Our trip to Vilnius wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Trakai to see the beautiful red castle on the lake. We arrived and hiked up the road into Trakai. We soon realised it was HOT so stopped at a small supermarket for sunscreen and chilled drinks, before decamping to a boardwalk at the edge of a large serene lake to lie down and enjoy the beautiful day.
After our lengthy rest and watching some ducks fighting on the lake, we followed the shaded path around the lake to the castle.
The castle was stunning, and overlooked by souvenir shops and lakeside restaurants so you can stuff food into your mouth while admiring the tranquil surroundings. I must admit though, the food there wasn’t as good as that which I’d had in Vilnius.
We wandered round the castle museum. I wasn’t bothered but my BF wanted to do it. I guess it’s good to go in for the sake of completeness since we travelled all the way there, but it wasn’t that interesting to me. Lots of displays of crockery. Also very steep wooden external staircases, so not good if you have vertigo!
After this we wandered around the lake a bit and then along the pretty main street of Trakai, stopping in a cafe for an ice cream for my BF, and then back to the train.
Travel Tips:-
- You can get there on the train or bus. The guidebooks advise the bus as the bus station is nearer to the centre of Trakai. However my BF and I would take train over bus any day – generally a more spacious and smoother ride. Plus the walk to the train station in Trakai wasn’t that much further than the bus station. Both are inexpensive but train is quicker and slightly dearer. Warning: both bus station and train station are a fair walk from the castle (maybe 30 mins walk), which is far enough especially on a hot day!
- You can walk across the bridge to the castle for free. You can even walk up into the entrance of the castle for free. But to go inside the castle round the museum you have to pay.
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Big Fat Tourist 
I have been there a few years ago. On this day we saw at least 10 brides and grooms posing for pictures. We really loved Lithuania! Did you get a chance to go to Latvia and Estonia?
Oh there were no wedding photos when we went – but we have seen these a lot in London and Santorini! We didn’t make it to Latvia or Estonia but would love to go some day! 🙂