This page explains how to travel by train or ferry from Vilnius to other European cities.

Information current for 2023.  Suggested hotels in Vilnius.  Click here for journeys starting in another city.

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Train travel within Lithuania...

Trains are a good way to travel between Vilnius, Kaunas & Klaipeda.  Lithuanian Railways (LTG) passenger services are now branded LTG-Link.

• Vilnius to Kaunas (104 km) takes between 1h05 & 1h42, up to 15 trains daily, fare €6.40 in 2nd class, €8.50 in 1st class.

• Vilnius to Klaipeda (376 km) takes around 4h00, departures from Vilnius at 07:25, 11:01, 12:40 & 17:01.  Departures from Klaipeda at 06:30, 11:00, 12:50 & 16:57.  Fare around €20 in 2nd class, €28.80 in 1st class.

• Check times at ltglink.lt.  For English, change LT to EN at top right.

1st class seats on a Kaunas to Vilnius double-decker train.  Photos courtesy of @zugreiseblog

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Vilnius to Riga...

• You can travel from Vilnius to Riga by train or bus, see the Vilnius to Riga page.

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Vilnius to Tallinn...

In a few years time the new Rail Baltica project will hopefully make this a routine journey by fast direct train.  But in the meantime it is indeed possible to make this journey by train via Riga, if you want to avoid a lengthy journey in a long-distance bus. 

• Day 1, travel by train from Vilnius to Riga via Daugavpils, see the Vilnius to Riga page.

• Day 2, travel by train from Riga to Tallinn, see the Riga to Tallinn page.

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Vilnius to Warsaw for €25...

• You can now avoid a 9 hour bus journey by taking comfortable air-conditioned trains between Vilnius & Warsaw, leaving Vilnius 12:10 every day, change Mockava & arrive Warsaw Centralna at 20:14. Fare €25, easily bookable online. 

• See the Vilnius to Warsaw page for details.

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Vilnius to Berlin...

Option 1, Vilnius to Berlin in a single day - the fastest option...

• Day 1, travel from Vilnius to Warsaw as shown on the Vilnius to Warsaw page, leaving Vilnius 12:10 every day, change Mockava & arrive Warsaw Centralna at 20:14. Fare €25, easily bookable online.

• Stay overnight in Warsaw.  The Polonia Palace Hotel is excellent, historic, relatively inexpensive for such a good hotel, and it's just across the road from the station.  For something much cheaper, but still with great reviews and near the station, try the Hotel Metropol next door to the Polonia Palace or the nearby Novotel Warsaw Centrum.  Also see the Warsaw Centralna station & city information.

• Day 2, travel from Warsaw to Berlin on any Warsaw-Berlin EuroCity train you like, see the timetable here.

  Fares start at €27.90 in 2nd class or €39.90 in 1st class.  Fares vary like air fares, so book ahead.

  Buy a ticket at the German Railways website www.bahn.de.  Booking opens 60 days ahead.  You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone.

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Vilnius to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo...

• Step 1, travel from Vilnius to Riga to Tallinn as shown above.

• Step 2, an excellent overnight ferry links Tallinn with Stockholm every night with a range of comfortable cabins, bars, restaurants.  For times, fares & online tickets see www.tallinksilja.com.

• Step 3, take a train from Stockholm Central to Oslo, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmo or anywhere else in Sweden, Denmark or Norway.  You'll find more detail on the Trains from Stockholm page.

• Note:  Until 2020 there was a Riga-Stockholm overnight ferry run by Tallink, but this was suspended due to Covid-19 and it's now reported that it will not resume.

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Vilnius to Helsinki...

• Step 1, travel from Vilnius to Riga to Tallinn as shown above.

• Step 2, take a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki.  Several ferry companies operate both conventional ships (2½ hours) & fast ferries(1½ hours) from Tallinn to Helsinki.  Services run daily.  For times, fares & online tickets see www.tallinksilja.com, Eckero Line & Linda Line.

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Vilnius to Minsk...

• There are three daily direct trains from Vilnius to Minsk, using modern air-conditioned electric trains either owned by Belarus Railways or Lithuanian Railways.  Journey time between 2h38 & 2h55.

