Vilnius and Kaunas are close enough to treat VNO and KUN as two useful doors into one trip — but far enough apart that choosing the “cheaper” flight can manufacture a transfer day. This is the practical version: airports, buses, trains, Bolt/Uber, car-sharing, stations, late arrivals and the awkward bits old guides miss.
VNO · Vilnius: default for Vilnius, Trakai and eastern/southern Lithuania.
KUN · Kaunas: natural for Kaunas, central Lithuania and many westbound routes — and often a clever departure airport if the trip finishes in Kaunas.
PLQ · Palanga: the coast shortcut. Small network, huge geographical advantage when the sea is already the point.
Open-jaw: VNO in + KUN out, or the reverse, can be better than a return ticket if the itinerary moves the same way.
This is an editorial rule engine, not live fare scraping. It uses current fixed facts plus a clearly labelled recent-user price snapshot for car-sharing.
Both main airports changed materially. This matters because old forum advice often describes buildings, security procedures and payment methods that no longer exist.
Vilnius opened its new departures terminal in February 2025, lifting designed peak departures capacity from about 1,200 to 2,400 passengers per hour. Schengen departures use the modern terminal; the older terminal complex has been repurposed and connected to it.
On 16 June 2026 the former departures hall reopened as VNO Plaza, the airport’s largest commercial space. Non-Schengen passenger flows and border-control arrangements have shifted around the rebuilt complex, so a UK traveller returning after a year may not walk the same route.
Zaha Hadid Architects is designing it; Lithuanian Airports says it is expected to open by the end of 2028. For 2026, arrivals still use the existing infrastructure. Do not let a glossy render become a present-tense travel instruction.
The expanded terminal opened fully in November 2025: roughly 800 passengers per hour, six gates, two baggage reclaim belts and car-rental desks inside. KUN is no longer a reason to apologise for buying a Ryanair ticket.
From 2025 through 2029 Vilnius Airport is symbolically branded Vilnius Čiurlionis International Airport. Your useful code is still VNO. Search the code when names on maps, airline screens and press releases start becoming artistic.
Vilnius Airport is close enough to the city that airport transfer theatre is mostly optional.
| Way | Current practical fact | Use it when | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3G express bus | About every 10 minutes; around 20 minutes to the centre. | Default public-transport answer for most visitors. | Road traffic still exists. Vilnius has buses and trolleybuses, not a teleportation department. |
| 88 / 1 / 2 | 88 runs centreward; 1 and 2 are useful for the station area. Roughly every 20–30 minutes. | Your hotel or onward connection fits the route better than 3G. | Choose by destination, not by the smallest route number. |
| 88N / N8 | Night-bus options connect airport, station and centre. | Late arrival / very early departure and your stop is convenient. | Check tonight’s timetable. Night service is useful, not magical. |
| Airport train | Up to 8 minutes to Vilnius Railway Station; €0.90. Current airport → city service ends at 19:20. | You actually need the railway-station area and the timetable matches. | A seven-minute train plus a 25-minute walk to your hotel is not automatically faster than 3G. |
| Bolt / Uber | Both operate. Price is dynamic; use the pickup point shown in the app. | 2–4 people, luggage, late night, awkward hotel. | Do not assume a scheduled app ride is the same as a guaranteed chauffeur at 03:00. |
JUDU says m.Ticket and Trafi require a Lithuanian phone number. A visitor can simply tap a contactless bank card/phone on the validator for a 60-minute ticket. The current contactless fare is €1.25; the ordinary 30-minute fare is €1.00. If an old page still says €0.65 or €0.90, you have found the internet doing archaeology.
Route 29 connects the airport with Kaunas Bus Station and Railway Station. The important 2025–26 change is payment: old “cash only” advice is wrong.
Visa/Mastercard contactless or a linked device buys one trip to the route terminus. No app account required.
Cheaper electronic fare and useful if you are going to use Kaunas public transport repeatedly.
You can still buy a single ticket from the driver. It costs more and is not the visitor default anymore.
Airport services are adjusted around flight seasons and can run very early or after midnight. Do not publish or memorise one permanent “last bus” time.
Vilnius and Kaunas are close by country standards, not by airport-connection standards. Treat the transfer as part of the ticket price.
| Option | Current price logic | Best for | Real-world catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ollex direct shuttle | KUN ↔ Vilnius €15 per person. VNO ↔ Kaunas €15 per person. | Solo/couple, luggage, simple airport-to-city transfer. | Schedule is flight-linked and not continuous. Pre-book and check the date. |
| 29 + LTG Link | €1 contactless KUN bus + dynamically priced Vilnius–Kaunas rail. | When shuttle timing is poor; travellers happy with one connection. | More handling of luggage; check live railway changes. |
| CityBee / Bolt Drive | Recent March 2026 user snapshots: roughly €30–50 for a Vilnius–Kaunas airport/city trip, depending on car/package. | 3–4 people, suitable driver, verified account, awkward hours. | Not a quoted fare. App price, car availability, airport fee, licence verification and driver fatigue decide whether it is clever or stupid. |
| Bolt / Uber with driver | Dynamic long-distance fare. | Convenience matters more than price; proper fallback. | At very early hours driver supply can disappear. “Reserved” does not guarantee a human will materialise. |
That is why car-sharing becomes interesting for a small group. But the arithmetic needs four extra conditions:
① one person has a licence accepted by the service; ② the account is verified before landing; ③ a suitable car is actually available; ④ the driver is fit to drive after the flight.
