Day Trips from Vilnius: Trakai, Kaunas, Kernavė and the Hill of Crosses

Vilnius sits in southeastern Lithuania, within reach of a ducal island castle, the interwar capital Kaunas, a pagan-era hillfort site and a memorial forest. The state railway (LTG Link) covers Trakai and Kaunas, so you do not need a hire car.

With an extra morning on a two-day weekend break or a day of a three-day stay, each trip below adds a different chapter: pagan Lithuania at Kernavė, ducal power at Trakai, the independent interwar state at Kaunas.

Trakai Island Castle surrounded by Lake Galvė. Photo: Mattias Hill, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Quick comparison of Vilnius day trips

1. Trakai Island Castle: Gothic fortress and Karaite culture

Trakai Island Castle stands on an island in Lake Galvė and is reached by a wooden footbridge. The fourteenth-century fortress was the stronghold of Grand Duke Kęstutis and a residence of Vytautas the Great.

• Why go: red-brick Gothic architecture, lakeside walks, pedal boating in summer, ice skating in winter, and the Karaite community’s food and houses.
• Logistics: Direct trains leave Vilnius Central Station roughly hourly and reach Trakai in 33 minutes. The walk from the station to the castle gates takes 25 minutes.
• Costs: Adult admission to the castle museum is €14.00 from April to September (€7.00 concessions) and €12.00 from October to March (€6.00 concessions) (trakaimuziejus.lt). Walking round the lake and the outside of the ramparts is free.
• What to eat: Freshly baked kibinai—crispy pastry pockets filled with spiced mutton, pork, or curd cheese—at lakeside taverns such as Kybynlar or Senoji Kibininė.

The southern approach to Trakai Island Castle across Lake Galvė. Photo: Julo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

2. Kaunas: Lithuania’s interwar capital

Kaunas is 100 kilometres west at the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, and is Lithuania’s second city. Poland held Vilnius from 1920 to 1939, and Kaunas served as Lithuania’s temporary capital (Laikinoji sostinė). The building boom of those years left Bauhaus-influenced modernist architecture that gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 2023. Our Kaunas guide has the detail.

• Why go: Laisvės alėja (Freedom Avenue) is a pedestrianised boulevard, Kaunas Castle stands on the riverbank, the Devils’ Museum holds over 3,000 depictions of devils, and the Čiurlionis museum shows the symbolist paintings of M. K. Čiurlionis.
• Logistics: Double-decker electric trains run from Vilnius to Kaunas in 70 to 85 minutes. Standard single tickets cost around €8.00 via ltglink.lt.
• Key admission prices:
  • Kaunas Castle: €4.00 adult / €2.00 concession (kaunomuziejus.lt).
  • National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum: €10.00 adult / €5.00 concession (ciurlionis.lt).
  • Devils’ Museum (Žmuidzinavičius Museum): €8.00 adult / €4.00 concession (same page).
  • Ninth Fort (IX Fortas) Memorial: €8.00 adult / €4.00 concession (9fortomuziejus.lt).
• Closed days: Most Kaunas museums close on Mondays; the Ninth Fort closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.

3. Kernavė: the pagan-era capital

Kernavė is 35 kilometres northwest of Vilnius on the Neris River. It was the medieval capital of pagan Lithuania before Duke Gediminas founded Trakai and Vilnius in the early fourteenth century. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site with five earthen hillfort mounds (piliakalniai). Our Kernavė guide has the detail.

• Why go: views across the Pajauta Valley from the hillfort tops, which you reach by wooden staircases. Pagan grand dukes held these ramparts against Teutonic crusaders.
• Logistics: Suburban buses leave Vilnius Central Bus Station platform 10 or 11 roughly 5 to 7 times daily and take 55 to 65 minutes. Check return timetables on arrival.
• Costs: The hillforts, trails and river valley are free all year. The Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum costs €6.00 adult / €3.00 concession and is free on the last Sunday of the month (kernave.lt).
• Hours and season: The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 10:00 to 16:00 from November to March (kernave.lt). The outdoor walking is best from late spring to autumn.

