Surrounded by many lakes, Trakai is located 18 miles (29 kilometers) west of Vilnius.

Trakai is a 15th century Castle and museum (in the middle of lake Galve), and is the only island castle throughout Eastern Europe. It is one of the most often visited historical-architectural monuments in Lithuania.Trakai is also home to the Karaites, a Turkish ethnic group practicing a religion akin to Judaism. They came to Lithuania from the Crimea in the 14th century as warriors for Grand Duke Vytautas. Today as the country's smallest ethnic minority they count under 300 members.