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 daily train service now 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
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 your 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 assigned seats on the Lithuanian train.
Tip: If bilietas.ltglink.lt has sold out, try www.intercity.pl, this may still have tickets available as each website has its own quota of tickets.
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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 assigned seats on the Lithuanian train.
Tip: If both bilietas.ltglink.lt and www.intercity.pl have sold out, try booking Warsaw-Mockava at www.intercity.pl then Mockava-Vilnius at bilietas.ltglink.lt. Each operator may still have availability on its own train if you book each train separately.
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Want to go 1st class?
Only 2nd class tickets are sold if you book Warsaw-Vilnius, but both Lithuanian and Polish trains offer 1st class. 2nd class is absolutely fine on both trains, there isn't a huge difference between 1st & 2nd, but if you really want to go 1st class, you can book it like this:
1. Book Warsaw to Mockava (or vice versa) in 1st class for 131 zlotys (30) at the Polish Railways website www.intercity.pl.
Click EN for English top right. Book Warszawa (Dowolna stacja) to Mockava (LT). Find & select the direct train, scroll down, change second class to first class.
At the time I write this the 1st class car is car 11, your reservation should be in that car. You can check this at www.vagonweb.cz, change cs to English, click Train formations & search for Hancza.
2. Book Mockava to Vilnius (or vice versa) for 21 at the Lithuanian Railways website bilietas.ltglink.lt. In 1st class, seats are assigned and you can select one from a seat map.
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Taking a bicycle?
You can add a bicycle to the booking for 10 at bilietas.ltglink.lt. Bike places are limited.
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Interrail & Eurail reservations
To make passholder reservations for this route, see the Poland>Vilnius or Vilnius>Poland sections on the Interrail/Eurail reservations page.
What's the Polish train like?
The Polish train between Krakow, 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.
The Hancza has a restaurant car, treat yourself to a a cooked breakfast & 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.
Restaurant car on the Warsaw to Mockava train. I recommend the tasty zurek soup and the kotlet schabowy (schnitzel). Courtesy of Simon Andersen.
Switching trains at Mockava
It's easy! 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. 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 Pesa 730 train, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesa_730M. It's air-conditioned with comfortable seating, drop-down tables, toilets, large luggage racks, free WiFi, wheelchair space and accessible toilet, see virtual tour at traukinyje.lt/pesa730ml. Hot & cold drinks (including latte or cappuccino bean to cup coffee), snacks and sandwiches can ordered from a menu and brought to your seat by the train staff working out of a small catering compartment. You sit where you like in 2nd class, but 1st class seats are assigned.
Pesa 730 train. Courtesy of Julien Lebel.
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.