Visiting Trakai Castle in Lithuania, Trakai, Lithuania

One of Lithuania’s most beautiful and treasured sights is Trakai Castle, which is just 30 minutes outside of Vilnius. The gorgeous red castle sits on an island in the middle of Lake Galve in Trakai, Lithuania. Visiting Trakai makes for a great day trip full of history and lovely views of the fairytale castle.

The castle is easily accessible by car, but if you’re visiting Vilnius without a car, you can also get there using public transportation. There is a train from the Vilnius Railway Station, and a bus from the Vilnius Bus Station. They’re both practically next to each other, and the cost is nearly the same, under 2 euros a ticket. The bus is slightly faster and there are more schedule options, so this may be a slightly better choice.

Of course, you can easily take a day tour from Vilnius, though this would be the most expensive option, aside from being the least flexible.

The 14th century castle is accessible by a foot bridge that connects Trakai Island with the mainland. One of the most striking things about the look of the castle is that the stones that make up its façade change as you look up. That’s because the castle was built in parts. You can see the stone that made up the original castle base underneath the red brick that makes up the rest of the castle. It was in this bright red brick that the 6-story tower was built along with two new wings during the second phase of construction. In the 15th century, in a third phase of construction, Trakai got three defensive towers. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).