We have 4 major cities, and out of the 4 of them only 2 ever felt relevant, Kaunas and Vilnius, Vilnius seeming significantly more relevant. Aand… that trend seems to be continuing, so… I don’t predict any major relevancy flips
How is Vilnius as a city? Would you recommend visiting it?
It’s way too expensive, and the traffic is terrible, as it usually goes with european capitals lol :3… fine for a visit tho. Kinda depends on what type of stuff you enjoy - the old town gets a decent bit of tourism for the architecture, and there’s some museums and stuff, but it’s nothing special in terms of european cities imo… maybe less crowded than some of the ones in more famous countries
Where would you recommend for someone visiting Lithuania? I’d like to spend a bit of time looking around there, Latvia, and Estonia one day if I am able
Really depends on what kind of stuff you want to see tbh :3
The curonian spit is cool, there’s some sand dunes there (but also quite expensive), vilnius has a very large old town with a bunch of churches and museums (and being close by trakai, which has a nice island castle :3), kaunas has some cool art deco buildings etc.
If you’re heading to latvia in the same trip I suppose you would go either through zarasai, panevėžys, šiauliai, or along the coast if you go by car, all of them have some nice spots. Šiauliai had the hill of crosses which is quite famous :3. Generally tho I think most of the stuff here can be seen in a day, so if you have the time I’d say probably stop by a few cities lol (vilnius and trakai, kaunas, and then klaipėda and the curonian spit)
Thank you! I’ll read up on the things you’ve mentioned. I sadly do not have travel planned any time soon, but it’s always nice to dream
Thank you!
In terms of population and economy, Scotland is very concentrated around the Central Belt, an area running roughly from Edinburgh in the east to Glasgow in the west. It’s basically the only large part of the country that is flat and fertile, and it also contains a large river leading to each coast, so it has naturally attracted people over time. That strip and the surrounding area contains roughly half of the country’s population, including the only two actually city-sized cities (one of which is the capital). As such it obviously has a lot of gravity and being near it but not part of it can be a bit rough, particularly as transport has become easier and easier over time. The population centres that are a bit further away are doing alright, but the ones on the fringe of the Central Belt have been struggling as they slowly fall within its influence over time. Perth is a notable example of this, as it has huge historical significance and has been very prosperous in the past, but it’s slowly seeing the effects of just being outweighed by Edinburgh and its surroundings. Quite a few empty storefronts on the high street these days. It’s still doing okay for now and I’m confident that it’s far from beyond saving, but something needs to be figured out for it. I had somewhat hoped that the shift towards remote working would be good for a place like Perth that provides a pleasant environment and lower costs without being too distant or isolated, but that doesn’t seem to have happened (yet, anyway)
On the other end of things, Skye seems to be on the up. It’s one of the biggest islands, and unusual in being close enough to the mainland to have a road connection. It, like the other isles, has long been at best neglected, but the past couple of decades have finally seen 150 years of population decline reverse. It’s now such a popular tourism destination that local businesses actually struggle to cater for everyone (not always ideal, but an opportunity at least) and there are plenty of non-tourism businesses opening up as well. It’s one of the centres for the effort to try to rescue the Scottish Gaelic language, and last time I was there I met several people who had chosen to move there and seemed to made themselves solid parts of the local community
Thank you for the detailed analysis!
In Finland Tampere has been gaining much more relevance, Oulu somewhat. Kuopio, Kajaani and Joensuu used to be more relevant than they are.
And then there are Imatra and Lappeenranta, whose economies and importance are based on them being located at the Russian border and having border crossings to the Russia. Now that the Russia has showed its real face, those cities have largely lost their meaning.
