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"Narrow cobblestone streets and an orgy of Baroque: almost like a Jesuit city somewhere in the middle of Latin America," wrote the author Czesław Miłosz of pre-war Vilnius – a description that in many ways still holds true. Laid out in a bowl carved by the winding River Neris and surrounded by pine-covered hills, central Vilnius remains largely untainted by the high-rise development that characterizes the post-war suburbs and boasts perhaps the most impressive concentration of Baroque architecture in northern Europe. At ground level, the centre is a maze of atmospheric alleyways lined with solid, eighteenth-century town houses, punctuated by archways leading through to cobbled backyards.

Most sights are concentrated in a reasonably compact area on the south bank of the River Neris. At the centre of the city is the main square, Katedros aikštė, site of the cathedral. South of here extends the atmospheric Old Town, with its impressive Baroque churches and venerable university, while to the west stretches the long, straight boulevard of Gedimino prospektas, the focus of the city's commercial and administrative life. On the high ground above it lies the nineteenth-century residential area of Naujamiestis (New Town). Running towards Gedimino prospektas along the eastern side of the Old Town is Pylimo gatvė, bearing just a few traces of the sizeable Jewish community that once lived here.

Despite the impression of continuity given by its well-preserved architecture, Vilnius's history is as fragmented as any in Eastern Europe. Since the city's emergence as capital of the Lithuanian dukes in the Middle Ages, Russians, Belarussians, Jews and Poles have all left their mark, and Vilnius has been an important cultural centre to each in turn. The city is particularly cherished in Polish hearts: as well as Nobel prizewinner Miłosz, literary figures as diverse as Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki and Tadeusz Konwicki all spent their formative years here. Vilnius is still a cosmopolitan place – around twenty percent of its population is Polish and another twenty percent is Russian – though with just under 600,000 inhabitants it has an almost village-like atmosphere.