading in advance about the time in history when Vilnius was known as the Jerusalem of East Europe. Milda gave us a very good introduction to this period, and how the Jewish community in town lived through the centuries up until the begining of the Second World War. On our wals she took us into small, hidden courtyards to show us how family life had been and the dwellings of famous religious persons and artists.

Then the tour took on a much more dark atmosphere, as we walked through the areas of the town where the small and the large gettho had been located during the war. Not much remains of the buildings now, but wherever it was something to see, she pointed it out for us. It would have been impossible to find these remains without a local guide. The tour ended with a very interesting visit to the only fuctioning synagogue in Vilnius.

I can really reccommend this walking tour, as it gave a very good insight in both the glorious and the dark side of the Jewish history in Vilnius. Our guide Milda was absolutely excellent, and for a Norwegian it came as an extra bonus that she spoke Norwegian fluently! (The guiding was done in English for the benefit of the other participants, and her English was also outstanding)

My friend and myself went on the bespoke Jewish Tour , our guide was Milda. This began at the villnius town hall with a very clear orientation from Milda, then a walk around the old city that contained so much history. Deeply moving as I have family and my friend is from family who lived in Villnius. Milda was able to give us clear insight as well as deep sensitivity in the way she conducted the tour.
Thankyou !!!!

The tour guide Elsa took me and my girlfriend on a nice walk through Vilnius and told us many stories about Lithuania under soviet rule. We did the tour pretty much off season so it was just the three of us on the tour. We got the chance to ask all sorts of questions and got great answers and good tips on how to spend the rest of our time in Vilnius. Thank you Elsa!

We spent a weekend in Vilnius and this guided tour with our guide Milda was a superb way to find out what interesting and exciting is there to be found in this wonderful city. Thank you Milda and lkkealocalguide for this opportunity, it really made our weekend in Vilnius a perfect and relaxing little holiday.
Lasse, Tiina, Kimmo and Anne from Finland.

This is quite a long tour, but well worth it. (Don't worry, there's a break for coffee). The guide is very interesting to listen to, it's not just the regular repeating of facts. We learned a lot from this tour. Fantastic stories!

Enjoyed the tour seeing aspects of Vilnius we would never had seen had we been walking around ourselves with a map.

Our guide had a wonderful personality and threw in just enough history without making it boring.

milda, our tour guide, was excellent -- well-prepared, well-informed, and sharing in what she knew

she was also very relaxed and generous in allowing us to take part in the conversation

highly recommended

We had the pleasure of a guided tour provided by one of your guides, Martyna, this sunday. It was a very inspiring tour and your tourguide Martyne made it very interesting. We took the Soviet tour.

Our guided was amazingly wonderful. Spoke English really well and had plenty of time and room for questions. Funny, knowledgeable, and just excellent. Made our short 4 day stay incredible.

Excellent tour around vilnius, with a very knowledgeable guide. Very informative and answered everyone's questions.

Well planned out and paced tour. A good introduction to contemporary local history.

Great guide and great tour in Vilnius, definitely worth it!

We had only two days in Vilnius! At first we wanted to take a free walking tour, but then we realized that we arrive too late to be a part of it and next day we leave too early, so we’ve contacted Vilnius With Locals for the city tour! We did not want to see only the Old Town, so we’ve asked the guide to change the Old Town route so we could see more sides of the city, not only all those beautiful churches. The guide took us to some beautiful courtyards, the republic behind the river and some other interesting places that we would not have found by ourselves in such a short period of time in Vilnius . During 2,5 hours we’ve learned a lot about the life in the city today and in the past. What a great choice it was to contact Vilnius With Locals! Fully recommended for everyone visiting Vilnius!

My wife and I joined two traveling companions for the Jewish Vilnius Tour, conducted by Milda. The tour took about 2-1/2 hours, winding through the streets of the former Jewish community as well as the areas where the WWII ghettoes were established, stopping at several monuments and building remnants. The pace was perfect for relatively active seniors. Our guide, Milda, was very well-informed on both past and current events regarding Jews in Vilnius, offering detailed history, useful context, and personal insights from her own experience and research. She eas personable, patient with our questions, curious about her guests, and spoke clearly, with a very good command of English. Thank you!

For anyone in Vilnius, be you a regular visitor, a weekend guest or even a local, I highly recommend the Soviet walking tour. Ieva was the guide during my trip and she brought such charisma and charm to what is a dark chapter in the memory of many Lithuanians. Her passion for history, especially the human aspect of it lead me to learn many things that you can't read about in travel guides or online articles. She was happy to answer any question and suggested movies and further reading to build on what we discussed. Whether you have just arrived in Vilnius or are at the end of your stay, don't hesitate to go, you'll soon see the city in a different light.

We enjoyed our tour very much. Our guide, was great, very informative and responsive to our needs. We were fortunate to have a tour of our own which allowed for lots of questions and interaction.

At the end of the tour we were able to visit the Jewish Cultural Center and do some genealogy, get pointers on websites, and the director offered her email if we needed further assistants.

Milda was so kind to send a link to some information we were discussing. We would recommend her to anyone who wants a through and thoughtful guide. She helped make our stay in Vilnius very meaningful.

My friend and I went on this walking tour and it was truly enjoyable. Without it, we would have never learnt so much about Vilnius, nor notice all the little beauty and quirkiness of the city. Our walk through Užipis and Old Town was well planned.

Alina, our guide, was very detailed, enthusiastic and patient with us. She was also really knowledgeable and could answer all our questions. Unlike other walking tours I've been on, she was really interested in sharing the history and stories of Vilnius and it was just so nice.

Totally recommend if you are in the city! X

The Jewish Vilnius tour was a sensitive, comprehensive introduction to the history of Lithuania's Jews. Our guide, while not Jewish, had a deep understanding of the importance of the Jewish community to the country's rich fabric of life. She was also current on events pertaining to the socio-political climate affecting Vilnuis' Jewish history. She enriched my visit to Vilnius; she introduced me to Ponar, the killing field a mere 10 minute train ride from the Vilnius train station. It was one of my most impactful, moving experiences in Lithuania.