In short: a rainy day in Kaunas is easy to spend indoors. Coffee on Laisvės alėja in the morning, the Čiurlionis, Devils' and War museums on V. Putvinskio Street before lunch, Town Hall Square museums or Science Island with kids in the afternoon, and dinner in 17th and 18th-century cellars in the evening. It is all walkable if you stay central: Underground Kingdom Boutique, with rooms under 1908 brick vaults at the top of Laisvės alėja, Picturesque Old Town Apartment with a balcony in the Old Town, or Old Town Pearl Suite by the castle. All three have self check-in.
Rain has one advantage in Kaunas: the city shrinks. The Old Town, Laisvės alėja and the museum quarter in Naujamiestis fold into a compact triangle where you can fit a coffee between two museums and a cellar between coffee and dinner. Here is how to spend a wet day without regretting a single hour of it.
Morning: coffee and breakfast under a roof
There is no rush. Kasdienybės Bakehouse (E. Ožeškienės g. 3) sits right at the junction of Laisvės alėja and Vilniaus gatvė, with coffee from local roasters, croissants and New York-style cheesecake. Further along the boulevard, Pinavija (Laisvės al. 34) does kibinai pastries, omelettes and waffles, and Spurginė (Laisvės al. 84) has been frying curd doughnuts for almost forty years in an interior that has barely changed since the 1980s. Bring cash: it does not take cards.
If museums are the plan, stop at Kultūra (K. Donelaičio g. 16) by the Kaunas Picture Gallery for speciality coffee, big sandwiches and lunch specials in a café that keeps its Soviet-era look. More addresses are in our guide to where to eat in Kaunas Old Town.
Museums: the Putvinskio Street quarter
Kaunas has a perfect rainy-day block: several museums facing each other. The M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art (V. Putvinskio g. 55) was founded in 1921 and holds the largest collection of work by the painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. In the same 1936 building, entered from K. Donelaičio gatvė, the Vytautas the Great War Museum tells the story of the Lithuanian state. Across the street is the Devils' Museum (V. Putvinskio g. 64): more than 3,000 devil-themed exhibits, from sculptures and carvings to masks. It is one of the quirkiest museums in Lithuania, and a grey sky only helps the mood.
Between museums, walk past the interwar modernist buildings that joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023. A few blocks are enough between showers; the full route with addresses is in our Kaunas modernism walk.
Museums in the Old Town
In the afternoon, move to the Old Town. Town Hall Square, home of the white Town Hall locals call the White Swan, has the Town Hall museum and the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature in the poet's former home. At Vilniaus g. 33 is the Historical Presidential Palace, the president's residence while Kaunas was the interwar capital. At the edge of the Old Town, where the rivers meet, Kaunas Castle houses a branch of the Kaunas City Museum. More on the square is in our guide to things to do on Town Hall Square.
Two tips. Many museums close on Mondays, so a wet Monday is better spent in cafés and cellars. And on the last Sunday of each month most Kaunas museums waive the fee for their permanent exhibitions, which turns a rainy Sunday into a proper museum day.
Give a separate afternoon to something heavier: the Ninth Fort Museum (Žemaičių pl. 73) is a memorial in a former Kaunas Fortress fort where tens of thousands of people, most of them Jews, were murdered during the Second World War. The museum suggests allowing about two hours; take a taxi or a city bus from the centre.
With kids: Science Island and the puppet theatre
Science Island on the Nemunas island is a new science centre with interactive exhibitions and a planetarium, easily half a day for a family, and it is walkable from the centre. The Kaunas State Puppet Theatre (Laisvės al. 87A) has been running since 1960, with family shows usually at weekends. Laisvės alėja also has the Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum, and the Aviation Museum is indoors too. Everything for families is in our Kaunas with kids guide.
Underground: Kaunas under the vaults
Kaunas has something many European cities lack: a second storey below the street. In and around the Old Town, 17th and 18th-century brick cellars survive, and today they hold bars and restaurants. On a wet day they are the natural place to shelter.
- Gaston (M. Valančiaus g. 7) – a wine house in authentic 17th-century cellars, shop and bar in one, with more than 800 wines. It closes early in the evening and is shut on Sundays, so treat it as an afternoon stop.
- Avilys (Vilniaus g. 34) – a brewery and restaurant in 18th-century cellars, brewing unfiltered beer including a honey beer, with brewery tours and tastings.
- Klimas (Rotušės a. 3) – a cocktail bar themed on 1920s Kaunas; in the cold months guests sit under historic vaults.
Every venue with opening hours is in our guide to Kaunas cellar bars and nightlife. The story of the 1908 vaults at the junction where the Old Town, Naujamiestis and Žaliakalnis meet is told in the 1908 vaults at the Kaunas crossroads.
Cinema, stage and a hot sauna
Romuva cinema (Laisvės al. 54) opened in 1940, was rebuilt in 2016–2021 and is now the oldest working cinema in Lithuania – hard to think of a better rainy evening. The Puppet Theatre also stages evening concerts and shows for adults, while the biggest concerts and Žalgiris games take place at Žalgiris Arena; see our round-up of events in Kaunas.
If the rain turns cold, head to the renovated sauna area at Girstutis pool (Kovo 11-osios g. 26), with eight different saunas. It is outside the centre, so take a taxi or bus. More cold-season ideas are in Kaunas in winter.
