The Trakai Island Museum is amazing! The exhibit is so well organized and it's seriously impressive how much they've excavated from the castle. If you want to take pictures inside, you'll have to pay a few extra euro at the ticket counter.

First of all, it is easy to get to on public transport. We got the train from Vilnius then chose to walk to through Trakai to it and back on the lake path. The castle looks beautiful on the island surrounded by the lake, and when we went the lake was frozen making it look even more magical. There were many rooms open with displays and artefacts and history, and you could just wander at your own pace. It is definitely worth a visit, followed by walking round the outside, but be aware that the disabled lift might not be working (it wasn’t when we went), even if the lift is working it only takes you to one bit of the castle and you miss the rest so it isn’t disabled friendly. Also, I don’t understand why you need to buy a photo pass - it isn’t a lot of money, but just seems pointless and a way of making extra money.

This is a must do trip from Vilnius. The whole romantic castle, the lake and the walk was beautiful. The inside museum is a small museum but the location is brilliant. It is one of the best photogenic location near Vilnius. The trip from Vilnius was very comfortable and it is worth taking half a day or more for this.

The castle is set on an island in the middle of a lake in the town of Traikai and is located about an hour outside of Vilnius. Seeing the castle on the lake was worth the drive but going in was very cool. The castle has been restored to its former glory and is now home to a museum full of artifacts from the last few centuries. They have a good collection of tobacco pipes, coins, ivory and other valuable items of the time. There are a few rooms set up for dining, bedding and day to day life. There is signage around to indicate which rooms are open to visitors but there are many doors. We checked one door that was closed and we found a cutout of Putin in a prisoners outfit down a well in the "prison". The main tower is currently undergoing restoration so there is scaffolding around to help and there are temporary stairs. There was a decent amount of stairs and no elevator in the area except to get up to the entrance of the main tower. The courtyard has some medieval torture devices that visitors can interact with, has a gift shop in the corner and some very large bathrooms with lots of toilets and urinals. There is paid parking in the town near the island but we couldn't find free parking when we visited. Parking was 2.5 euros an hour and we needed a couple of hours to see everything in the castle. Entrance ticket for adults is 10 euros and we felt it was worth the Day trip from Vilnius.

The castle is located on a beautiful lake. to get to the castle an entrance ticket is required. Pictures can be taken at the inside w/o a ticket. entrance fee is 9eu. its a good place to spend like 4hs. there are boat for rental and boat that will take you around the lake. also pedal boats that are very nice. the place is important b/c the Traika (Karaites) ethnic group , that migrated from North Turkey. they embraces the old testament and Islam element. there are only 1600 Karaites in the world and 500 live in Israel. Kybynlar (1405) arrive to Lithuania and there are houses with the traditional (3) front windows beside the traditional museum. for lunch i recommend traky-kibinai and enjoy a traditional turnover (kibinai) of chicken, vegetables, lamb , cheese, potatoes. Price starting at 3.50-14 eu.

This is definitely worth the day trip. Something to walk around, the town is cozy, the castle is nice to walk around in. I didn't have any expectations, but it was definitely much nicer than I imagined and it was full of history.

After visiting the Malbork Castle in Poland, I was fascinated by the red castles built of bricks. There are many stunning red brick castles along the Baltic Sea coast, and the Trakai Island Castle should be the most beautiful one. The castle was originally built in the 14th century. It underwent several expansions, reaching its maximum scale in the 15th century. In 17th century the castle was abandoned and gradually fell into disrepair. Major reconstructions were carried out in 1950s. The castle was reconstructed based on its 15th century layout. Inside the castle, there is a museum displays history of the Castle, various archaeological findings and a collection of art. Although Trakai Castle is not as big as Malbok Castle, it is as beautiful as it is. Red castle, green trees and blue sky, with the reflections in the water....... What an amazing scenery.