Lithuania, and Vilnius to Daugavpils

[class387]

Hello everyone,

I have a five day trip to Lithuania next month - based in Vilnius, so was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for places to visit, day trips, or interesting transport?

I'm also thinking of making a day trip to Daugavpils in Latvia and as far as I understand it, you currently have to walk across the border from Turmantas and get a local bus the other side? Does anyone have any experience of doing this? I also note that Vilnius to Daugavpils trains were meant to be resuming 'this spring' but it seems to have gone a bit quiet - does anyone know anything about this?

Many thanks!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Kaunas is nice, not been anywhere other than Kaunas and Vilnius

 

[deltic]

Depends on your interests, Trakai is a short train ride from Vilnius and it's a pleasant walk to the castle in the middle of the lake

 

[rg177]

There's a coach between Daugavpils and Vilnius but I strongly recommend avoiding - as (at least back in 2023 it did) it comes from Moscow. Predictably it gets held up with massive delays at the border and it rocked up several hours late when I had booked it.

Trakai is indeed pretty simple to do, as is Kaunas. I found the latter to be pleasant albeit quite bleak on a freezing cold February morning. You'll probably have a more favourable view in June! You could probably do a day trip to Klaipeda if you were so inclined as well, as the LTG Link app is easy to use and the trains are simple to book. Some Klaipeda services IIRC are also loco-hauled.

Vilnius Station has a small open air museum over the other side of the tracks, with a variety of older stock and locos to look at. Open during daylight hours and free to visit, just with a security guard keeping an eye on things.

 

[stadler]

Hello everyone,

I have a five day trip to Lithuania next month - based in Vilnius, so was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for places to visit, day trips, or interesting transport?

I'm also thinking of making a day trip to Daugavpils in Latvia and as far as I understand it, you currently have to walk across the border from Turmantas and get a local bus the other side? Does anyone have any experience of doing this? I also note that Vilnius to Daugavpils trains were meant to be resuming 'this spring' but it seems to have gone a bit quiet - does anyone know anything about this?

Many thanks!

I have done this four times (twice in each direction) to get from Vilnius to Riga or vice versa. It is an easy simple route. The walk is quite short and easy.

Just take a train from Vilnius to Turmantas and then you walk for about fifteen to twenty minutes along the path at the side of the track across the border to the village of Zemgale. You eventually will see a church and then a level crossing and the bus stops right by there. Then from there you can pick up the local bus to Daugavpils.

I believe the bus times are as follows:

06:40 Zemgale to Daugavpils 07:20
08:45 Zemgale to Daugavpils 09:25
14:15 Zemgale to Daugavpils 14:50
18:00 Zemgale to Daugavpils 18:40

08:00 Daugavpils to Zemgale 08:40
13:30 Daugavpils to Zemgale 14:10
17:15 Daugavpils to Zemgale 17:55

Northbound:

Starppilsētu/starptautiskie autobusi Zemgale - Daugavpils AO - 1188 satiksme

Skaties autobusu Zemgale - Daugavpils AO sarakstus un pērc autobusu biļetes tiešsaistē. Visi autobusi no Zemgale līdz Daugavpils AO.

www.1188.lv

Southbound:

Starppilsētu/starptautiskie autobusi Daugavpils AO - Zemgale - 1188 satiksme

Skaties autobusu Daugavpils AO - Zemgale sarakstus un pērc autobusu biļetes tiešsaistē. Visi autobusi no Daugavpils AO līdz Zemgale.

www.1188.lv

Oddly one direction gets an extra bus. Last time i went i think it was EUR1.60 single and online suggests the price is still the same. Make sure to have cash to pay for it. Route 6173 is the number of the bus.

Timetables for the Vilnius to Turmantas train can be downloaded here:

Nauji metiniai traukinių tvarkaraščiai

Keliauju traukiniu | LTG Link

ltglink.lt

Click the third one for the timetable PDF for this route:

https://ltglinklivev1.blob.core.windows.net/cms/media/2024/11/vilnius-ignalina-turmantas-nuo-2024-12-15.pdf

Timetables for the trains around Daugavpils can be downloaded here if you are interested too:

Vilcienu kustības pamatsaraksts

vivi.lv

Both the Latvian and Lithuania trains are operated by old Soviet built DR1 trains.

So you could certainly do a day trip to Daugavpils but it would require careful planning as neither the train nor the buses are very frequent. You may prefer to stay overnight in Daugavpils instead and give yourself more time to look around. It is definitely a city worth visiting and i have always enjoyed my time there.

 

[class387]

This is all really useful, thank you!

