What foreign tourists like and hate most about Lithuania

Tourists were surveyed by UAB Socialinės Informacijos Centras (Social Information Centre), which asked them to name three things that they liked most during their stay in Lithuania and three things they liked least.

Most visitors were impressed by Vilnius, the town’s history, historical centre, architecture and sites. As many as 41% of the surveyed named Vilnius as their top pick, vz.lt reports.

The second most memorable aspect of their stay in Lithuania was the food and drink culture (restaurants, bars, dishes, drinks, etc., mentioned by 40%), followed by natural attractions: forests, lakes, the scenery (32%).

The fourth most often mentioned positive aspect was the people. Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed said Lithuanians were very hospitable, friendly and welcoming.

Some tourists also liked the Baltic coast (15%), the historic town of Trakai (10%), Lithuania’s history and culture (8%), clean air and nice climate (6%), prices (6%).

Individual respondents also mentioned the euro, people’s foreign language fluency, beautiful women, shopping malls, basketball, security and free internet.

Only about every fourth respondent (27%) agreed to name aspects of Lithuania they did not like.

There is no single or several things that stand out, according to the authors of the survey. Foreign tourists mentioned they did not like the domestic transportation system, including public transport and poor-quality roads (4%). Some were put off by bad weather and the Lithuanian climate (3%), rude people (3%), the language barrier (3%) and low customer service culture (3%).

Other negative aspects mentioned by the tourists were public lavatories (too few and of poor quality), not enough information in foreign languages, greasy food and too little choice for vegetarians, high prices, grumpy people, taxi drivers.

In general, foreign tourists are satisfied with their experience in Lithuania, authors of the survey conclude.

The Social Information Centre interviewed 1,000 tourists at the airports, railway and coach stations of Vilnius and Kaunas. The survey was conducted in July-August 2015.