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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

Our guide Arminas was just brilliant - we met him on an extremely cold day (minus 20 degrees) and his beard was all frosty! He even brought extra clothing to share in case we got cold. He showed us all around some really interesting and 'off the beaten track' parts of Vilnius and gave a fascinating insight into its history. He kept the pace up so we didn't get frozen and we stopped at an ex-Soviet hotel for coffee. Arminus was charming, enthusiastic and it was a real delight to spend time with him. Thank you.

For the Jewish tour we did a private tour, because we wouldn't be in town on the days they have the regular tours. Milda was great. You couldn't believe she is not Jewish! It's very interesting, no matter your religion. It gives a great view of how a community lived during a period of time, how politics and religion affected the history of two groups of people (Lithuanians and jews) and helps to understand the current scenario of the jewish people and the country. It's not a gloomy tour, I promise!

We went on this tour not without bias. The topic is quite painful and controversial. We were very pleased with the quality of our guide Mrs. Milda Jukniūtė. Her intellectual level, knowledge, and mainly tactfully put accents, won our appreciation and respect. The tour was very informative, interesting and provoked reflection. The guide of such a level gives credit to the city.

Victor Steinberg, The Harry de Jur Professor of Physics. Weizmann Institute of Science.
Sophie Steinberg, Ph.D.

Three of us were guided by Sarunas around the Jewish ghettos and other sights. We also made a visit to the Choral Synagogue. Sarunas provided us with the background of not only the Jewish people in Vilnius, but also of Lithuania's occupation history over the centuries and provided the insight and information that one cannot find on their own. It was a very enjoyable and interesting tour of Jewish Vilnius and the only way to see and understand the history of the Jewish people in Vilnius.

Informative. Brilliant. Easy going. Inexpensive. Brilliant. No watch clocking. Time just went by. Oh by the way it was BRILLIANT. Guide Brilliant, knew her stuff. Helpful as well as being patient. I'd do it again because seriously there is so much to take on board and learn particularly if you have family connections to the old part of Vilnius. Suddenly the words you heard from your late parents now have meaning and value. OH did I say it was BRILLIANT ?

Just go !!

And book.