Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is an impressive reconstruction that brings the country’s history to life. Exhibits are well-curated, with detailed artifacts, models, and immersive rooms showing how the palace once functioned. The building itself is stunning, and the views from the upper floors are great. It’s large, so plan enough time. A must-visit for understanding Lithuania’s cultural and political past.

I recently visited the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, and it truly felt like traveling back in time. The museum is very large, made up of four wings, and offers four different visiting routes – each with its own story and atmosphere. 🔹 Route I – archaeology and palace cellars. I really enjoyed this one because you get to see authentic palace foundations, fragments of old walls, and even remnants of medieval heating systems. It feels like walking through a secret history book. 👉 Tip: set aside at least 1–1.5 hours for this route. The underground spaces are pleasantly cool – perfect on a hot summer day. 🔹 Route II – artworks, portraits, and grand halls. This route is all about splendor and representation – filled with portraits, tapestries, Renaissance and Baroque details. I was impressed by how these rooms reflect the rulers’ power and cultural world. 👉 Tip: if you’re visiting with kids, prepare a little game – like finding “the king with a moustache” or “the lady with a fan” in the portraits. It makes the visit much more engaging for them. 🔹 Route III – the rulers’ everyday life. Here you can see reconstructed living spaces, kitchens, furniture, and tableware. I loved imagining how the rulers lived day-to-day – not only during official ceremonies but in their ordinary routines too. 👉 Tip: this route is great for families since kids enjoy exploring “home details” – like beds, huge cooking pots, and furniture. 🔹 Route IV – exhibitions and cultural events. This space is always changing, with temporary exhibitions, concerts, and educational programs. 👉 Tip: check the museum’s website before visiting – you might catch a special event or exhibition. ⸻ 📝 General Tips for Visitors: • Tickets – buy them online in advance to avoid queues. • Time – it’s hard to see the whole museum in one visit. If you only have a few hours, choose 1–2 routes. • Kids – the museum has interactive activities, so it’s not boring for children. • Guides – the guided tours are excellent, but if you prefer independence, the audio guide app on your phone works well too. • Photos – photography is allowed, but the best light is during the day in halls with large windows. • Location – the palace is right in Vilnius Old Town, next to Cathedral Square, so you can easily combine it with a city walk or a coffee break nearby. ⸻ 👉 To sum up: The Palace of the Grand Dukes is a place where Lithuanian history, art, and culture come alive. Whether you’re a history lover or traveling with your family, everyone will find something interesting here. I’m definitely planning to return, because seeing everything in one visit is almost impossible.

Very nice and modern museum, really well thought out and built. It is not the original palace of course as it was destroyed, but the reconstruction is beautiful. The interesting thing is that you can pay the whole ticket or choose which routes and exhibits you want to see in the palace and pay accordingly which I found great! We chose the route I and II ( including the viewing tour ) for 10 euros ( instead of 16 for whole ticket) and it was more than enough for us! There are also a lot of lockers to leave luggage or bags. Would definitely recommend 👌

The palace is situated in the Cathedral square, the main tourist area of Vilnius. It was originally constructed in the 15th century. It was demolished in 1801 and reconstructed, finally converted into a national museum in 2009. There are four routes in the museum that covers different aspect of palace's history. It's really huge and takes a lot of time to visit everything. Entrance tickets can be purchased route wise or a combined Ticket to all routes. Senior citizens get 50% discount. Though we visited all four routes, routes I and II are worth visiting. Route II is the biggest and distributed to different floors and sections. Route I exhibits different stages of the development of the palace and the remains from the original palace and artefacts. Route II exhibits shows development of the residence of grand dukes in different periods, furniture, paintings, maps and other treasures. It also has display of utility spaces, their private area, treasury, including Crown and coins. There is access to the Observation Tower to have panoramic view of Vilnius old city. Route III has the weapons collection, kitchen etc. It's takes time to visit the entire collection, but worth the effort.

Large museum divided in different routes (to our taste route number I dedicated to old Lithuanian history) would have sufficed. Very interesting 3D experience ! Consider a couple of hours minimum to read through the key points , much more for a truly comprehensive visit

Many museums in Lithuania are free on the last Sunday of the month. We were in the Palace of the Rulers. This is a restored building. You can see the remains of the basement, where the ideal masonry, Gothic corners, arches have been preserved. There were no guides anymore, we read the information on the stands (English, Lithuanian), an audio guide. It takes 2-3 hours.

Nicely organised and designed museum. Have proper coat and backpack keeping place. I went on last Sunday of the month; and it's a free entry day! Lots of people but didn't feel crowded. Well designed for wheelchair access and kids friendly.

This was a rather waste of my time and money. I have chosen to buy tickets for two routes (2nd and 3rd), but before buying the tickets at the museum, I was not informed that I cannot get audioguide for 2nd route unless I purchase a ticket for the 1st route as well. I think this is an important piece of information that should be provided by the staff before purchasing the tickets. As I didn't know anything about the palace, lacking the audio guide was a big issue. I read some of the information provided at the exhibition but missed a bigger picture. The exhibition itself is a bit underwhelming. Also, at the time of my visit, there were not many (if any) people in the rooms, and I felt as if the staff was following every step of mine. Kind of unpleasent feeling. For some reason, I could not reach the Observation tower, and after getting lost on the way back to ticket office, I decided not to go through the 3rd route for which I already bought the ticket, as at that point it felt as if I would just waste some more time and not get the value from it.