Lithuania was once the largest country in Europe, ruled by grand dukes from hilltop castles and guarded by brick towers, bastions and island forts. Kids can climb the keeps, walk old defense walls and see armor and cannons up close. Here's what we checked, from the tower above the Old Town to the red-brick castle on Lake Galvė.
An international experimental archaeology festival that brings the Kernavė hillforts back to life for a long weekend, with old crafts, archaic battles and historical music.
Kids get to see up close how their ancestors lived day to day. It suits families with school-age kids who like history, battles and watching things being made by hand.
The last tower of Vilnius's medieval Upper Castle, on top of Gediminas Hill. Inside, narrow steps climb past castle models, armor, Baltic jewelry and an interactive timeline where kids can picture a Crusader attack. The observation deck looks out over the red roofs and church towers of the Old Town.
Legend says Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf howling on this hill and founded the city here.
The residence of Lithuania's grand dukes, gone from the mid-1600s and rebuilt this century, is now a national museum. Four routes run through it: surviving castle walls and archaeological finds, furnished Renaissance and Baroque state rooms, weapons and palace kitchen displays, and temporary exhibitions.
The state rooms route climbs an observation tower with views over the city. Outside are a Renaissance garden and bas-reliefs.
The Old Arsenal holds the National Museum of Lithuania's archaeology collection, a 12,000-year walk from the first people after the ice melted to the Baltic tribes of the Iron Age.
The ground floor has Stone Age tools and weapons and replicas of seven key finds. Upstairs covers the 1st to 13th centuries: farming, metalwork, weapons and ceramics.
Castellan's House is the newest branch of the National Museum of Lithuania, and it tells the country's story through ideas and people rather than cases of artifacts. Six rooms each take one theme: creativity, beliefs, struggles, fractures, global links and faces.
The building looks like an old Gothic or Renaissance townhouse, set back from the street with a quiet courtyard. It suits school-age kids with some curiosity about history.
The bastion is a 16th-century piece of the old city wall: a tower, a horseshoe-shaped artillery platform, and a tunnel joining them. Inside, the exhibition shows how the city defended itself, from early grenades and mortars to 17th- and 18th-century cannons. Kids can spot the winged hussars and hear the legend of the Basilisk, said to have lived in a cave in the bastion hill.
Trakai's red-brick Gothic castle was built in the 14th and 15th centuries on an island in Lake Galvė, and a bridge leads to its gatehouse. Past the forecourt walls and a moat sits the ducal palace, with a 33-meter keep and wooden galleries around its inner yard.
The palace holds the Trakai History Museum. The western casemates add 16 halls of clocks, pipes, stamps, china, glass and hunting trophies.
Medininkai Castle is the largest castle by area in present-day Lithuania, built in the early 1300s about 32 km from central Vilnius. Four towers and 15-meter walls enclose a 1.85-hectare courtyard, ringed by a double ditch.
The five-story keep holds the Trakai History Museum's permanent exhibition, with an observation deck on top. The courtyard hosts festivals, the yearly Medininkai Castle Games and educational sessions for children.
Kernavė was one of the first centers of the Lithuanian state in the 13th century. Five hillforts rise over the Pajauta Valley on the Neris River, inside a 194-hectare reserve with 18 protected heritage sites.
In the valley, an open-air museum rebuilds three medieval craftsmen's homesteads, built using only an axe. The indoor museum shows what archaeologists have found here since 1979.
Lithuania was once the largest country in Europe, ruled by grand dukes from hilltop castles and guarded by brick towers, bastions and island forts. Kids can climb the keeps, walk old defense walls and see armor and cannons up close. Here's what we checked, from the tower above the Old Town to the red-brick castle on Lake Galvė.
An international experimental archaeology festival that brings the Kernavė hillforts back to life for a long weekend, with old crafts, archaic battles and historical music.
Kids get to see up close how their ancestors lived day to day. It suits families with school-age kids who like history, battles and watching things being made by hand.
The last tower of Vilnius's medieval Upper Castle, on top of Gediminas Hill. Inside, narrow steps climb past castle models, armor, Baltic jewelry and an interactive timeline where kids can picture a Crusader attack. The observation deck looks out over the red roofs and church towers of the Old Town.
Legend says Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf howling on this hill and founded the city here.
The residence of Lithuania's grand dukes, gone from the mid-1600s and rebuilt this century, is now a national museum. Four routes run through it: surviving castle walls and archaeological finds, furnished Renaissance and Baroque state rooms, weapons and palace kitchen displays, and temporary exhibitions.
The state rooms route climbs an observation tower with views over the city. Outside are a Renaissance garden and bas-reliefs.
The Old Arsenal holds the National Museum of Lithuania's archaeology collection, a 12,000-year walk from the first people after the ice melted to the Baltic tribes of the Iron Age.
The ground floor has Stone Age tools and weapons and replicas of seven key finds. Upstairs covers the 1st to 13th centuries: farming, metalwork, weapons and ceramics.
Castellan's House is the newest branch of the National Museum of Lithuania, and it tells the country's story through ideas and people rather than cases of artifacts. Six rooms each take one theme: creativity, beliefs, struggles, fractures, global links and faces.
The building looks like an old Gothic or Renaissance townhouse, set back from the street with a quiet courtyard. It suits school-age kids with some curiosity about history.
The bastion is a 16th-century piece of the old city wall: a tower, a horseshoe-shaped artillery platform, and a tunnel joining them. Inside, the exhibition shows how the city defended itself, from early grenades and mortars to 17th- and 18th-century cannons. Kids can spot the winged hussars and hear the legend of the Basilisk, said to have lived in a cave in the bastion hill.
Trakai's red-brick Gothic castle was built in the 14th and 15th centuries on an island in Lake Galvė, and a bridge leads to its gatehouse. Past the forecourt walls and a moat sits the ducal palace, with a 33-meter keep and wooden galleries around its inner yard.
The palace holds the Trakai History Museum. The western casemates add 16 halls of clocks, pipes, stamps, china, glass and hunting trophies.
Medininkai Castle is the largest castle by area in present-day Lithuania, built in the early 1300s about 32 km from central Vilnius. Four towers and 15-meter walls enclose a 1.85-hectare courtyard, ringed by a double ditch.
The five-story keep holds the Trakai History Museum's permanent exhibition, with an observation deck on top. The courtyard hosts festivals, the yearly Medininkai Castle Games and educational sessions for children.
Kernavė was one of the first centers of the Lithuanian state in the 13th century. Five hillforts rise over the Pajauta Valley on the Neris River, inside a 194-hectare reserve with 18 protected heritage sites.
In the valley, an open-air museum rebuilds three medieval craftsmen's homesteads, built using only an axe. The indoor museum shows what archaeologists have found here since 1979.
