One Week in the Baltics

Spontaneity was the name of our game with this trip!! We wanted to travel somewhere in August (preferably to an island or beach), but tickets all over the world were SO expensive (even more so if the destination included a luscious beach!). Lesson learned: book summer travel way in advance. 

At the last minute, we decided to travel to the Baltics. We bought our tickets, booked our accommodation, and made a plan in less than a week, then we were off 😊 We thought it would be nice to travel here during summer, thinking it would be quite cold in winter, and likely cooler than the constant heat wave that had taken over Naples (we were wrong about the second part).  While constant sun and warm weather is not so common here, we lucked out and had blue skies the entire week!

Riga, Latvia

Our trek took us from Tallinn, Estonia to Vilnius, Lithuania (with Riga, Latvia in the middle!). We originally planned on renting a car but the price to drop it off in another country was OUTRAGEOUS, so we opted for other transportation (and were not disappointed!). 

First stop, Tallinn 

The best way to see a city is by bike or on foot, so we always try to hop on biking or walking tours! In Tallinn, we started our visit with a bike tour. We went with the Welcome to Tallinn City Bike Tour with City Bike, but I researched other companies and it looked like pricing and sights are similar.

The tour was €19/pp and included:

*Kadriorg Palace & Park

*Presidential Palace

*Festival Grounds

*WWII Memorial 

*Olympic Center

* Pirita Beach

*Seaside Promenade

Kadriorg Palace 

On the water front, Italy totally wins!!!

After exploring the city on bike, we walked around on foot! We saw the old Tallinn Walls (you can climb up them and get good viewpoints), Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Town Hall/square & old town, and Malasmokk Cafe. We spent about a day and half  here, but saw mostly everything within a day. Unfortunately, there was not much to do besides explore the old town (this was also confirmed by locals!), which can be done in a day if you are on a tight schedule.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Church. 

Estonia is one of the most atheist countries in the world; around 90% of Estonians claim no religion (according to our bike tour guide!).

Walls of Tallinn (medieval defense walls)

Another view, another lovelock 😘

Then off to Riga! 

Riga was certainly the most charming city 😍

In Riga we stayed in a Middle Age style apartment in part of the UNESCO world heritage site of old town. The street was formed in the 13th century and this building served as a home and workshop for local craftsmen in the 18th century.

To catch sunset (at nearly 10pm!!) we went to the rooftop bar at the Radisson. We paid € 10 for this cup of crushed ice but the view was worth it! We read that there were four points with views of the city: this one (Skyline Bar), St. Peter's Church, Academy of Sciences observation deck, and the national library. From the bar we could see the three other points. If you're going for sunset, I might recommend watching it from the Academy of Sciences observation deck (€5), as the bar did not go all the way around, so it was harder to get a good view. 

We did a walking tour in Riga, and were able to see quite a bit while listening to stories from the guide! 

The Three Brothers (below) make up the oldest complex of dwelling houses in Riga. The structure and foundations of these houses are original (18th, 17th, and 15th centuries, respectively). 

Fun fact: the only language similar to Latvian is Lithuanian. Latvian was created in the 19th century, combining dialects from the surrounding areas. In Riga, 52% of people speak Russian as their first language. 

This cute buddy bear exhibit was on display during our visit! It was a gift from Germany to celebrate Latvia's 100 year anniversary of independence. 

The House of the Blackheads was an organization of Merchants. You had to be a rich, single man to join (*eyeroll*).

We also tasted as much food as we could on the trip. So much culture and history can be seen through food and we try to experience this everywhere we go. One day we spent part of our afternoon eating and drinking our way through the central market 😋

One of our last stops in Riga was in the art nouveaux district. Riga was one of the cities at the forefront of this style. 

Riga to Vilnius

We found a tour company that provides transportation between these cities (both ways) and also makes stops along the way! I would highly recommend doing this, as it allows you to see a lot more than if you were to just take a bus. I didn't see this as an option while planning our trip, but heard along the way that they also do trips between Tallinn and Riga, so check them out!