The prehistoric hillfort mounds of Kernavė in the Pajauta Valley. Photo: Mindaur, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

4. The Hill of Crosses (Kryžių kalnas) near Šiauliai

The Hill of Crosses is a pilgrimage site 220 kilometres northwest of Vilnius, near the city of Šiauliai. It began in the 1830s as a memorial to rebels killed fighting Tsarist Russian rule. Soviet authorities bulldozed the hill, burned the wooden crosses and scrapped the metal ones, and local believers replanted them at night.

• Why go: Over 100,000 crosses, from carved oak crucifixes to rosaries hung on the branches. Pope John Paul II held Mass here in 1993 and presented a stone cross.
• Logistics: Take an early LTG Link train from Vilnius Central Station to Šiauliai (2 hours 15 minutes). From Šiauliai bus station, take a local bus towards Joniškis to the Domantai stop, then walk 2 kilometres along a flat country lane.

5. Paneriai Memorial: Woodland Holocaust site

The Paneriai Memorial (Panerių memorialas) is 10 kilometres southwest of Vilnius city centre, in a pine forest. Between July 1941 and 1944, Nazi forces and local collaborators murdered an estimated 100,000 people here, mostly Jews from the Vilnius Ghetto, along with Polish intellectuals and Soviet prisoners of war. The victims were shot beside fuel storage pits dug before the war.

• What it is: A memorial park with mass grave pits, monument stones and a small museum on the destruction of Vilnius’s Jewish community (“the Jerusalem of the North”). It also tells of the Burning Brigade (Brenn-Kommando), prisoners forced to burn the bodies, who tunnelled out of a pit with spoons.
• Logistics: Take a commuter train from Vilnius Central Station towards Trakai or Varėna and get off at Paneriai station after 12 minutes (fares around €0.90 each way). From the station, walk 10 minutes through the signposted pine forest to the entrance.
• Costs: The memorial forest and burial pits are free to walk.

Guided day tours from Vilnius

A tour saves working out train and bus connections, and it is the practical way to see several distant sights in one day.

From Vilnius: Kaunas, Trakai Castle, Paneriai Holocaust Site

From €250 for a group of up to 2 · 4.8 stars from 81 reviews · 8 hours · Kaunas, Trakai and Paneriai

From Vilnius: Kaunas, Trakai Castle, Paneriai Holocaust Sitead: a day out of Vilnius to Kaunas, Pažaislis, Trakai Castle and the Holocaust memorial at Paneriai, with sights from different periods of Lithuanian history.

Vilnius: Trakai Tour with Audio Guide and Minibus Transfers

From €30 · 4.3 stars from 1,561 reviews · 4 hours · audio guide and minibus transfers

Vilnius: Trakai Tour with Audio Guide and Minibus Transfersad: an audio-guided trip to the lakeside town that covers Trakai’s history as a capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Insular Castle, with minibus transfers from Vilnius.

The Hill of Crosses: Full-Day Tour from Vilnius

From €440 for a group of up to 2 · 4.8 stars from 83 reviews · 1 day · private Hill of Crosses trip

The Hill of Crosses: Full-Day Tour from Vilniusad: a full-day trip to the Hill of Crosses, covering the symbolism of the crosses and the craft of making them.

How to plan your excursions

• For a 2-day visit: Focus your time entirely on Vilnius Old Town, Gediminas Tower, the Palace of the Grand Dukes, and Užupis. If your schedule permits, allocate a single morning to Trakai Castle.
• For a 3-day visit: Dedicate two full days to Vilnius and reserve day three for a combined train trip to Trakai or Kaunas. The 3-day Vilnius itinerary shows how to fit it in.
• Transport tip: Always check LTG Link for weekend train timetables in advance. On national holidays, book train seats online a day or two ahead.