UK citizens do not need a visa for
Lithuania. Warsaw-Vilnius trains do not pass through any part of Belarus, a Belarus
visa is not required.
Page last
updated:
17 January 2012
UK to Lithuania by train...
The
closest of the three historic Baltic capitals, Vilnius can
be reached overland from London via Berlin and
Warsaw. Pictured right: The cathedral and bell tower
in Vilnius.
Travel from London St Pancras to
Warsaw Centralna by train, using any of the options shown on the
London to
Poland page. It takes just a night and a morning,
with comfortable sleepers and couchettes available. If
you take the option involving the 'Jan Kiepura' Cologne to
Warsaw sleeper train, you'll have a day free to explore
Warsaw when you arrive.
Travel from Warsaw to Vilnius by train. There
is a daily train service, leaving Warsaw Centralna at 07:25
and arriving Kaunas 16:37 and Vilnius at 18:31 the same day, with a simple
cross-platform change
of trains at Sestokai,
see the section below and (as from 11 December 2011)
another quick change at Kaunas. This service does
not pass through
any part of Belarus. You can double-check train times for
your date of travel at
http://bahn.hafas.de (English button upper right).
Check the destination boards on the side of the coach you
board, to make sure it's one of the through cars to
Sestokai - other coaches in this train terminate at
Suwalki, the stop before the frontier.
Map of Vilnius, showing railway station.
The only other option is a very long all-day or overnight
bus journey from Warsaw to Vilnius, see
www.eurolines.pl or
www.eurolines.lt. Not something that was
necessary in communist times, when a good train service
operated!
Traveller Graham S reports, summer 2010: "Never
let it be said that a Polish train rushes along too fast
to enjoy the landscape. After Bialystok, it's along
a single track and runs slower and slower as the border
looms, past marshy fields where cows galumph in the reed
beds, and storks stand sentry. An anxious moment came at Suwalki, where they reversed the destination board on the
coaches to suggest we were heading back to Warsaw, and the
locomotive drew us off in that direction, then swung east
towards Sestokai. Whew!"
Train times
Vilnius ► London
There is a
daily train service between Vilnius and Warsaw.
It leaves Vilnius at 11:25 and Kaunas at 13:00, arriving Warsaw Centralna
at 20:20. You must change trains at both Kaunas
and Sestokai,
see the section below. This service does
not
pass through any part of Belarus. You can double-check
train times for your date of travel at
http://bahn.hafas.de.
Warsaw to Vilnius, if bought at
the station in Warsaw, costs about 140 zlotys (35 euros or
£32) 2nd
class.
Vilnius to Warsaw, bought at the station in Vilnius, is 84
Litas (£22 or 25 euros).
How to buy
tickets...
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office can book the journey from London
to Warsaw. Call Deutsche
Bahn on 08718 80 80 66 (lines
open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday). For more details, see
the London
to Poland page.
You can buy the Warsaw-Vilnius ticket at Warsaw Centralna
station when you get there, it's easy. The
international booking windows at Warsaw Centralna are
clearly marked and at least some of staff speak English (but language is unlikely to be a
problem - just write down what you want and show it to the
booking clerk).
A few years ago there was a direct overnight sleeper train from
Warsaw to Vilnius called the 'Balti' 3 times a
week, but Polish Railways sadly withdrew this train
in 2005. Polish Railways (PKP) now operate an overnight bus, but this is hardly civilised and the
same goes for the overnight Eurolines bus. Instead,
there remains a comfortable daily daytime train linking
Warsaw with Kaunas & Vilnius, with a simple change of trains at
Sestokai on the Polish/Lithuanian frontier, plus another
easy change at Kaunas as follows:
Warsaw ► Kaunas, Vilnius
Vilnius, Kaunas ► Warsaw
Daily
Daily
Warsaw Centralna depart:
07:25
Vilnius depart:
11:25
Sestokai arrive
(change trains):
14:47
Kaunas arrive (change trains)
12:36
Sestokai depart:
15:05
Kaunas depart:
13:00
Kaunas arrive (change trains)
16:37
Sestokai arrive (change trains):
14:40
Kaunas depart:
16:52
Sestokai depart:
15:02
Vilnius arrive:
18:31
Warsaw Centralna arrive:
20:20
At Sestokai, the
connecting train will wait if the first train runs late,
as they are designed to connect with each other.
