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Spending two weeks in Europe starting May 31st. My wife is Lithuanian. Born and Raised in Kaunas. We are flying direct to London to visit the father in law for 3 nights. After that we are heading to Kaunas. We have been to Lithuania already and her dad owns a hotel in Palanga....so thats where we will be staying....I pretty much have Lithuania planned out, just looking for some good suggestions for London and Latvia. I have a lot Latvians telling me to go to Sigulda. My original plan was Riga. I looked it up and it seems nice , but whats the catch ?
My question is... whats are the must sees of Latvia and London ? Im a big WWII buff and have some spots in London , but I am looking for other historical spots.
We will be in London for the first weekend starting at 7:30 am and Latvia for our second weekend Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon....
What are the must sees of both? Any suggestions are much appreciated.
For what it's worth, my wife was in both Latvia and Lithuania, and liked Lithuania a lot better than Latvia. As I mentioned in my other post, Kaunas is her favorite city in Europe.
There's WWII stuff in Latvia, around Riga and elsewhere. Most are not on the tourist track at all (except the museum of the occupation in central Riga which is mostly about the Soviet era) and are not very well signposted but some are worth it. The site of the Skede massacre just north of Liepaja was touching but hard to find, and you get to see a surreal neighborhood full of very rundown commie blocks surrounding an amazing Orthodox cathedral (Karosta).
Sigulda was nice but I liked nearby Cesis better, great little town. Turaida castle was nice too. Elsewhere in Latvia there are dozens of old estates in various states of disrepair, that belonged to German barons that ruled the region until the Latvians kicked them out after WWI. Rundale palace is very pretty -- not quite as impressive as the castles in St. Petersburg or Versailles but still. Riga itself has amazing Art Nouveau architecture and has a nice old town to walk around.
Spending two weeks in Europe starting May 31st. My wife is Lithuanian. Born and Raised in Kaunas. We are flying direct to London to visit the father in law for 3 nights. After that we are heading to Kaunas. We have been to Lithuania already and her dad owns a hotel in Palanga....so thats where we will be staying....I pretty much have Lithuania planned out, just looking for some good suggestions for London and Latvia. I have a lot Latvians telling me to go to Sigulda. My original plan was Riga. I looked it up and it seems nice , but whats the catch ?
My question is... whats are the must sees of Latvia and London ? Im a big WWII buff and have some spots in London , but I am looking for other historical spots.
We will be in London for the first weekend starting at 7:30 am and Latvia for our second weekend Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon....
What are the must sees of both? Any suggestions are much appreciated.
There is plenty of history in London, if your a WW2 buff then Churchill's War Rooms, the Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast, the Guards Museum, the National Army Museum are all worth a visit, as is Benjamin Franklin's House if you are American.
London is packed full of free museums, although it should be noted the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and RAF Museum at Hendon are quite a way from Central London and are too much of a journey for a weekend trip.
Borough Market with it's superb selection of British and International food iswell worth a visit though.
Other advice would be to order Visitor Oyster Cards before you go and they will be posted to your address, a Visitor Oyster Card cuts the cost of journeys on London Transport significantly.
There's WWII stuff in Latvia, around Riga and elsewhere. Most are not on the tourist track at all (except the museum of the occupation in central Riga which is mostly about the Soviet era) and are not very well signposted but some are worth it. The site of the Skede massacre just north of Liepaja was touching but hard to find, and you get to see a surreal neighborhood full of very rundown commie blocks surrounding an amazing Orthodox cathedral (Karosta).
Sigulda was nice but I liked nearby Cesis better, great little town. Turaida castle was nice too. Elsewhere in Latvia there are dozens of old estates in various states of disrepair, that belonged to German barons that ruled the region until the Latvians kicked them out after WWI. Rundale palace is very pretty -- not quite as impressive as the castles in St. Petersburg or Versailles but still. Riga itself has amazing Art Nouveau architecture and has a nice old town to walk around.
Thank you for the advice. Out of all those places . What do you think is the best to visit? Riga seems to top the list with things to do.
