Lithuania's capital likes to surprise you. Arrive expecting Baroque churches and cobbled lanes — you'll get those, since the Old Town is one of Europe's largest surviving medieval centres and a UNESCO World Heritage Site — but hang around and you'll find a young, eccentric city that's seriously into food and drink. A recent guide from The Travel Magazine maps out exactly how to taste your way through it.

Start with beer, because Vilnius does beer differently. Lithuania has a strong farmhouse brewing heritage, and its modern craft scene has run with it, experimenting with hops, yeast, fruit and dark malts. Alaus Biblioteka — literally the Beer Library — is the place to get schooled: shelves of bottles and cans, staff who can talk you through styles, and tastings covering both traditional brewing and the new wave. Time it right and you can catch PUTOJA, a two-day beer festival held every September in an old factory just outside town, with Lithuanian and international brewers side by side.

For the cheese course, head to Džiugas House, where tastings are organised by age — 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 months. The hard cow's-milk cheese gets firmer and drier as it matures, picking up nutty, savoury, faintly caramelised notes and that crystalline texture that makes aged cheese so moreish.

Beer and cheese are easier to justify on two wheels. Vilnius is compact enough to walk, but cycling lets you cover the Old Town, the riverside paths along the Neris and Vilnia, and the greener districts beyond. Guided tours via Bike Vilnius Velotakasg are a good way to get your bearings. The real payoff is a day trip to Trakai, about 28km west — cycle part of the way, hop on the train for the rest. Once the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Trakai is now famous for its red-brick island castle on Lake Galvė, improbably photogenic when approached across the water. The town is also home to the Karaite community, brought here in the late 14th century, whose wooden houses still line the streets. Their signature kibinai — crescent-shaped meat pastries — are the perfect post-ride snack; Senoji Kibininė is the traditional spot to try them.

Then there's the strangest item on the itinerary: Beer Spa Vilnius, in a historic Old Town building, where wooden tubs are filled with warm water, hops, malt and brewer's yeast. It sounds like a gimmick, but after a long day in the saddle it's surprisingly restful — and there's a beer to drink afterwards to complete the circle.

Hungry beyond snacks? The guide flags Michelin-starred Džiaugsmas and Deep Roots for tasting menus, Momo Grill for modern Lithuanian food, and Desertų Klubas for brunch. The Artagonist Hotel makes a comfortable Old Town base, and Wizz Air and Ryanair fly to Vilnius from Luton and Stansted respectively.

This is a trip for travellers who'd rather understand a city through its stomach than its monuments — anyone happy to trade one more cathedral for a farmhouse ale, a 48-month cheese and a soak in the brewing ingredients themselves. Come for the Baroque, stay for the beer.