What should I do there?
Hang out in the bohemian pavement cafes and bars of the charming, sleepy capital, Vilnius. Take a bracing stroll along the untouched white sandy beaches of the Baltic coast.

What should I avoid?
Provincial towns in the north - gangster-ridden, post-Soviet hell holes.

Where should I stay?
The Shakespeare (Bernardinu Street 8/8; 00 370 5 266 5885; shakespeare.lt). In the old town. Cosy and quirky. Rooms from £73.

What should I eat?
Food is all good quality, although a bit bland. If offered tsepilini, smile politely and decline. It's minced offal in a greasy dumpling.

What should I drink?
Beer. All good and strong.

Where's best for nightlife?
Vilnius does a good line in raves. Ask red-eyed youths for the nearest Disco Mafia party. There is also a vast array of strip joints and thinly disguised knocking shops. Gravity (Jasinskio 16) is a bit out of the way but that insulates it from the beer boy stag brigade.

To make friends say:
'I believe that Lithuania is a great power on the world stage, and in the fourteenth century had an empire stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.'

To make enemies say:
'Didn't this used to be part of Poland?' How do I get there? Lithuania Airlines (01293 579900; lal.lt) flies from Gatwick to Vilnius daily from £169 return.