If any of those fail, €60 shuttle tickets may be the cheaper decision.
Do it when the route already moves between the two cities. Do not do it just because a fare-comparison site flashed green.
Vilnius first, Lithuania in the middle, Kaunas last. You remove the return transfer to Vilnius and turn KUN into a feature.
Strong open-jawAgain, the direction of travel and the airport choice agree. That is the point.
Strong open-jawAdd €15 per person for a shuttle, or another transport option, plus the time and risk. An early KUN departure may justify sleeping the final night in Kaunas.
Do the full mathsFor ordinary city-to-city travel it is usually the cleanest option. For an airport connection, add the airport leg at each end.
LTG Link applies dynamic pricing on Vilnius–Kaunas. Its own example: a standard €8.60 second-class fare can be €5.16 when bought a month ahead; live prices depend on train, remaining seats and time to departure.
LTG publishes interruption/works timetables. The safe instruction is not “the train is hourly forever”; it is “check your date in LTG Link and Traffic Today”.
Vilnius bus and railway stations sit in the same Stotis district. Kaunas bus and railway stations are also close enough that a bus–rail transfer is a normal journey, not a suburban expedition.
Kaunas Bus Station currently offers paid luggage storage: Mon–Sat 05:45–19:30, Sun 07:15–18:30. That makes “check out, see Kaunas, fly KUN later” much easier.
Vilnius Connect will transform the station district, but the new public-transport terminal and approaches are still a project. The city currently targets completion around 2029. In 2026 you are using the existing station complex, not the Zaha Hadid rendering.
Best last-mile tool for luggage, awkward addresses and small groups. Bolt tends to have strong local supply; Uber also operates. Always use the app pickup point rather than negotiating with a stranger near arrivals.
easyUseful request, not a legal promise that a driver will exist. Recent Vilnius users report pre-booked rides that still failed to find a driver. For a 05:30 flight, hotel transfer or a proper booked service can buy certainty.
not guaranteedSelf-drive car-sharing can bridge VNO, KUN, Vilnius and Kaunas. Bolt explicitly allows KUN P2 drop-off for an airport fee shown in-app. Register and verify your licence before travel, not beside the barrier with 9% battery.
group toolAt Vilnius and Kaunas, next-generation CT scanners mean electronics and liquids can stay in hand luggage during security screening.
Liquids can be carried in containers of up to 2 litres, subject to airline baggage-size/weight rules.
Do not assume the same rule on the flight home from another airport. Your outbound airport may still use the old 100 ml regime.
This is why undated airport guides age like milk.
The new multi-storey KUN car park is 25,000 m² with 912 spaces.
Plus 10 EV charging spaces now, with another 10 planned.
Airport-side parking capacity increased by roughly 60% after the opening.
The upper level doubles as a place to watch aircraft movements. Infrastructure accidentally became an attraction.
This section is deliberately dated because geopolitics expires faster than a museum opening time.
Wait for the airline/airport instructions before buying a €150 taxi in a midnight panic. Vilnius Airport’s own FAQ says airlines/ground handlers organise onward solutions in disruption cases. Self-solving immediately can mean paying for transport that would otherwise have been provided.
Vilnius–Riga is a practical rail corridor. Check LTG Link for the date rather than relying on a screenshot because works can move the timetable.
Vilnius–Tallinn can be bought as a coordinated journey with a transfer. It is far less awkward than the old multi-website puzzle.
LTG sells services towards Suwałki, Kraków and other Polish connections. International rail is viable; buying ahead is still smarter than treating it like a city bus.
Lithuania is easy to enter. The expensive mistake is not choosing the wrong airport; it is choosing the right airfare and then pretending the transfer is free. If the trip already moves Vilnius → Kaunas, use that movement. If four of you can genuinely use a car-share, compare it. If you land late, stop worshipping the airport train. And if a €22 cheaper flight creates a hotel change, a 04:00 alarm and a cross-country transfer, congratulations: you bought an administrative hobby.
Trust layer
This page is Desk verified 2 September 2026, not field-checked. Primary sources control hard facts; recent forums are used only for failure modes, availability experience and price snapshots that official pages do not describe.
Update rule: fixed prices, transport payment methods, airport terminal arrangements and disruption advice are re-checked before changing the “verified” date. Forum anecdotes never override primary sources.
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