The least known and visited of the three Baltic State capitals, Vilnius has for decades reclined in the shadows.

All that has started to change since May 2004 when Lithuania followed its newly acquired NATO membership by joining the European Union and opening up its capital's charms to a whole new market of business people and tourists.

Savvy travellers and pioneering members of the business community were already coming to Vilnius, but it is the EU accession that has really kicked things off and there is plenty for the new arrivals to see and do.

The city's historic core is stunning, centred around a well-preserved and expansive baroque old town that is fringed by the Vilnia and Neris rivers. A riot of church spires reach for the heavens; just how many churches the city has can be appreciated by climbing up to the city's castle or visiting one of the parks that dot this green metropolis.

On the north bank of the Neris, a new Vilnius is taking shape, a 21st-century collage of glass and steel skyscrapers geared towards the burgeoning business community, a world that offers a complete contrast to Vilnius and Lithuania before the break from the Soviet Union and the ditching of communism in 1991.

The Lithuanian economy these days has overcome many of the structural and fiscal problems that were all too evident in the post-independence years and is now one of Europe's fastest growing.

Add in the buzz that the large local student population injects into the old streets, and Vilnius today is a thrilling, energetic and rewarding place to visit, whether on business or pleasure.

Although Vilnius may no longer be the travel secret it once was, so far it has yet to become plagued by the crowds that have tainted other old Iron Curtain cities such as Prague and Cracow.