Trakai Transportation

I arrived to Trakai by my own car from Druskininkai and I parked my car at small parking lot on my picture. It was guarded and paid (5 Lt) parking located very close to the walkway to the castle on the island. I paid when I left.

Well, you can park a car on a street for free a little bit futher but you must walk longer to the castle. In each country I prefer to use guarded parking lots in the most touristy places because of higher risk of car or more often car luggage thefts in such places. And Trakai, no doubts, belongs to the most touristy destinations in Lithuania.

How to get to the parking lot?
Look at the map of Trakai here. The parking is marked by P ---> drive straight main through street (Karaimu gatve), parking when you pass the centre-downtown on your left just after the crossroad with Traku gatve.

I drove to Trakai by my car from Poland via Budzisko - Kalvarija border crossing point. Then I turned right to highway 134 and via Druskinikai and through highway A4 and A16 I got to Trakai and then to Vilnius.

Trakai was located in southestern Lithuania, 28km (17mi) west of Vilnius.


DRIVING DISTANCES

Border crossing points:

Poland:
Lazdijai - Ogrodniki: 140 km,
Budzisko - Kalvarija: 140 km.

Belarus:
(direction Minsk) - 55 km.

Lithuania:
Vilnius - 28 km
Kaunas - 80 km.

Others:
Riga, Latvia - 360 km
Tallinn, Estonia - 670 km
Berlin, Germany - 1050 km
Prague, Czech - 1100 km
Budapest, Hungary - 1170 km

I tried to get to Trakai from Vilnius during my first trip to Lithuania in May 2004. Hmm... I got lost because I didn't have exact map of Vilnius and area around. I was looking for wrong direction signs... Trakai.

Well, from Vilnius there were direction signs to Druskininkai (and Hrodna, Belarus) via highway A4. Then on the outskirts turn right to highway A16 (E28) towards Marijampole. Do not turn to Senieji Trakai (= Old Trakai, like I did haha), drive straight Vilnius and then Gedimino gatve to the roundabout (look here). There were large signs: Trakai straight on, Marijampole to left. Drive straight on Vytauto gatve and then Karaimu gatve a few kilometers along the town to get close to the island with a castle (on right). Look at the Trakai map here.

3 more images

The best way to visit more than the famous castle is to walk around Trakai. Well, keep in mind that the town is not large but looong. Trakai is located on loong peninsula between the two longitudinal lakes. Buses and trains went to the basis of the penninsula which is connected at its end with a land by a bridge over Galve Lake. Look at the clickable map here.

1 more image

The best and the cheapest way to get to the castle is to walk through this wooden bridge, on my picture. In real there were two bridges, first to a green island (Karaimka, Karvine s.) and the second to the next island where the castle was built. I do hope they will never start to charge visitors for walking this bridge.

1 more image

Trakai can be reached from Vilnius by train. The journey is around 45 minutes.
Trains are not fast but fairly comfortable and not expensive.
Lithuania did seem to be improving their rail network while we visited, much work on the tracks and stations were fairly modern too.

From Vilnius we took a small bus (a van) to Trakai. It was an easy way of travelling, we were packed between Lithuanians, and on our way some large packs of cattleforage were thrown on the bus... still an enjoyable adventure.

Regular buses depart from Vilnius daily, stopping at Trakai bus station. From there, continue walking in the same direction that the bus was going. It's about a 15 or 20 minute walk to the castle. If you have a car, just take the A4 out of Vilnius (Savanoriu) and follow the signs. Trains are also available (8 per day) but they are not as frequent or convenient as busses.

If you go to Trakai by car, you'll definitelly need a place for to park it. Parking places at the shore not far from the Castle view are more expensive. They will ask you about 5 Litas/day. If you drive a little bit further, you'll pay less, but you also have to walk more.