Thank you for the advice. Out of all those places . What do you think is the best to visit? Riga seems to top the list with things to do.
Riga is the Latvia's only real city so it's the place with the most things to do but the countryside as a whole was my favorite. My top 5 for Latvia and Lithuania would be (in no particular order):
Curonian Spit including the crazy wooden sculpture park (Hill of Witches -- Raganu Kalnas)
Vilnius
Cesis
Riga
Karosta or maybe Rundale
I'm thinking about taking a trip to London later this year for vacation, so some good resources there. I also thinking of going to Italy so will read up on that.
Maybe 4-5 days in London and all the 'must see' spots, then 9-10 days in Italy (Venice, Florence, and Rome).
When you go to Latvia, stay in Riga and make it your base for exploring the immediate region. It has a small, walkable and safe center. Both Old Town and downtown Riga are worth seeing for the different types of architecture. The Old Town is well preserved and one of the most picturesque of any European city. Downtown is very pretty as parks and gardens are scattered throughout, breaking up the monotony of the apartment and office blocks.
There are short river cruises you can take from the main waterfront in Old Town Riga. There used to be a river cruise out to Mezaparks (forest park), but I don't know if they still run it. The zoo is worth seeing and it is also in Mezaparks. You can take a tram out there and back; I forgot the number, possibly the #11.
From Riga you can take a train or bus up to the town of Sigulda and walk around the town. We took a bus up and a train back to Riga. The distance is less than an hour each way, so it is the perfect day trip if you like pretty little towns in a mountainous region.
Take another day trip out to Jurmala, which is the strip of beachside villages along the Baltic Sea, or technically the Gulf of Riga. It is also less than an hour each way and is easily accessible by bus or train. Bring your swimsuits and beach blankets as there is a nice sandy beach. There are restaurants and tourist attractions in the town of Majori, a part of Jurmala.
When you go to Latvia, stay in Riga and make it your base for exploring the immediate region. It has a small, walkable and safe center. Both Old Town and downtown Riga are worth seeing for the different types of architecture. The Old Town is well preserved and one of the most picturesque of any European city. Downtown is very pretty as parks and gardens are scattered throughout, breaking up the monotony of the apartment and office blocks.
There are short river cruises you can take from the main waterfront in Old Town Riga. There used to be a river cruise out to Mezaparks (forest park), but I don't know if they still run it. The zoo is worth seeing and it is also in Mezaparks. You can take a tram out there and back; I forgot the number, possibly the #11.
From Riga you can take a train or bus up to the town of Sigulda and walk around the town. We took a bus up and a train back to Riga. The distance is less than an hour each way, so it is the perfect day trip if you like pretty little towns in a mountainous region.
Take another day trip out to Jurmala, which is the strip of beachside villages along the Baltic Sea, or technically the Gulf of Riga. It is also less than an hour each way and is easily accessible by bus or train. Bring your swimsuits and beach blankets as there is a nice sandy beach. There are restaurants and tourist attractions in the town of Majori, a part of Jurmala.
Sorry for not responding to this. I read somewhere that theres a boat ride that goes from Palanga or Klapedia ? Do you have any info on this? We will be in Palanga and thats where we would most likely leave to go to Riga.
There is plenty of history in London, if your a WW2 buff then Churchill's War Rooms, the Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast, the Guards Museum, the National Army Museum are all worth a visit, as is Benjamin Franklin's House if you are American.
London is packed full of free museums, although it should be noted the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and RAF Museum at Hendon are quite a way from Central London and are too much of a journey for a weekend trip.
Borough Market with it's superb selection of British and International food iswell worth a visit though.
Other advice would be to order Visitor Oyster Cards before you go and they will be posted to your address, a Visitor Oyster Card cuts the cost of journeys on London Transport significantly.
Thank you! Surprisingly I looked at rental cars for a few days in london and its cheap! I just hope I can manage the roads. How is parking in downtown london? Do you need coins or a card?
We will be driving to the Tank museum .. looks like its about 3 hours. Im hoping it will not be hard . I drove in Germany and Austria and it was easy! Everyone in Germany drove safe and great! Even in the mountains!
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