Vilnius City Guide

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, recently overtaking Riga as the biggest in the Baltic states. It is best known for its baroque UNESCO World Heritage Old Town (Senamiestis), one of the largest surviving medieval/baroque old towns in Europe, paired with an aggressive ring of modern development on the north bank of the Neris, where the Baltics' largest Central Business District (the Šnipiškės skyscraper district) has risen since 2000. Lithuania has used the euro since 1 January 2015, removing currency risk for euro-denominated investors. The economy underpinning the market is among the EU's most dynamic. Lithuania ranks first in the EU by number of licensed fintech companies, is a world leader in laser/photonics (its lasers are used by most of the world's top universities) and has a fast-growing life-sciences cluster. Vilnius is the hub of this activity, sustaining a deep pool of high-income local and expat tenants. On price, Lithuania has been one of the EU's fastest-appreciating markets over the past decade, house prices rose roughly +168% between 2015 and Q4 2025 (third only to Portugal and Bulgaria, per Eurostat); Vilnius apartments averaged ~€2,930/m² in December 2025, up ~10.7% over the trailing year (Ober-Haus). Gross rental yields citywide sit in the ~5–6% band, below the national average because prime-centre capital values are high relative to rents. Lithuania has NO property golden visa (residence requires genuine active business), and short-term-rental rules are in flux: a 2026 reform is expected to legalise STR in residential/multi-unit buildings (currently a legal grey zone), and the EU short-term-rental registration regime applies from 20 May 2026.