11 DAYS FAIRYLAND IN BALTIC STATES

Arriving in Tallinn, we will transfer to your hotel before your half-day Old Town walking tour (UNESCO) to explore the walls and towers, Dome Church, Kiek in de Kök hidden tunnels underneath the Toompea Hill terrace’s old bastions, Dominican Monastery Museum’s ancient stone galleries and interesting food stops.

Start at the Seaplane Harbour Museum, formerly a hangar at the area of Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress and hauled out of the water from the world’s only surviving mine-laying submarine. Visit the KGB Museum at Hotel Viru, the only place for foreigners to stay during Soviet times. Proceed Kadriorg Palace and Foreign Art Museum which displays Western European and Russian artworks.

Discover Lahemaa National Park’s thick forests, hidden waterfalls and picturesque coastlines. Visit the romantic captain’s village of Kasmu ringed with many lakes and the manor houses of Vihula with a chance for local vodkas tasting. Proceed to Tartu, the oldest town in Baltic states.

Enjoy a short tour of Tartu Old Town and visit the Estonian National Museum (closed Mon) before a local beer tasting at Valmierzuiza Brewery. Set off to Baltics’ best-preserved town at Cesis to explore Cesis Castle, one of Latvia’s most dramatic ruined castles.

Drive to Ligatne for a short tour of the secret Soviet bunker with various paraphernalia of the Soviet era meant to be served as hideout for governing the state in the case of a nuclear war. Make a stop at the Turaida to admire the red-brick fairy-tale castle and stop at the Gūtmaņa ala (Gutman’s Cave), the biggest cave in Baltics. Take the cable car over Gauja river valley in Sigulda.

Our Riga walking tour brings us to Dome Cathedral for amazing organ music concert from one of the world’s largest pipe organs (upon availability), great city views from the steeple of St. Peter’s Church and local food tasting at Riga Central Market. In the afternoon, choose from one of the below options:

Option A: Half Day Moscow District with Tram 

Venture off the beaten track to the suburbs which once was the Jewish ghetto during the WWII, full of history, churches of various styles and faiths and traditional 19th-century working-class wooden homes. 

Option B: Half Day Art Noveau Riga 

Riga boasts Europe’s greatest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings. Visit Art Nouveau area, once home to Latvia’s top artists, writers and scholars.

Option C: Half Day Jurmala Seaside

Stroll in the romantic 19th century Jurmala surrounded by wooden cottages, resort centres and pine trees.

Conclude at Bergs Bazaar, opened around 130 years ago as Riga’s first high society shopping arcade!

Drive to Rundale Palace with its spectacular garden, another Baroque masterpiece, before heading to Hill of Crosses near Siauliai where hundred thousands crosses are placed to represent Christian devotion. Arrive in Klaipeda and check in your hotel.

Explore Curonian Spit (UNESCO), a ribbon of sand separating Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea formed by winds and sea currents. Head to Nida fisherman’s village, visit Nobel Prize Winner Thomas Mann’s Museum (closed Mon on 15 Sep-1 Jun). End with a walk to the dramatic and ecologically significant 60m high Dead Dunes.

Established as Lithuania’s only port by the Teutonic Knights, explore the picturesque Klaipeda including the Old Post offices, handicraft shops, old theatre and Simon Dach Square. Continue to 17th century Pazaislis Monastery near Kaunas, built by Camaldoleses monks and considered one of Europe’s finest mature baroque architectures.

Enjoy Vilnius walking tour (UNESCO). Visit the Gothic St. Anne’s Church, St. Peter’s and Paul’s Church and the Cathedral with its bell tower, ruined city gates and castles. Head to Lithuania’s former capital in Trakai set on a lake island. The 14th century red brick castle is now an Art Museum. End at Angel Hill with its wooden angel sculptures.

If time permits, we will explore the micro-nation of the Bohemian Republic of Uzpis, which declared its independence from the rest of the city in 1997, home to artists and creatives before transferring to the airport for your flight home.