Discover Trakai

A taste of Trakai

Trakai is the most photogenic spot in Lithuania — a small lakeside town built on a narrow isthmus between three lakes, whose centrepiece is the picture-perfect red-brick Trakai Island Castle, set entirely on its own small island in Lake Galvė and reached by a pedestrian footbridge. Built in the late 14th century as the residence of Grand Duke Vytautas, it was the seat of Lithuanian royal power during the country's golden age (when the Grand Duchy stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea), then fell into picturesque ruin before a full restoration between 1955 and 1962 returned it to its Gothic glory. Inside, the History Museum tells the story of medieval Lithuania across multiple levels and courtyards — the climb up to the upper viewing platforms gives extraordinary panoramas over the lake. The wider town has the equally interesting Trakai Peninsula Castle (older but only fragments survive), a thriving Karaite community (the Turkic Jewish minority brought here from Crimea by Vytautas in 1397, with their own kenesa prayer house, language, and famous kibinai meat pies) and the lovely Galvė lake itself — hire a rowing boat or kayak and circle the island castle for the classic shot. Easy day trip from Vilnius by direct train (30 min).