Vilnius is a city that takes a few hours to like and a few days to love. The old town, one of the largest surviving medieval centres in Eastern Europe, is a tangle of cobbled lanes and courtyards on the banks of the Neris and Vilnia rivers, and it is crowded with churches, more than forty of them by most counts, in Gothic, Renaissance and especially Baroque styles. From the top of Gediminas Hill you see red roofs, green domes and the dark line of forest beyond.
The city's story is a layered one. It became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fourteenth century, then lived under Polish, Russian, Nazi and Soviet rule, and each left traces. Vilnius was once a major centre of Jewish life, known as the Jerusalem of the North, and the old Jewish quarter still marks that history. University buildings from the sixteenth century sit near the cathedral, and Užupis, a bohemian district across the river, declares itself an independent republic every April Fool's Day, with its own constitution on a wall.
As a start for a ride toward the Aukštaitija lakes, the city is a good launch pad. You leave through suburbs, then roads open into forest and farmland, with long straight stretches, gentle hills and lakes shining between pines. Surfaces are generally good, and drivers are brisk but not wild. Summer is warm and bright, with very long evenings, and autumn brings colour. Winter can be icy.
Everything you could need is here. Fuel is on every approach road, hotels and guesthouses cover all budgets, and the food is hearty. Try cepelinai, the big potato dumplings stuffed with meat, or cold beetroot soup in summer, with a glass of local kvass. Old-town parking can be awkward, so leave the bike at a hotel and walk. A free hour near the cathedral square is enough for the first look.