  You go through passport control before bearding, boarding ceases 10 minutes before departure.  Feedback would be appreciated.

  This train was suspended due to Covid-19 and remains suspended due to sanctions...

• Fare around €17 in 2nd class or €30 in 1st class.

• You can check times & buy tickets online for at least two of these three trains at the Lithuanian Railways website ltglink.lt.  You can buy tickets in either direction, they are issued as e-tickets which must be printed out.  Tip:  Minsk can be written Minskas in Lithuanian.

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Vilnius to St Petersburg...

• Step 1, travel from Vilnius to Riga as shown above.

• Step 2, a comfortable sleeper train runs from Riga to St Petersburg as shown here.  It doesn't pass through any part of Belarus.

  This train was suspended due to Covid-19 and remains suspended due to sanctions...

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Vilnius to Moscow...

Option 1, by direct sleeper train Vilnius-Moscow - this train passes through Belarus, transit visa necessary...

• There is a daily sleeper train from Vilnius to Moscow leaving Vilnius around 19:10 and arriving Moscow Byelorusski around 09:10 next morning.  You can check times at the Russian Railways website www.rzd.ru and note that you can't buy tickets from rzd.ru for this train in this direction, as tickets must be collected from a Russian station.  The train has 2-berth sleepers & 4-berth sleepers.  This train passes through Belarus, so a Belarus transit visa is needed.  The fare is around €50 in a 4-bed sleeper if you buy at the ticket office.

  This train was suspended due to Covid-19 and remains suspended due to sanctions & war in Ukraine...

• To check train times and book online in either direction, use the Real Russia booking system here.  Real Russia charge a 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.

Option 2, via Riga avoiding Belarus...

• Step 1, travel from Vilnius to Riga as shown above.

• Step 2, take the Latvijas Express overnight sleeper train from Riga to Moscow as shown here.  This does not go through any part of Belarus.

  This train was suspended due to Covid-19 and remains suspended due to sanctions & war in Ukraine...

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Vilnius to Western Europe:  Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Germany & Spain...

• Day 1, travel from Vilnius to Warsaw as shown on the Vilnius to Warsaw page, leaving Vilnius 12:10 every day, change Mockava & arrive Warsaw Centralna at 20:14. Fare €25, easily bookable online.

• Stay overnight in Warsaw.  The Polonia Palace Hotel is excellent, historic, relatively inexpensive for such a good hotel, and it's just across the road from the station.  For something much cheaper, but still with great reviews and near the station, try the Hotel Metropol next door to the Polonia Palace or the nearby Novotel Warsaw Centrum.  Also see the Warsaw Centralna station & city information.

• Day 2, travel from Warsaw to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Luxembourg or anywhere in Germany by train in single day, for times, fraes & how to buy tickets see the Trains from Warsaw page and select your destination.

  For example, Warsaw to Amsterdam starts at €37.90, Warsaw to Brussels from €49.90.  Fares vary like air fares, so book ahead.

  Buy a ticket from Warsaw to Brussels, Amsterdam or Germany at the German Railways website www.bahn.de.

  For Warsaw to Paris, you'll need to split the booking in Berlin.  You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone.

• For Spain, travel to Paris, stay overnight, catch a TGV to Barcelona next day (Day 3 from Vilnius).

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Vilnius to Central & Southern Europe:  Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Switzerland, Italy...

• Day 1, travel from Vilnius to Warsaw as shown on the Vilnius to Warsaw page, leaving Vilnius 12:10 every day, change Mockava & arrive Warsaw Centralna at 20:14. Fare €25, easily bookable online.

• Stay overnight in Warsaw.  The Polonia Palace Hotel is excellent, historic, relatively inexpensive for such a good hotel, and it's just across the road from the station.  For something much cheaper, but still with great reviews and near the station, try the Hotel Metropol next door to the Polonia Palace or the nearby Novotel Warsaw Centrum.  Also see the Warsaw Centralna station & city information.

• Day 2, travel from Warsaw to Vienna, Prague, Bratislava or Budapest by train as shown on the Trains from Warsaw page.  Buy tickets as shown on that page.

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