Dinner when it rains
On wet evenings restaurants fill up faster, so book a table. For Lithuanian food and game, try Medžiotojų užeiga (Rotušės a. 10), which calls itself the oldest restaurant in Kaunas. For house beer with dinner, Avilys under the vaults. For something simpler or with kids, Okata (Vilniaus g. 10); for a special night, SIJA (Nepriklausomybės a. 5), listed in the MICHELIN Guide in 2026. The full list is in where to eat in Kaunas Old Town.
A rainy-day plan
- Morning. Coffee and a croissant at Kasdienybės Bakehouse at the junction.
- Late morning. The Čiurlionis museum, the Devils' Museum or the War Museum on V. Putvinskio Street.
- Lunch. Kultūra by the Picture Gallery, or doughnuts at Spurginė.
- Afternoon. The Town Hall museum and Historical Presidential Palace in the Old Town, or Science Island with kids; Gaston's cellar for wine.
- Evening. Dinner in the Old Town, a film at Romuva or a cocktail under the vaults at Klimas.
Staying two days? A ready-made route is in Kaunas Old Town in 48 hours, and every sight is listed in things to do in Kaunas.
Where to come back to after a wet day
On a rainy day what matters most is that home is close: pop back to change, dry your shoes and head out again. All three of our stays are in the centre or the Old Town.
Underground Kingdom Boutique has four rooms in the brick vaults of a 1908 building, below street level, right where Laisvės alėja meets Vilniaus gatvė. The Putvinskio Street museums and the Old Town cellars are a short walk away. There are no windows, which means no rain drumming on the glass and no street noise – just quiet under a brick arch. Each room has a double bed, its own shower and WC and air conditioning, with fresh air from a heat-recovery ventilation system, and in the evening there is a candlelit shared lounge. For a couple, it may be the cosiest place in Kaunas to sit out a rainy night.
Picturesque Old Town Apartment (M. Valančiaus g. 12) is in the heart of the Old Town, a few doors from the Gaston cellar. Two bedrooms, a kitchen with an espresso machine and a balcony over the cobbled street: when the rain eases, you can watch the wet Old Town light up for the evening.
Old Town Pearl Suite (Šv. Gertrūdos g. 51A) is an 84 m² apartment in a new building with a lift, about 250 m from Kaunas Castle, with two bedrooms, a bathtub and a balcony overlooking the centre and the river. After a soggy walk by the river confluence, that bath beats any plan. Minimum stay is two nights.
Not sure which area to choose? Our guide to where to stay in Kaunas compares them.
Book direct
A rainy day in Kaunas often ends with the best evening: a warm cellar, a long dinner and nowhere left to drive. Instead of racing for the last train, stay the night – the city is freshly washed and empty in the morning.
Museum hours change with the season and on public holidays, so check their websites before you go. Header photo: Vilniaus gatvė in Kaunas Old Town. Photo: Modris Putns / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Frequently asked questions
Which Kaunas museums are best on a rainy day?
Pick the ones that sit close together. On V. Putvinskio Street you have the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art and, across the road, the Devils' Museum; the Vytautas the Great War Museum shares a building with the Čiurlionis museum. In the Old Town, Town Hall Square has the Town Hall museum and the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature, and Vilniaus gatvė has the Historical Presidential Palace.
Are Kaunas museums open on Mondays?
Mostly not. Kaunas Castle, the Čiurlionis museum, Science Island and the Ninth Fort Museum are closed on Mondays, and the Town Hall museum, the Maironis Museum, the Devils' Museum and the Historical Presidential Palace do not publish Monday hours. If the rain catches you on a Monday, give the day to cafés, cellars and the cinema and save the museums for later.
What can we do in Kaunas with kids when it rains?
Science Island on the Nemunas island, with interactive exhibitions and a planetarium, the Kaunas State Puppet Theatre on Laisvės alėja, the Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum, the Aviation Museum and the Devils' Museum are all indoors. More ideas are in our Kaunas with kids guide.
Where can I sit in a historic cellar in Kaunas?
Avilys (Vilniaus g. 34) is a brewpub in 18th-century cellars, Gaston (M. Valančiaus g. 7) is a wine bar and shop in 17th-century cellars, and Klimas (Rotušės a. 3) is a cocktail bar where guests sit under historic vaults in the cold months. Gaston closes early and is shut on Sundays, so keep it for the afternoon.
Where should I stay so everything is walkable on a rainy day?
In the centre. Underground Kingdom Boutique sits where Laisvės alėja meets Vilniaus gatvė, a short walk from the Putvinskio Street museums and the Old Town cafés. Picturesque Old Town Apartment is on M. Valančiaus gatvė, about 300 m from Town Hall Square, and Old Town Pearl Suite is about 250 m from Kaunas Castle.
Can I check in late if I arrive wet and tired?
Yes. All three MyKaunas stays have self check-in from 15:00: we send the access instructions in advance, so there is no reception to wait for. If you come back late, please keep to quiet hours from 22:00 to 08:00.
Are the cellar rooms damp or stuffy?
No. At Underground Kingdom, fresh air comes from a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, the rooms are heated by heat pumps, and every room has air conditioning and its own shower and WC. There are no windows, so there is no street noise either, and after a wet day in town you sleep soundly.
Where do I park if I drive to Kaunas in the rain?
The easiest plan is to leave the car by your stay and spend the day on foot. Near Underground Kingdom, on Šv. Gertrūdos gatvė, is the green zone, which is free in the evenings and at weekends. All zones and rules are in our Old Town parking guide.