The Warsaw-Sestokai Polish train has 1st & 2nd class
seats, but the Sestokai-Kaunas Lithuanian train is
2nd
class only, there is no 1st class. There is
no buffet or restaurant car, so bring
your own food, wine or beer and enjoy the ride!
The connection at Sestokai
is a simple same-platform interchange, as you can see
from the photo on the right. This shows the
standard-gauge Polish train just
arrived from Warsaw on the right, and the onward
Russian-gauge Lithuanian
train on the left.
This service does not
pass through any part of Belarus, it passes directly
from Poland into Lithuania.
Please check train times for your date of travel at
http://bahn.hafas.de (the English language button is
at upper right).
Are you in
the right coach?
Check the destination boards on the side of the coach
you board in Warsaw, to make sure it's one of the through cars to
Sestokai at the back of the train - coaches at the front
of the train may terminate at Suwalki, the stop before the frontier.
Above: Taking the train from Warsaw to
Vilnius is the civilised alternative to a very long bus
journey or an avoidable flight. Photo courtesy of
Paul Markham.
Fares
Warsaw to Vilnius
About 140 zlotys (£32 or $48) one-way. Return
tickets are available, costing less than the price of
two one-way tickets.
It's easy to buy a ticket at Warsaw Centralna station, advance reservation is not necessary.
Vilnius to Warsaw
About 84 Litas one-way (£22 or 25 euros). Return
tickets are available, costing less than the price of
two one-way tickets.
It's easy to buy a ticket at Vilnius
station, at the friendly & English-speaking
international ticket office. Advance reservation is not necessary.
Traveller's
reports...
Traveller
Russell Goddard reports (summer2010): "At Warsaw,
buying the ticket to Vilnius was simple; the international
desks in the main booking hall are clearly marked in
English, and at least some of the clerks there speak English
as well. I was charged 105 zlotys (about €27 or £22),
with no reservations or other complications needed. At
Suwalki, the whole train reversed and went on to Sestokai,
not just a couple of coaches; the train was virtually
empty by this point and I had a carriage entirely to myself.
It is an extremely enjoyable journey, taken at a relaxed
pace; though the trains are not especially modern, they are
by no means uncomfortable either. There are, of
course, no catering facilities on either train, so taking
your own food is essential. Also, all the times shown
in timetables are local; Lithuania is an hour ahead of
Poland, so arrival at Sestokai, just inside Lithuania, is at
1450 local time (2hrs ahead of UK time) but 1350 Polish
time, about an hour's journey from Suwalki."
Trains are a
good way to travel between Vilnius, Kaunas & Klaipeda:
Vilnius to Kaunas (104 km) takes 2 hours, up to 15 trains
daily, fare 13 Litas (£3 or $5).
Vilnius to Klaipeda (376 km) takes 5 hours,
departures from Vilnius at 06:45 & 17:00, fare about 42
Litas (£9 or $17). Departures
from Klaipeda at 06:45 & 17:00. Check times at www.litrail.lt.
Sadly, there are
now no direct Vilnius-Riga trains at
all. At least the Communists knew how to run a
railway! The Riga to Vilnius journey is now much
faster and more frequent by long-distance bus, see the
section below. However, if you prefer to travel by
train, no problem: You can use a daily local train
from Vilnius to Daugavpils in the evening,
stop overnight in a hotel at Daugavpils, then travel by
local train Daugavpils-Vilnius next morning. Being an
evening train-hotel-morning train arrangement, it's quite
time-effective even if slower than the bus.