I have done this four times (twice in each direction) to get from Vilnius to Riga or vice versa. It is an easy simple route. The walk is quite short and easy.

Just take a train from Vilnius to Turmantas and then you walk for about fifteen to twenty minutes along the path at the side of the track across the border to the village of Zemgale. You eventually will see a church and then a level crossing and the bus stops right by there. Then from there you can pick up the local bus to Daugavpils.

I believe the bus times are as follows:

06:40 Zemgale to Daugavpils 07:20
08:45 Zemgale to Daugavpils 09:25
14:15 Zemgale to Daugavpils 14:50
18:00 Zemgale to Daugavpils 18:40

08:00 Daugavpils to Zemgale 08:40
13:30 Daugavpils to Zemgale 14:10
17:15 Daugavpils to Zemgale 17:55

Northbound:

Starppilsētu/starptautiskie autobusi Zemgale - Daugavpils AO - 1188 satiksme

Skaties autobusu Zemgale - Daugavpils AO sarakstus un pērc autobusu biļetes tiešsaistē. Visi autobusi no Zemgale līdz Daugavpils AO.

www.1188.lv

Southbound:

Starppilsētu/starptautiskie autobusi Daugavpils AO - Zemgale - 1188 satiksme

Skaties autobusu Daugavpils AO - Zemgale sarakstus un pērc autobusu biļetes tiešsaistē. Visi autobusi no Daugavpils AO līdz Zemgale.

www.1188.lv

Oddly one direction gets an extra bus. Last time i went i think it was EUR1.60 single and online suggests the price is still the same. Make sure to have cash to pay for it. Route 6173 is the number of the bus.

Timetables for the Vilnius to Turmantas train can be downloaded here:

Nauji metiniai traukinių tvarkaraščiai

Keliauju traukiniu | LTG Link

ltglink.lt

Click the third one for the timetable PDF for this route:

https://ltglinklivev1.blob.core.windows.net/cms/media/2024/11/vilnius-ignalina-turmantas-nuo-2024-12-15.pdf

Timetables for the trains around Daugavpils can be downloaded here if you are interested too:

Vilcienu kustības pamatsaraksts

vivi.lv

Both the Latvian and Lithuania trains are operated by old Soviet built DR1 trains.

So you could certainly do a day trip to Daugavpils but it would require careful planning as neither the train nor the buses are very frequent. You may prefer to stay overnight in Daugavpils instead and give yourself more time to look around. It is definitely a city worth visiting and i have always enjoyed my time there.

How reliable are the connections? Would the 1112 from Vilnius, arriving Turmantas at 1341, be an acceptable connection onto the 1415 bus from Zemgale? I assume trying to get the 1812 train from Turmantas off the last bus into Zemgale would then be a step too far?

 

[stadler]

This is all really useful, thank you!


How reliable are the connections? Would the 1112 from Vilnius, arriving Turmantas at 1341, be an acceptable connection onto the 1415 bus from Zemgale? I assume trying to get the 1812 train from Turmantas off the last bus into Zemgale would then be a step too far?

Yes the 13:41 arrival at Turmantas is more than enough time to catch the 14:15 bus. That is a very easy connection. From my experience the trains on this route are very reliable and have always run bang on time. Even if you walk at slower leisurely pace then it will still only be twenty minutes maximum to walk. So that connection is a very easy and comfortable connection.

I have successfully made the connection arriving at Zemgale at 17:55 and departing Turmantas at 18:12 last time that i did it. It is tight but i successfully made the connection with about five minutes to spare. If you are able to walk fast then you can do the walk in about ten minutes. Also the roads are very quiet and the bus is normally running a couple minutes early which is also helps. So as long as you are a fast walker it should be possible to make that connection.

 

[class387]

Yes the 13:41 arrival at Turmantas is more than enough time to catch the 14:15 bus. That is a very easy connection. From my experience the trains on this route are very reliable and have always run bang on time. Even if you walk at slower leisurely pace then it will still only be twenty minutes maximum to walk. So that connection is a very easy and comfortable connection.

I have successfully made the connection arriving at Zemgale at 17:55 and departing Turmantas at 18:12 last time that i did it. It is tight but i successfully made the connection with about five minutes to spare. If you are able to walk fast then you can do the walk in about ten minutes. Also the roads are very quiet and the bus is normally running a couple minutes early which is also helps. So as long as you are a fast walker it should be possible to make that connection.

That's really useful to know, many thanks! May do just that for a brief visit then (main intention is to get a ride or two on some KTM or Tatra trams), though I also note there's a Flixbus back from Daugavpils at 1935 which would give me an extra two hours.

