Dubingiai with kids: the wooden bridge over Lake Asveja, the Radziwiłł castle hill and Obuolių sala campsite

Dubingiai sits on Lake Asveja, the longest lake in Lithuania, about an hour's drive north of Vilnius. A wooden bridge from 1934 crosses the lake here, and on the peninsula next to it is a castle hill with the remains of the Radziwiłł palace and a scenic trail. We stopped here on 3 August 2026, the third day of our campervan trip around the Baltic states. We spent that evening and the whole of the next day a few kilometres away at Obuolių sala, a campsite on an island full of apple trees.

Our whole trip, day by day, is in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by campervan with kids.

The wooden bridge in Dubingiai

We left the campsite in Vilnius at 10:00, drove 52 km to Dubingiai and parked by the bridge. The bridge is about 76 m long and is open to cars. It is considered the oldest wooden bridge across a lake in Lithuania, and it was restored in 2020.

A loop around the castle hill

We took the dogs for a walk around the peninsula where the castle once stood. The trail is about 1.5 km long and leads across meadows and up wooden steps to viewpoints over the lake. A swing hangs from one of the birch trees, and all four of our daughters managed to squeeze onto it. Our youngest daughter posed for photos in her sunglasses on the meadow.

The remains of the Radziwiłł palace are under a protective roof and open as an exhibition, but it was closed when we got there.

Fun fact

In the winter of 1547-1548, Barbara Radziwiłł, later Queen of Poland, lived in Dubingiai for five months. In 2009 eight members of the Radziwiłł family, including Mikołaj Radziwiłł the Red and Mikołaj Radziwiłł the Black, were reburied in a crypt here.

A swim by the bridge

After the walk we went back to the bridge and had a swim in the lake. It was a hot day, so the water was very welcome.

Through villages of wooden houses

The campsite was another 21 km away. The road wound through small villages full of houses built entirely of wood. We arrived at 14:30.

Obuolių sala campsite

Obuolių sala means Apple Island in Lithuanian. The campsite is on an island in Lake Grabuostas, and you drive onto it over a wooden bridge. Apple trees grow all over the island, and there is a sandy swimming beach. We parked Beza under the trees and put up the awning.

A day off the road

On 4 August we didn't move the van at all. We spent the whole day swimming and lying on the beach, with breaks for a board game at the picnic table and badminton on the grass.

The next day we took back roads north to the Treetop Walking Path in Anykščiai. The day before, we had explored Vilnius with kids and dogs.

Practical info

Checked in November 2026.

• Dubingiai is about 50 km from Vilnius. You can park by the bridge and walk up to the castle hill.
• Lake Asveja is 21.9 km long and up to 50 m deep.
• The castle hill trail is about 1.5 km long with six information stops. It takes around 20 minutes, a bit longer with kids and stops for the views. We walked it with our dogs.
• The exhibition of the Radziwiłł palace ruins has been open since 2012. From October to April you can only visit by prior arrangement. Check the summer hours before you go, as it was closed when we were there in August 2026.
• In Lithuania, swimming rules are set by local councils. Some of them, Klaipėda for example, ban jumping into the water from bridges and piers, and the fire service advises against jumping near bridges.
• Obuolių sala campsite is on an island in Lake Grabuostas, about 12 km from Molėtai. It has pitches for campervans with electricity and water, a swimming beach, tennis courts, minigolf, a volleyball court, and boat and bike hire.