Day 1 evening, take the once-daily
international local train from Vilnius (depart 18:18) to
Daugavpils in Latvia (arriving 20:22). The fare is about 100 Litas
in platskartny (£26 or 30 euros) or 143 Litas in kupé (£37
or 43 euros). Buy a ticket at the station on the day of
travel as this train cannot be pre-booked for this journey.
Spend the night in Daugavpils (hotels from
around £25)
Day 2
morning, take a
local train from Daugavpils (depart 06:15) to Riga
(arriving 09:12), fare 3.60 Lats (£4 or 5 euro).
There's also a 07:17 from Daugavpils arriving Riga 10:58,
and two afternoon trains too.
You can confirm
Lithuanian train times Vilnius-Daugavpils at
www.litrail.lt (click 'EN' for English, then 'Passenger
transportation'). The site to confirm Latvian train times
Daugavpils-Riga is
www.ldz.lv
(Click 'English' then 'passenger traffic').
Traveller Russell Goddard
went from Vilnius to Riga by train as above, then used an
onward Eurolines coach to Tallinn: "While not
unpleasant, the coach was a distinctly soulless experience,
lacking the character of the trains. The coaches are a way
of getting people from A to B with a minimum of bother,
which I'm sure is a plus in many people's books, but as
someone who travels as much for the sake of the journey
itself, I was glad I'd gone by train from Vilnius to Riga
via Daugavpils rather than taking the coach all the way from
Vilnius to Tallinn! In Tallinn itself, the bus station is
inconveniently located some distance from the city centre,
while the rail station is right on the edge of the old town
- if only it had a decent international service!"
By bus: If you'd rather travel by bus, as in
this case it is certainly more frequent and faster, there is a regular Eurolines bus
service from Vilnius to Riga, with a number of departures
daily, fare about 60-70 Litas (£19 or $28), journey time 4-5 hours. See
www.luxexpress.eu.
Vilnius ► Moscow
There are several daily sleeper trains from Vilnius to
Moscow with 2-berth sleepers & 4-berth sleepers. These trains do pass through Belarus,
so a Belarus transit visa is required. The fare is
around 50 euros in a 4-bed sleeper if you buy at the ticket
office. To check train times and book online in either
direction, use the Real
Russia booking system here. Real Russia charge a
15-23% mark-up over ticket office prices, included in the
prices they show. For journeys starting in Vilnius
you'll need to have tickets sent to you (at a small extra
charge) as the e-ticket option doesn't work for departure
from Vilnius, only for departure from Moscow.
Vilnius ► St Petersburg
There is an overnight sleeper train every second day from
Vilnius to St Petersburg with 4-berth sleepers. This train does not go through
Belarus. The fare is around 216 Litas (£56 or 65 euros) in a 4-bed
'kupé' sleeper if you buy tickets at the station. To check
train times and book online in either direction,
use the Real Russia
booking system here. Real Russia charge a 15-23%
mark-up over ticket office prices, included in the prices
they show.
Make
sure you take a good guidebook. For the independent traveller, this
means either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. Both books provide a similarly excellent level of
cultural and historical background and practical information. You won't
regret buying one of these guides..!
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
Winter/Spring 2011/12 edition (Dec 2011 to June 2012) or
(when available)
Summer/Autumn 2012 edition (June to Dec 2012)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at
www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Other hotel sites worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is the place to find
independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
Backpacker hostels...
If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget the hostels. For a dorm bed or an
ultra-cheap private room in backpacker hostels in most
European cities use
www.hostelbookers.com.
Travel insurance & health card...
Get travel insurance, it's essential...
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
The
closest of the three historic Baltic capitals, Vilnius can
be reached overland from London via Berlin and
Warsaw. Pictured right: The cathedral and bell tower
in Vilnius.
Backpacker hostels...
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