Our first stop on the way to Vilnius was the Salaspils Memorial to victims of Fascism. Although it was created as a memorial for victims, we were told it was really a Soviet Propaganda spot used to make Soviets look better than the Nazis. (It was really interesting to hear about Soviet occupation and influence in these three countries. It was also interesting to listen about perspectives on Nazis vs. Soviets)

Here there were four statues:

1. The humiliated one, represent the Jewish population who lost everything (70% in Latvia were executed)

2. Mother looking toward a brighter future (pictured below)

3. Soviets who created the park

4. The unbroken one, crawling but giving it all he's got

Stop two, and our last before crossing the Lithuanian border, was Rundale Palace. This home is a baroque treasure in the South Latvian countryside. 

Our next stop was the Hill of Crosses, a pilgrimage destination and site of resistance against Soviet Occupation. There's an estimated 200K-500K crosses in this field.

We rarely take pictures of ourselves, but someone insisted. And I am glad they did! We stopped in another town before visiting the island castle of Trakai, a short distance from Vilnius.

Our last stop was the Hill of Angels at sunset. 

Last stop, Vilnius! 

Vilnius was the city that offered the most things to do! Being here felt like being in a larger city with more options, and there was a lot to discover. Definitely go to the top of St. John's Campanile to get a good view of the city!! 

St. Anne's, a beautiful Gothic style church. There are maybe eight nice Saturdays in Vilnius so everyone gets married on these days. We saw quite a few brides around the city! 

In Vilnius we did both the free city walking tour and the alternative tour. The city tours are always great, and give a good overview of the city and it's history. The alternative tour was less interesting than we had expected, and I probably wouldn't recommend doing it. But we did get to see this mural, which you can seek out on your own 😉

Freedom of expression art, Inspired by the Berlin Wall mural, this painting originally had Trump and Putin kissing, White paint was thrown on it so the artist redid it, portraying them sharing a joint. 

Yeah, we bought more art...😊

My favorite part of Vilnius was definitely Uzupis, the artsy district! This used to be a dangerous area of town until artists started moving in and changing it.

Uzipis even claimed independence (on April 1, April Fool's Day). On this day each year you need a visa to cross the bridge into Uzupis (you get this by paying with a smile!). Be sure to stop by and read their constitution, which is written in multiple languages (three of the rights in this constitution are the rights to be unique, make mistakes, and love). 

Under the bridge into the Republic of Uzupis there's a secret swing, and if you're bold enough to wade through the river you can reach it.

It now holds one of our lovelocks 😍

One of the last things we saw (and maybe one of my favorites, solely for what it represents), was the "miracle tile." In 1989, approximately two million people formed a human chain across the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) in a peaceful political demonstration to show the world their desire for independence from the Soviet Union. The human chain started (or ended) on this tile. Stebuklas means "miracle" in English, and you can now make a wish on this tile by closing your eyes and spinning clockwise three times (but you must remain in the tile!).

The tile is next to the Vilnius Cathedral, which you should also see. You can take a tour of the crypts, but make sure to look up the tour time and book in advance! 

Budget 

We arrived in Tallinn after midnight and arrived in our AirBnb only to find out there was no bed and the "pull out couch" was actually just a couch. Rough start. Luckily, we haven't had too many experiences like this on AirBnb, but this was definitely not a pleasant surprise!  The room we booked in Vilnius was also a studio and pretty small (but at least there was a bed!), and none of the places had A/C of fans...just FYI. 

Plane Tickets ( 2 people) - €479.56

Bike tour Tallinn (2 people) - €38

Airbnb Tallinn (2 nights) - $109.20

Airbnb Riga (2 nights) - $177.42

Airbnb Vilnius (3 nights) - $193.67

Bus Tallinn to Riga - €56

Bus Tour Riga to Vilnius - (2 people) - €110

Walking tours - €30 (free, but you should leave a tip!)

Ubers - $35 Tallinn & Vilnius (estimate... to/from airport, beach, bus station. Ea. trip under $10)

Food - we should have kept better track...but not expensive :)  

A few recommendations - 

Tallinn: Moon Restaurant (Russian)

Vilnius: Etno Dvaras (Lithuanian)