QS Best Student Cities ranking: Joint 95th
The capital and largest city of Lithuania, Vilnius is a charming and relatively small student city. It’s famed for its baroque and gothic architecture, which is especially noticeable in the medieval Old Town, one of the largest of its kind Europe (as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site), which is ideal for exploring during your spare time and taking in some of the history.
One of the Old Town’s main streets, Pilies Street, is among the most active and picturesque streets in the city, full of little shops, cafés, restaurants and interesting architecture, including the historically significant House of the Signatories, where the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed in 1918.
Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture in 2009 alongside the Austrian city of Linz, and hosts a number of popular cultural events throughout the year, such as the Vilnius International Film Festival, Capital Days (performing arts festival) and the Vilnius Jazz Festival. Also, Vilnius University’s Faculty of Physics hosts the unique FiDi Physicist’s Day, actually one of the most outlandish days in the calendar, which features a giant mechanical dinosaur in its procession.
Vilnius has many universities, including Vilnius University, the country’s largest and the oldest in the Baltic states (founded in 1579). A popular student city, when asked (via our student survey) what the best thing was about Vilnius, one student cited “cheap food and the city is growing really fast so there are a lot of opportunities” while another praised it for being “cheap to live, with a beautiful old town and a traditional university”.
Vilnius does indeed have fairly low costs of living, especially compared to other European capitals and tuition fees are fairly reasonable, helping to give it its best score in the affordability category. There are also opportunities to study in English.
Internationally ranked universities in Vilnius
More about Vilnius
Number of universities ranked by QS |
2 |
Highest-ranked institution |
Vilnius University (ranked joint 458th) |
Population |
810,000 |
Average international fees (at ranked unis) |
US$3,600 |
Desirability rank |
115th |
Employer Activity rank |
75th |
Affordability rank |
22nd |
Student View rank |
92nd |
To find out how each of the above categories is calculated, view the methodology.