 

[stadler]

That's really useful to know, many thanks! May do just that for a brief visit then (main intention is to get a ride or two on some KTM or Tatra trams), though I also note there's a Flixbus back from Daugavpils at 1935 which would give me an extra two hours.

Ah i had not considered the Flixbus option. That may work out well. I had never realised there was a direct coach.

Looking online the Flixbus times are as follows:

10:45 Vilnius to Daugavpils 13:30

19:35 Daugavpils to Vilnius 22:15

That gives you just over six hours there to look around.

Flixbus is showing prices of £9.49 Single or £17.98 Return for any date i select. You save a bit of money getting a Return ticket rather than two Single tickets. So that works out very slightly cheaper than the train and walk and local bus option.

Obviously the train is probably a more interesting and enjoyable option if you like trains but if you want a longer day out and more time to look around Daugavpils then it may be worth doing the coach both there and back.

 

[Krokodil]

Vilnius Station has a small open air museum over the other side of the tracks, with a variety of older stock and locos to look at. Open during daylight hours and free to visit, just with a security guard keeping an eye on things.

There is also a small (pay to enter) exhibition upstairs in the station building

 

[class387]

Ah i had not considered the Flixbus option. That may work out well. I had never realised there was a direct coach.

Looking online the Flixbus times are as follows:

10:45 Vilnius to Daugavpils 13:30

19:35 Daugavpils to Vilnius 22:15

That gives you just over six hours there to look around.

Flixbus is showing prices of £9.49 Single or £17.98 Return for any date i select. You save a bit of money getting a Return ticket rather than two Single tickets. So that works out very slightly cheaper than the train and walk and local bus option.

Obviously the train is probably a more interesting and enjoyable option if you like trains but if you want a longer day out and more time to look around Daugavpils then it may be worth doing the coach both there and back.

The Flixbus seems to be a very long (and random to me) route between Daugavpils and Ljubljana? So I was thinking that any possible delay on the outbound might negate the time saving, which would make the train more attractive.

Need to look into it though. I also seem to remember that the single car trams in Daugavpils don't work during the afternoon peak which would make those two hours rather crucial.

 

[stadler]

The Flixbus seems to be a very long (and random to me) route between Daugavpils and Ljubljana? So I was thinking that any possible delay on the outbound might negate the time saving, which would make the train more attractive.

Need to look into it though. I also seem to remember that the single car trams in Daugavpils don't work during the afternoon peak which would make those two hours rather crucial.

Flixbus has a bunch of random routes like that. I have never understood the logic of them. I can not imagine that Ljubljana to Daugavpils has much demand.

If it helps you can track Flixbus journeys online here:

https://www.flixbus.co.uk/track

You can also look at past reliability for the same day and for the day before. Today it ran 11 minutes late. Yesterday it ran 5 minutes early. So you could always look at the reliability a couple days before and see what it is like before making a decision. Or even check in the morning (once the coach is already on its journey) before making a decision on whether to take the coach or train. But despite coming from Ljubljana it appears fairly reliable.

Yes when i was last in Daugavpils i noticed the single cars mainly seemed to be used off peak. From my observations they seemed to come out of the depot around 09:00 to 09:30 and then go back to the depot around 15:00 to 15:30 so they did not see any peak time use. I presume that they want to make sure that the peak time trams are the longer ones with more capacity. Maybe a few get used during peak times but from what i noted off peak was best to spot those

 

[class387]

Flixbus has a bunch of random routes like that. I have never understood the logic of them. I can not imagine that Ljubljana to Daugavpils has much demand.

If it helps you can track Flixbus journeys online here:

https://www.flixbus.co.uk/track

You can also look at past reliability for the same day and for the day before. Today it ran 11 minutes late. Yesterday it ran 5 minutes early. So you could always look at the reliability a couple days before and see what it is like before making a decision. Or even check in the morning (once the coach is already on its journey) before making a decision on whether to take the coach or train. But despite coming from Ljubljana it appears fairly reliable.

Yes when i was last in Daugavpils i noticed the single cars mainly seemed to be used off peak. From my observations they seemed to come out of the depot around 09:00 to 09:30 and then go back to the depot around 15:00 to 15:30 so they did not see any peak time use. I presume that they want to make sure that the peak time trams are the longer ones with more capacity. Maybe a few get used during peak times but from what i noted off peak was best to spot those

That's really helpful to know, thanks! Interesting about the trams, that might make the 1450 arrival from the Zemgale bus a bit tight for the tram rides then... I wonder whether me going during school holidays would affect anything in that regard?

On a different note - I'm not sure will have time to go all the way to Klaipeda on one of the loco hauled services (though it seems brilliant). Does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere in between to stop off?