LTG Link trains

LTG Link is Lithuania's state owned passenger train operator, part of the wider LTG Group (Lietuvos geležinkeliai). It runs the country's domestic network and its international connections to Poland and Latvia. Vilnius Railway Station is the main hub, with other significant stations at Kaunas, Klaipėda, and Radviliškis.

Domestically, LTG Link trains link Vilnius with Kaunas in around 1 hour 20 minutes, with the port city of Klaipėda in around 4 hours 25 minutes, and with Šiauliai and Visaginas on separate lines. These routes form the backbone of rail travel within Lithuania. There is no separate premium express category layered on top, so most domestic journeys use the standard service.

Vilnius airport also has a direct rail link to the central station, a short seven-minute ride that runs eight times a day. It is a useful first move for pass holders arriving by air before continuing onward by train.

Internationally, two routes matter for anyone piecing together a Baltic itinerary. The first runs from Vilnius through Kaunas to Mockava, on the border with Poland, where you change onto a Polish train continuing to Warsaw and on to Kraków, Poznań, or Szczecin. The full Vilnius to Warsaw journey takes around 7 hours 30 minutes, with two departures a day. The second is a once daily direct train from Vilnius through Šiauliai and Jelgava to Riga in Latvia, continuing on the same train to Valga on the Estonian border. At Valga, an easy cross-platform change onto an Estonian train continues to Tallinn, so the connection links all three Baltic capitals with one change rather than a single through train.

Reservation is compulsory on both of these international routes, and on selected domestic services too. Do not board the Warsaw or Riga trains without one. Reservations can be made online at ltglink.lt, through the LTG Link app, at ticket offices, or from the travel attendant on board. The fee for pass holders typically runs from 3 to 5 euro, depending on the route and class, and it is non-refundable once booked.

This is the detail that catches out Interrail and Eurail travellers most often in the Baltics. Both passes give a full discount, effectively a free ticket, on LTG Link's domestic routes and on its international routes within the EU, which covers the Warsaw connection. But that discount applies to the ticket, not the reservation. You still need to buy the separate seat reservation before you travel, so check your exact date and train before paying, since the fee cannot be refunded once it is confirmed.

For most travellers connecting Vilnius with Warsaw or Riga, the practical approach is to reserve as soon as your dates are fixed. Two daily departures on the Warsaw route is not frequent enough to treat as walk-up travel, especially in summer.