New daily train links Warsaw & Vilnius for 25
You don't need to endure a bus! Until 2013 a comfortable daily train linked Warsaw with Vilnius with a change of trains at Sestokai on the Polish/Lithuanian border, where Polish standard gauge met Lithuanian 5' track gauge. This was cancelled in 2013 while the Rail Baltica project dug up the tracks, but in June 2016 a cross-border Bialystok-Kaunas train started running over the new standard gauge Rail Baltica line. In 2022 you could once more travel by train between Warsaw & Vilnius, but only at weekends. Starting 11 December 2022, a new daily train service links Krakow & Warsaw with Kaunas & Vilnius as shown below, with integrated ticketing and cheap fares. Longer-term, the Rail Baltica project will ultimately provide a 200km/h standard gauge railway linking Warsaw, Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia.
Train times 2024
This new daily Krakow-Warsaw-Vilnius train service started on 11 December 2022, provided by Polish & Lithuanian railways.
Remember that Lithuanian time is 1 hour ahead of Polish time. This service does not pass through any part of Belarus!
Check Polish train times for your date of travel at www.intercity.pl. Check Mockava-Kaunas & Kaunas-Vilnius times at ltglink.lt.
A regular train service links Kaunas & Vilnius in 1h30, check times at ltglink.lt.
On other pages: Vilnius-Riga Riga-Tallinn
How to buy tickets
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Option 1, buy at bilietas.ltglink.lt (LTG Link, Lithuanian Railways)
Booking opens 1 month in advance. In theory, your ticket must be printed out to be accepted in Poland, but in practice a ticket bought at bilietas.ltglink.lt is accepted if shown on your phone in both Lithuania and Poland.
If you buy tickets at bilietas.ltglink.lt, you can choose an exact seat on the Polish train from a seat map (it's 2 cars of the Polish train that are shown in the graphic). Only the Polish train's car & seat number will be shown on your ticket, there are no seat reservations on the Lithuanian train.
Incidentally, each website has its own quota of tickets, so if bilietas.ltglink.lt has sold out, www.intercity.pl may still have tickets available.
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Option 2, buy at www.intercity.pl (PKP Intercity, Polish Railways).
Booking opens 1 month in advance. In theory, your ticket must be printed out to be accepted in Lithuania, but in practice it may be accepted if shown on your phone.
If you buy tickets at www.intercity.pl, you get a choice of sitting in a 6-seat compartment or in open-plan seating ('noncompartment') on the Polish train, and can request window seats. I personally prefer open-plan, a family or small group may prefer compartments. Only the Polish train's car & seat number will be shown on your ticket, there are no seat reservations on the Lithuanian train.
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Want to go 1st class?
The Lithuanian train is 2nd class only, but the Polish train has both 1st & 2nd class. However, only 2nd class tickets are sold for international journeys. There isn't a vast difference between a 1st class compartment and a 2nd class one on the Polish train, both are comfortable, although there may be fewer people in the 1st class car.
If you want to travel 1st class on the Polish train, first book Warsaw-Trakiszki from 95 zlotys (20) at www.intercity.pl. Then book Trakiszki-Vilnius for 16 at bilietas.ltglink.lt.
Trakiszki is the last stop in Poland before Mockava, you need to book to Trakiszki as the Polish system won't book tickets to/from Mockava. This means you'll need to use 2nd class seats for between Trakiszki & Mockava, but it's only 16 minutes. On the plus side, booking this way also means you can choose seats on both trains.
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Add bicycle. You can add a bicycle to the booking for 10 at bilietas.ltglink.lt. Bike places are limited.
What's the Polish train like?
The Polish train between Warsaw & Mockava is a modern air-conditioned Intercity (IC) train called the Hancza, with 1st & 2nd class seats, reservation compulsory. The train will be shown on the departure boards at Krakow & Warsaw as going to Mockava.
From 10 December 2023 the Hancza has a Polish restaurant car, treat yourself to a cooked breakfast and lunch going east, dinner with wine or beer heading west.
The 2nd class cars are a mix of cars with open-plan seating and cars with classic 6-seat compartments. The 1st class car is a classic compartment car with side corridor and 6-seat compartments. Luggage goes on the racks above your seat, or on the floor.
There are power sockets at all seats, but no WiFi in the direct Krakow-Warsaw-Mockava cars. If you need WiFi, simply walk back along the train to the 2 or 3 extra cars attached to the rear of the train between Krakow, Warsaw & Bialystok as these cars should have WiFi.
Tip: You can check the train formation, check car numbers & see which have WiFi, which are open-plan & which compartment-type using www.vagonweb.cz. Change cs to English upper left, then click Train formations, scroll to Poland, click IC and look for IC13000/1 Hancza.
Switching trains at Mockava
In the photo below, that's the Polish train on the right, you step off, walk across the platform to the waiting Lithuanian train on the left. It's that easy! The photo actually shows a southbound switch from Vilnius to Warsaw, but it works the same both ways. Photo courtesy of Martin Kop.
What's the Lithuanian train like?
The Lithuanian train between Mockava & Vilnius is a modern air-conditioned diesel unit, 2nd class only, with refreshment trolley, power sockets at each pair of seats & free WiFi. There's plenty of room for luggage and a limited number of reservable bike spaces. Photos below courtesy of Martin Kop.
Route map
Recommended hotels in Vilnius
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Hotels are cheap by western standards, with good hotels often under £100.
At the affordable end, try the highly-rated Grotthuss Boutique Hotel, in a historic building on a medieval street in the old town, 11 minutes walk from the station, see walking map.
Or the Shakespeare Boutique Hotel, housed in a renovated 17th century palace in the old town 50m from Cathedral Square, also with great reviews. It's a 26-minute walk from the station, you may want to take a taxi!
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At the more upmarket end, try the Relais & Chβteaux Stikliai Hotel, also in the old town in a historic building with Baroque and Gothic features. It's 18 minutes walk from the station, see walking map, or a short taxi ride. Or if you can't cope without an indoor swimming pool, try the Radisson Blu Royal Astorija Hotel, with great reviews 14 minutes walk from the station.