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which country would be most worth seeing cause I don't know much about those 3 countries.
Why not go to all three?
Also, why not do a little research. Look at Wikitravel and read about the three countries. You'll learn more in 10 minutes, than you would by having complete strangers knowing nothing about you, could possibly guess what you might like or might not like.
In general, they have more similarities than differences. Plus, based on quite a few other threads about the Baltics on this forum, there is a lot of variation of what people experienced and liked in each country.
For me, I personally preferred Lithuania. But moreso because of a ton of intangible factors, than for any particular concrete reasons that Lithuania was better than the others. Other posters on here, preferred Estonia, others preferred Latvia. There have been quite a few threads on these three Baltic countries this Summer, so might make some good reading already as well.
Last edited by Tiger Beer; 08-17-2014 at 02:00 PM..
The countries are small, well, perhaps not that small in area-wise but sparsely populated with small cities and in my opinion thus not a super interesting ones for a tourist. So if you go by bus from Tallinn to Riga and from Riga to Vilnius you will see during 4 hours mostly a relatively monotonous rural landscape. The most interesting are perhaps the capitals, try to visit them. Perhaps coastal areas too.
My suggestion would be that you try to visit all 3 countries -you will see more.
one other question and worth posting here (and not a separate post)
any kind of ethnic foods from those countries I should try if I visit any of them.
I just ask cause where I live right now we have a Lithuanian Bakery in my town and they have some good food there.
I agree with the foods. Pretty much everything I ate in the Baltics was great. I couldn't recommend one country over another for that though. You can't go wrong.
which language is the easiest to learn (i.e. Estonian and Lithuanian and Latvian) ?
or do many folks in those countries speak English?
Just asking cause I am trying to learn a bit of Russian and Georgian and few words in some other languages
English is really widely spoken by folks around and under 30, at least in Estonia, which has the highest level of English for sure. Anyway, I would spend 1 day in each capital, since their proximity to each other.
which language is the easiest to learn (i.e. Estonian and Lithuanian and Latvian) ?
or do many folks in those countries speak English?
Just asking cause I am trying to learn a bit of Russian and Georgian and few words in some other languages
I don't think any of the three are particularly easy to learn, Estonian is probably the hardest unless you know Finnish (even then). most people (including everybody in tourist areas) speak English. Russian might help you in parts of Riga.
regarding food -- I ate very very well in Estonia, great tasty healthy food, not sure any of it was typically Estonian (except black bread). Lithuanian food was heavier, good comfort food. don't think I had a typically Latvian meal (except Lido, lol!) but I had my greatest plov ever at Uzbekistana in Riga.
Just asking cause I am trying to learn a bit of Russian and Georgian and few words in some other languages
Latvia/Riga seem to have the most Russian speakers around. You might have the most opportunities there to find people willing to speak Russian as well.
You'll be fine with English everywhere though.
I'd say Estonian would be the hardest to learn of the three. It's more similar to Finnish, and that is already a very isolated language group.
I'd say Estonian would be the hardest to learn of the three. It's more similar to Finnish, and that is already a very isolated language group.
There are textbooks available for Finnish. If you're into learning languages, I'd recommend you get a Finnish book. You can get along fine in Estonia on that.
However, your best bet would be to Google around and see if there's anyone offering a Finnish course where you live. Try the university (Scandinavian languages, yeah, I know it's not Scandinavian, but where else are they going to put it?), and also see if there's a Finnish community center, or a Scandinavian community center. Finnish language instructors sometimes offer a beginning course through community centers like that. You can't learn Finnish without a good book and a good instructor, who can break it down into small enough bits that you won't get overwhelmed. Also try the YMCA; they offer language courses sometimes, and you never know what they're going to offer.
And just a heads-up: don't be surprised if you try to communicate in Russian in the Baltics, and you get the cold shoulder. Unless you happen to find a Russian.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 08-18-2014 at 12:47 AM..
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