For the kid who stops dead whenever a train, plane or race car goes by, these are the places to see the real machines up close. Vilnius keeps plenty of its old engineering on show, and some of it you can sit in. Here's what we checked, from the Rail Park outside the station to a playground where jets land just past the fence.
The national railway museum fills part of the second floor of Vilnius station, with almost 900 exhibits on how Lithuania's trains run: passenger travel, track maintenance and signaling.
Outside, the Rail Park (Bėgių parkas) spreads 12 exhibits over 7,100 square meters: locomotives, wagons, a water steam pump and a wagon heating boiler. It suits train-mad kids who want to see the real thing up close.
Vilnius Auto Museum fills a former taxi depot with over 100 historic cars and motorcycles from 10 countries. Exhibits run from the first cars of the late 1800s through interwar Lithuania and World War II vehicles to race cars and cars that carried Lithuanian presidents.
Younger kids can try a Ford Model T and hunt for secret doors in cars, and a children's area has toy cars, coloring and books.
The museum fills the city's first public power plant. Downstairs are its original steam boilers, turbines and control panel. The 1,000 m² Transformation Hall puts the two largest Tesla coils in the Baltics inside a Faraday cage, and challenges at each exhibit earn points to swap for souvenirs.
The two top floors hold an interactive science zone with a Jacob's ladder, a Möbius strip and a Bernoulli ball.
A playground built by the city next to Vilnius Airport's official planespotting site, on the south side of the runway. Kids climb the rope pyramid and ride the slides while passenger and cargo jets take off and land just beyond the fence.
The viewing site next door has a sunken part and a raised deck made for photographers, plus a shelter and benches.
An indoor electric go-kart center with two tracks. The main track is 500 m long with plenty of turns and impact barriers; kids 8 and up drive their own karts there, and younger kids can ride as a passenger in a two-seater with an adult.
Ages 2 to 5 get a separate Baby Track in slow Nano karts, with room for a parent to sit behind.
For the kid who stops dead whenever a train, plane or race car goes by, these are the places to see the real machines up close. Vilnius keeps plenty of its old engineering on show, and some of it you can sit in. Here's what we checked, from the Rail Park outside the station to a playground where jets land just past the fence.
The national railway museum fills part of the second floor of Vilnius station, with almost 900 exhibits on how Lithuania's trains run: passenger travel, track maintenance and signaling.
Outside, the Rail Park (Bėgių parkas) spreads 12 exhibits over 7,100 square meters: locomotives, wagons, a water steam pump and a wagon heating boiler. It suits train-mad kids who want to see the real thing up close.
Vilnius Auto Museum fills a former taxi depot with over 100 historic cars and motorcycles from 10 countries. Exhibits run from the first cars of the late 1800s through interwar Lithuania and World War II vehicles to race cars and cars that carried Lithuanian presidents.
Younger kids can try a Ford Model T and hunt for secret doors in cars, and a children's area has toy cars, coloring and books.
The museum fills the city's first public power plant. Downstairs are its original steam boilers, turbines and control panel. The 1,000 m² Transformation Hall puts the two largest Tesla coils in the Baltics inside a Faraday cage, and challenges at each exhibit earn points to swap for souvenirs.
The two top floors hold an interactive science zone with a Jacob's ladder, a Möbius strip and a Bernoulli ball.
A playground built by the city next to Vilnius Airport's official planespotting site, on the south side of the runway. Kids climb the rope pyramid and ride the slides while passenger and cargo jets take off and land just beyond the fence.
The viewing site next door has a sunken part and a raised deck made for photographers, plus a shelter and benches.
An indoor electric go-kart center with two tracks. The main track is 500 m long with plenty of turns and impact barriers; kids 8 and up drive their own karts there, and younger kids can ride as a passenger in a two-seater with an adult.
Ages 2 to 5 get a separate Baby Track in slow Nano karts, with room for a parent to sit behind.
