• Explore the picturesque Island Castle built in 1400 and the remains of the Peninsula Castle that dates from the mid 1300s.
• Hire a boat in summer and sail around the lakes that surround Trakai

Trakai is the centre of the National Park and is a popular day trip destination mainly because of its two lakeside castles.  Trakai is an old capital of Lithuania and the seat of the Grand Duchy until Duke Gediminas moved the capital to Vilnius in 1323.  The castles were built to fend off the German Knights. 

The ruins of the Peninsula Castle built between 1362 and 1382 are on the Northern end of the Trakai peninsula.  The castle was destroyed in the 17th Century but the ruins are still accessible.  Trakai’s other castle stands on an island in Lake Galve.  It dates from around 1400 and has been renovated to its former glory.  In the internal courtyard of the castle is the Trakai Castle Museum.  It houses an exhibition on the history of the Grand Duchy.  The castle is linked to the shore by footbridges and a moat surrounds the central tower.  During summer the castle is a popular venue for concerts and plays.

During the 14th Century, Grand Duke Vytautas brought his bodyguards from the Crimea and they settled in the town.  Their descendents, the Karaites still live in Trakai although their numbers are dwindling.  The Karaites Ethnographic Museum in the town centre gives an explanation of the history of Lithuania’s smallest ethnic minority.