No car needed. Short train rides from Vilnius reach the lakes of Trakai and the city of Kaunas, close enough for a full day out with kids. Trakai has a red-brick castle on an island and a count's palace with a statue-lined park across the water. Kaunas has the Lithuanian Zoo, set in an oak grove. Here's what we checked, from Trakai Island Castle to the zoo's big cats.
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.
Užutrakis is a count's estate on a peninsula between lakes Galvė and Skaistis, built around 1900 by the Tiškevičius family. The 80-hectare park, laid out by French landscape architect Édouard André, has replicas of antique sculptures and about a hundred kinds of trees and shrubs.
The palace keeps Louis XVI style interiors and hosts concerts and exhibitions. Its terrace looks across Lake Galvė to Trakai Island Castle.
The Lithuanian Zoo sits on the edge of a large oak grove in Kaunas and keeps about 2,500 animals from 189 species, from lions and other big cats to native Lithuanian wildlife. Paths run between the enclosures under the trees, and the Egzotariumas education center holds indoor exhibits for a break from the weather.
No car needed. Short train rides from Vilnius reach the lakes of Trakai and the city of Kaunas, close enough for a full day out with kids. Trakai has a red-brick castle on an island and a count's palace with a statue-lined park across the water. Kaunas has the Lithuanian Zoo, set in an oak grove. Here's what we checked, from Trakai Island Castle to the zoo's big cats.
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.
Užutrakis is a count's estate on a peninsula between lakes Galvė and Skaistis, built around 1900 by the Tiškevičius family. The 80-hectare park, laid out by French landscape architect Édouard André, has replicas of antique sculptures and about a hundred kinds of trees and shrubs.
The palace keeps Louis XVI style interiors and hosts concerts and exhibitions. Its terrace looks across Lake Galvė to Trakai Island Castle.
The Lithuanian Zoo sits on the edge of a large oak grove in Kaunas and keeps about 2,500 animals from 189 species, from lions and other big cats to native Lithuanian wildlife. Paths run between the enclosures under the trees, and the Egzotariumas education center holds indoor exhibits for a break from the weather.
