Baltic countries Estonia Latvia Lithuania

Recently, I talked to you about affordable destinations including Lithuania. I am going to tell you about my trip to the Baltic countries and the Baltic capitals; Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, I went there twice for 2 months in 2018 and 2019.

Where are the Baltic countries on the map?

The Baltic countries consist of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The capitals of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are, in order, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius.

You can see on the map that Lithuania is located the furthest south while Estonia is the furthest north! This makes a difference in terms of daylight or night time!

Map of the Baltic countries in northeastern Europe, north of Poland, near the Russian enclave Kaliningrad, and east of Sweden

Time spent in the Baltic countries: 37 days. I went during the summer from early July to early August. I chose to visit the capital and also see a seaside resort for each country.

Capital	Country	Recommended duration
Tallinn	Estonia	2-3 days
Riga	Latvia	2-3 days
Vilnius	Lithuania	2 days
Lahemaa National Park	Estonia	1 day
Curonian Spit	Lithuania	1-2 days

Estonia and the Capital Estonia: Tallinn

Duration of my Estonian trip: 26 days

Cities visited: Tallinn the capital of Estonia and Parnu seaside resort.

Here is where Estonia is located, with Tallinn in the north and Parnu in the southwest

The reason why I stayed in this city for so long is that I took Russian classes for 3 weeks at the university during the summer internships and in the end I can tell you that I do not regret it.

What to visit in Estonia:

• The visit of the old town, for me it is the best of the 3 capitals of the Baltic Sea countries for several reasons, there are period buildings, staging for tourists to feel the atmosphere. There are some medieval buildings and you can get lost in every street corner!

• The sauna tradition, I was lucky to have several spas and saunas in my gym. Otherwise, I would not have discovered this. So I was able to enjoy the traditional sauna, steam sauna, Finnish sauna, UV sauna, and salt sauna. There are many jacuzzis with numerous jets. I went almost every time I went to weight training except when I didn’t have time. I really recommend you to visit Reval sport, it is the place where the gym and the pool are located. However, the price might discourage some! It’s about ten euros for an entry versus about sixty euros for a month.

What I missed and regret:

I did not go to Lahemaa National Park! Being a great nature lover, I was too lazy to go but this national park is located an hour from Tallinn and you can mainly hike. The park is known for its fauna and flora.

The positives:

There are many places of interest possible from Tallinn within a few hours, for example, you can take advantage of having Tallinn as a base camp and go to Helsinki for a day (about twenty euros), go to Lahemaa Nature Park, go to Tartu which is the second largest city in Estonia and the cultural capital, go to one of the locals’ favorite beaches east of the city which is 30 minutes on foot from downtown or 10 minutes by public transport.

Buses are free!

The negatives:

It is the most expensive country of the Baltic countries due to its proximity to Finland and Russia. Prices in the city center are costly.

If you want to know more about Estonia: Here is the article coming soon

If you want to see accommodations in Estonia for your stay: Here are accommodations in Tallinn and a list of hotels in Parnu on Booking.

Latvia and the Capital Latvia: Riga

Duration of my Latvian trip: 5 days

Cities visited: Liepaja on the Baltic coast and Riga the capital of Latvia

Here is where Latvia is located, with Riga in the center and Liepaja in the southwest

Places of interest in Estonia and what to visit in Latvia:

• Sigulda, it is a village located in a national park with medieval castles and nature spots. The town is an hour from Riga, you can get there by bus and train. It gave me a breath of fresh air because there are far fewer tourists than in Riga and there are magnificent places. Count at least 5 hours on site so a day trip.

What I missed and regret:

I did not go to see the beaches of Jurmala near Riga which is 30 minutes by train due to lack of time.

Having been to Liepaja, another seaside resort, I could have seen the difference and compared these 2 Latvian tourist spots.

The + :

Cheaper than Estonia and on par with Lithuania

There are also many activities a few hours from Riga

The – :

Less flamboyant than Estonia and less attractive than Lithuania, the old town is for me the least pretty of the three!

There is no atmosphere at the seaside resort where I was in Liepaja compared to Parnu in Estonia or Klaipeda in Lithuania, but it was an exotic destination.

For a calm and family-friendly destination, it is ideal, but I do not recommend it for solo travelers.

If you want to know more about Latvia: Here is the article soon

If you want to see accommodations in Latvia for your stay: Here are accommodations in Riga and a list of hotels in Liepaja on Booking.

Lithuania and the Lithuanian Capital: Vilnius

Duration of my Lithuanian trip: 6 days

Cities visited: Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit near the Russian enclave, and Vilnius the Lithuanian capital.

Here is where Lithuania is located, with Vilnius in the southeast and Klaipeda in the west

Places of interest in Lithuania and what to visit in Lithuania:

The visit to the Curonian Spit on the Lithuanian coast is my favorite moment in Lithuania; otherwise, there are many nice churches and cathedrals in the city center of Vilnius that you can admire.

What I missed and regret:

I did not go to Trakai, which is located 40 minutes from Vilnius due to bad weather; I preferred to stay and work at the hostel. The place looks magnificent and is very accessible from Vilnius, plan for half a day.

The positives:

Lithuania stands out from the other two Baltic countries with fewer Russian influences, although you still hear Russian spoken in the streets.

They each have a different character, which is appreciable after visiting the other two Baltic countries.

Lithuania is one of the four European countries with a beer culture alongside Germany, Belgium, and the Czech Republic.

The sand dunes on the Curonian Spit or in Nida and the landscape are worth seeing. You should either bike there or go camping.

The negatives:

Alcohol is no longer sold after 8 p.m.

If you want to know more about Lithuania: Here is the article soon

If you want to see accommodations in Lithuania for your stay: Here are accommodations in Vilnius and a list of hotels in Klaipeda on Booking.

My recommendations for:

You can visit the 3 capitals by doing a Baltic capitals circuit in one week, although I recommend doing it in 9 days.

Latvia being between the other two countries and resembling Estonia a lot, I would prioritize staying one more day in Estonia than in Latvia unless you have a tighter budget.

If you want to visit another city and each capital, the best would be to have about ten days.

Some additional resources if the topic interests you: countries to visit to lay the foundations, tropical countries my for practical aspects, and visited countries during to go further.

You should also not miss the sunsets in Estonia and the Baltic countries knowing that since they are further north than other countries, there is more sunshine in summer, the best season to visit these countries.

 

Sunset cruise Party // croisière coucher de soleil à Parnu en Estonie au bord de la côte balte, je recommande d’y faire un tour!

A post shared by Tanned Stefan (@conseilvoyageur) le 8 Août 2018 à 5 :53 PDT

My conclusion on my Baltic trip:

I recommend visiting this part of Europe because there are far fewer tourists than in other Eastern European countries.

These are human-sized cities and you will rarely travel more than 4 hours from one place to another, which is great if you want to make the most of your time sightseeing.

And you? Does a trip to the Baltic countries tempt you? Have I managed to motivate you to go to the Baltics?