If you come to Lithunia, or actually, to the Baltics, then I would say don’t miss out on Trakai Castle! This 14th century castle will make your day!
Trakai is a lovely town with a small population of 5-6 thousand, and is still has a small community of Karaite people. Parking is an issue, but you’ll still manage to find a spot. And remember to pay your fee and leave your receipt near your front windshield.
My Experience
When I went there, the person at information center said an hour will be sufficient to see the castle. I was quite surprised, but I trusted her advice (as I wanted to know how many minutes I should buy for my parking).
So can you really see Trakai in an hour?
Well, go straight to the castle. We were lucky to have a big blue sky. It was around 5pm when this picture was taken. You can’t really tell right? Well we went in June, so the weather was just perfect.
Entrance fee: Adult: 8 euros, Student 4 Euros… (June, 2018)
Website: http://www.trakaimuziejus.lt/tickets
If you have been to a medieval castle before, I would say that visiting outside is rewarding too! This castle was damaged in 17th century, and you can tell from this picture that a massive work of restoration done for this castle.
And if you plan to go inside, you’ll see a beautiful medieval castle in front of you.
And then there’s a courtyard. This is the only place you can find toilet and it’s free! (It’s not free in the tourist information center).
The castle was used as a prison before. I’m not sure if this scaffold was an example for that time or for the 14th century time. Oh, you can get a tour guide (for a fee of course) too.
I saw a group of Japanese there, they had their own guide. I sort of wish I wasn’t a backpacker.. but hey, I can tell this is a moat!
And then you are in the inner castle. It’s beautiful!
There are exhibition in each room (almost), but it’s not as impressive as the castle itself.
So, we walked around the castle leisurely, yet finished the castle in about 20-30 minutes (it’s a small castle….).
Final Word
I leave it to you to decide if you want to go inside to Trakai castle. It’s a beautiful place even just to look at from outside. And perhaps take a boat and relax in the sun.
If you need to choose a castle between Trakai in Lithuania and Cesis in Latvia, go for Trakai. Cesis is far less rewarding than Trakai.
I hope you enjoy Trakai!
Traveling Mega
Hey, it is nice and surprising to see my favorite blogger visiting my native country – Lithuania! And it was so interesting to read articles about your visit. Trakai castle is really very impressive, but still I have no idea how you managed to see it in 30 min. 😀 It is big enough and there are a lot of rooms with exhibitions. I was visiting this place with two children, so your tour took us ~2 hours. 😀
Hello! I don’t often see comments from people, so your comment comes as a real surprise!
Well, the size of the castle isn’t big. Like many castles, Trakai looks big from outside but there isn’t that much to see inside. And it is true that there are mini exhibitions there with guides, we didn’t read those details 😉 And also we didn’t take any guide with us…. so that’s what happened! Haha!