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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.

On this page:

London to Vilnius by train

Warsaw to Vilnius by train

Train travel within Lithuania

Trains from Vilnius to Riga, Moscow & St Petersburg

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Train times London ► Vilnius:

• Travel from London to Warsaw by train as shown on the London to Poland page.  It takes just a night and a morning, with comfortable sleepers and couchettes available.

• Spend the night in Warsaw.

• Travel from Warsaw to Vilnius by train.   There is now one daily train service, leaving Warsaw Centralna at 07:20 and arriving Kaunas 16:34 & Vilnius at 17:49 the same day, with a simple change of trains at 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 (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 http://www.eurolines.lt.  Not something that was necessary in communist times, when a good train service operated.!

Train times Vilnius ► London:

• There is a daily daytime train service between Vilnius and Warsaw.  It leaves Vilnius at 11:47 and arrives Warsaw Centralna at 20:30, with a change of trains at 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.

• The only other option is a very long all-day or overnight bus journey from Vilnius to Warsaw, see www.eurolines.pl or http://www.eurolines.lt.

• Spend the night in Warsaw before leaving for London the next day.

• Travel from Warsaw to London by train, as shown on the London to Poland page.

Fares:

• Fares from London to Warsaw are shown on the London to Poland page.

• Warsaw to Vilnius, if bought at the station in Warsaw, costs about 140 zlotys (35 euros) 2nd class.

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 (language is unlikely to be a problem - just write down what you want and show it to the booking clerk).

There used to be a direct overnight sleeper train from Warsaw to Vilnius called the 'Balti', running 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, as follows:

Warsaw ► Kaunas, Vilnius			Vilnius, Kaunas ► Warsaw
	Daily			Daily
Warsaw (Centralna) depart:	07:20		Vilnius depart:	11:47
Sestokai arrive (change trains):	14:48		Kaunas depart:	13:03
Sestokai depart:	15:03		Sestokai arrive (change trains):	14:38
Kaunas arrive:	16:34		Sestokai depart:	15:08
Vilnius arrive:	17:49		Warsaw (Centralna) arrive:	20:30

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-Vilnius 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 this photo.  This shows the Polish train just arrived from Warsaw on the right, and the Lithuanian train onwards to Vilnius 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). Travel tip:  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.

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 (£24 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 or Vilnius stations, advance reservation is not necessary.

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.

Vilnius ► Riga

There is a regular Eurolines bus service from Vilnius to Riga, with a number of departures daily, fare about 40 Litas (£8 or $15).  See www.eurolines.lv.

If you'd prefer a more comfortable and civilised alternative to the bus, there are occasional trains from Vilnius to Riga, on their way from places further afield.  A train leaves Vilnius on odd dates (1, 3, 5 etc of each month) at 07:07 arriving Riga at 12:05.  There's also a train at 12:11 on certain dates, arriving Riga 17:00.  Double-check times & days of running at www.poezda.net.  The fare is about 10 Lats (£10 or $18) for the 348 km.  In the other direction, a train leaves Riga on odd dates at 18:30 arriving Vilnius at 23:33.  On certain dates there's also a train from Riga at 07:40 arriving Vilnius 12:35.

Vilnius ► Moscow: 

There are several daily sleeper trains from Vilnius to Moscow with 2-berth sleepers & 4-berth sleepers.  For train times see www.poezda.net.  These trains do pass through Belarus, so a Belarus transit visa is required.  The fare is around 50 euros in a 4-bed sleeper.

Vilnius ► St Petersburg: 

There is an overnight sleeper train every second day from Vilnius to St Petersburg with 4-berth sleepers.  For train times see www.poezda.net.  This train does not go through Belarus.  The fare is around 50 euros in a 4-bed sleeper.

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..!

Click the images to buy online at Amazon.co.uk...

Or buy direct from the Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train & ferry times for every country in Europe, plus currency & climate information.  Published since 1873 and costing £13.50, it's essential for any serious traveller and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  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 buy the independent traveller's edition from Amazon.co.uk:  Winter 2007/8 edition (December 2007 to June 2008) or Summer 2008 edition (June to December 2008). 

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.

Find a hotel in Vilnius or anywhere in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia...

It's easy to book hotels in Vilnius to go with your train and ferry tickets, but there are almost too many hotel booking websites to choose from.  The answer is to use www.hotelscombined.com, just use the search form below.  This is not a hotel booking website, but a free search tool which searches all the main hotel booking sites for you (Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere and many others) to find the cheapest hotel rates on the net.  Set up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place to start for booking any hotel online in any country, worldwide.

Search all major hotel booking sites at once...

Powered by Hotels Combined

Compare quotes from both Direct Line & Columbus...

Travel insurance..

Travel insurance is a boring subject, but it's a real necessity, so make sure you budget for it.  Make sure you get adequate cover - for example, at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover, from a reliable insurer.  Remember that an annual multi-trip policy is often cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just two or three trips a year.  Here are some suggested insurers to try.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy after clicking these links.

  If you live in the UK, get quotes from Direct Line (whom I've used myself) and Columbus Direct.

      If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct Australia.

  If you live in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

EU health card...

UK citizens travelling in Europe should carry a European Health Insurance Card.  This replaces the old E111 forms as from January 2006.  The EHIC card is available free from www.ehic.org.uk and 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 UK's NHS.

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