The holidays here happen outdoors, in the Old Town. The city Christmas tree lights up on Cathedral Square at the end of November, with a market and a carousel around it, and skaters take over Town Hall Square nearby. Christmas Eve (Kūčios) is a family dinner at home, so plan outings for the other days. Here's what we checked, from the tree lighting to a family Nutcracker.
The lighting of the Christmas tree in Cathedral Square is how Vilnius opens its winter season, and the tree has become a symbol of Christmas across Lithuania. Kids get to see the lights come on in the middle of the Old Town.
Missed lighting night? The tree stays up through the holidays, so it still makes an easy stroll with kids on any visit to the Old Town.
Christmas Town is the Christmas market in Cathedral Square, in the heart of Vilnius Old Town. Kids browse the stalls with the city Christmas tree and a carousel on the same square.
It works as a come-and-go outing: drop in after school or after dark, walk the stalls, and head home when the kids get cold. Everything is outdoors, so dress for a Vilnius winter.
Vilnius Ice Rink (Vilniaus ledas) is the open-air Christmas skating rink set up in Town Hall Square, in the heart of the Old Town. Kids skate in timed sessions under the open sky.
Best for kids who have skated before, or who are happy holding a grown-up's hand on the ice.
Vilnius's Christmas Run is one of Lithuania's oldest running events, and the 2025 edition was its 50th. Thousands of runners, many in Christmas costumes, follow a route through the Old Town.
The schedule was moved later so runners go after dark, and the youngest kids get an Elves' Run of their own. It suits families after a festive outing that gets everyone moving.
The Ukrainian Classical Ballet brings Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet to Vilnius for the first time. Marie gets a wooden toy soldier from her uncle Drosselmeyer, and at night he comes alive, fights an army of mice and travels with her to a land of sweets.
One of the world's most performed ballets, it suits kids who can sit through two acts. Reading the story beforehand helps younger ones follow along.
The Old Town's main square opens in front of the neo-classical cathedral, with a 57-meter bell tower standing apart from it and the Gediminas monument nearby.
Kids can hunt for the stebuklas (miracle) stone: local legend says step on it, turn around three times, and a wish comes true. Red granite in the paving traces the old Lower Castle fortifications. Winter brings the city's tallest Christmas tree.
An ice rink on the ground floor of the Akropolis mall, open all year for public skating in timed sessions. Cafes ring the rink, so parents can sit and watch, and the ice also hosts figure skating shows and hockey games.
New skaters can skate with a penguin aid to hold on to, and protective pads are lent free. Kids can join figure skating and hockey training.
This puppet theater has staged shows since 1958 and plays in the Oginskiai Palace on Arklių Street. The children's repertoire mixes puppet, shadow and object theater, from Pinocchio, Cinderella and The Snow Queen to new Lithuanian plays.
In the cellar, the Living Puppet Museum shows puppets, masks and set pieces made in the theater's own workshops in the same building, with tours led by professional puppeteers.
Lithuania's national opera and ballet company performs here on the Main Stage, with the smaller Red Foyer used for chamber events.
Alongside the evening repertoire runs a children's program: ballets for kids such as "Enchanted Eyes", a Mozart-scored story about friendship and a professor who builds robots, and "Music for Tiny Ears", a classical concert for babies in a room set up for them. Backstage tours run too.
The holidays here happen outdoors, in the Old Town. The city Christmas tree lights up on Cathedral Square at the end of November, with a market and a carousel around it, and skaters take over Town Hall Square nearby. Christmas Eve (Kūčios) is a family dinner at home, so plan outings for the other days. Here's what we checked, from the tree lighting to a family Nutcracker.
The lighting of the Christmas tree in Cathedral Square is how Vilnius opens its winter season, and the tree has become a symbol of Christmas across Lithuania. Kids get to see the lights come on in the middle of the Old Town.
Missed lighting night? The tree stays up through the holidays, so it still makes an easy stroll with kids on any visit to the Old Town.
Christmas Town is the Christmas market in Cathedral Square, in the heart of Vilnius Old Town. Kids browse the stalls with the city Christmas tree and a carousel on the same square.
It works as a come-and-go outing: drop in after school or after dark, walk the stalls, and head home when the kids get cold. Everything is outdoors, so dress for a Vilnius winter.
Vilnius Ice Rink (Vilniaus ledas) is the open-air Christmas skating rink set up in Town Hall Square, in the heart of the Old Town. Kids skate in timed sessions under the open sky.
Best for kids who have skated before, or who are happy holding a grown-up's hand on the ice.
Vilnius's Christmas Run is one of Lithuania's oldest running events, and the 2025 edition was its 50th. Thousands of runners, many in Christmas costumes, follow a route through the Old Town.
The schedule was moved later so runners go after dark, and the youngest kids get an Elves' Run of their own. It suits families after a festive outing that gets everyone moving.
The Ukrainian Classical Ballet brings Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet to Vilnius for the first time. Marie gets a wooden toy soldier from her uncle Drosselmeyer, and at night he comes alive, fights an army of mice and travels with her to a land of sweets.
One of the world's most performed ballets, it suits kids who can sit through two acts. Reading the story beforehand helps younger ones follow along.
The Old Town's main square opens in front of the neo-classical cathedral, with a 57-meter bell tower standing apart from it and the Gediminas monument nearby.
Kids can hunt for the stebuklas (miracle) stone: local legend says step on it, turn around three times, and a wish comes true. Red granite in the paving traces the old Lower Castle fortifications. Winter brings the city's tallest Christmas tree.
An ice rink on the ground floor of the Akropolis mall, open all year for public skating in timed sessions. Cafes ring the rink, so parents can sit and watch, and the ice also hosts figure skating shows and hockey games.
New skaters can skate with a penguin aid to hold on to, and protective pads are lent free. Kids can join figure skating and hockey training.
This puppet theater has staged shows since 1958 and plays in the Oginskiai Palace on Arklių Street. The children's repertoire mixes puppet, shadow and object theater, from Pinocchio, Cinderella and The Snow Queen to new Lithuanian plays.
In the cellar, the Living Puppet Museum shows puppets, masks and set pieces made in the theater's own workshops in the same building, with tours led by professional puppeteers.
Lithuania's national opera and ballet company performs here on the Main Stage, with the smaller Red Foyer used for chamber events.
Alongside the evening repertoire runs a children's program: ballets for kids such as "Enchanted Eyes", a Mozart-scored story about friendship and a professor who builds robots, and "Music for Tiny Ears", a classical concert for babies in a room set up for them. Backstage tours run too.
