Baltics anyone? (rent, hotel, Paris, hotels)

[lieqiang]

We've never been to the Baltic States before and will be in Europe from May -> Sep so considering making a run though 'em in late summer. We were going to fly to Poland after a couple months in Portugal but now thinking maybe fly from Portugal up to Estonia then work our way down by bus to Estonia -> Latvia -> Lithuania before continuing on to Poland then Ukraine. I know they are all Schengen so would have to shorten Portugal to fit everything pre-Ukraine into 90 days.

Question = has anyone visited these countries and what did you think?

More specific question = we were thinking get an airbnb apartment for a week in the capital of each country since they seem small enough that we could make day trips (or maybe overnight?) to other points of interest as needed, does this seem like a reasonable plan?

[SpiritualBaseball]

A couple summers ago I did the reverse

Started in Finland, took the ferry across to Tallinn. Then buses to Riga and Vilnius and then to Warsaw.

I had a good time
I have no idea if we are roughly the same kind of person who would like the same things or not.


The things that immediately come to mind were Literatu street in Vilnius with monuments to literary mentions of Lithuania and going to a rock concert in Riga. But I don't remember the band.

[cebuan]

I think you need a Belarus visa to take the train through Grodno, so you may need to take a bus from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Bialystok, Poland.

I haven't been there since the USSR, but my ex recently sad she adored Kaunas and Lithuania, but didn't care so much for Latvia. But everyone's personal experiences are different. I love Ukraine.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by lieqiang

We've never been to the Baltic States before and will be in Europe from May -> Sep so considering making a run though 'em in late summer. We were going to fly to Poland after a couple months in Portugal but now thinking maybe fly from Portugal up to Estonia then work our way down by bus to Estonia -> Latvia -> Lithuania before continuing on to Poland then Ukraine. I know they are all Schengen so would have to shorten Portugal to fit everything pre-Ukraine into 90 days.

Question = has anyone visited these countries and what did you think?

More specific question = we were thinking get an airbnb apartment for a week in the capital of each country since they seem small enough that we could make day trips (or maybe overnight?) to other points of interest as needed, does this seem like a reasonable plan?

Forget Warsaw and spend 4 days in Three-City and 3 days in Cracow. One week isn't enough time to spend in Poland. Too much to see to little time...

[james777]

I have traveled through several times, but spent a lot of time in Riga, so much so that it is like a second home to me. What did I think? It depends on what you like. They are very enjoyable to visit, but obviously they do not have the tourist attractions and famous sights like you would see in the capital cities of other more touristed European countries such as London, Paris, Rome, etc. So you may enjoy some less touristed places with beautiful natural surroundings, or you may think it is boring as some I have spoken to. I liked it a lot, including the food, which is heavy with meat and potatoes, like most Eastern European countries, even though pizza and hamburgers are everywhere.

You can see a lot by staying in the capital cities. The only place where you might want to go and stay over night is Palanga, on the Lithuanian coast. But it is nothing any different than what you will see in the seaside resort of Jurmala, a nice day trip a few miles outside of Riga.

I would not get an AirBnb because there are plenty of reasonably priced hotels. If you need something bigger than a standard hotel room, there are local real estate agencies in each capital city that will rent you an apartment for a short term, maybe as short as a couple of days. And if you have a problem with the apartment, the local agency will take care of it, not an unresponsive company halfway around the world. Many of those agencies were in business catering to tourists and businesspeople long before AirBnb. These countries were a part of the USSR, but they Westernized rapidly after their independence. Estonia has always been one of the most connected places in the world, both in cell phone use and internet.

I have also been to Ukraine a few times. Feel free to ask or DM me with any questions.

[lieqiang]

Thanks all, great info. Submitting to Boss (wife) for further analysis.

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by lieqiang

We've never been to the Baltic States before and will be in Europe from May -> Sep so considering making a run though 'em in late summer. We were going to fly to Poland after a couple months in Portugal but now thinking maybe fly from Portugal up to Estonia then work our way down by bus to Estonia -> Latvia -> Lithuania before continuing on to Poland then Ukraine. I know they are all Schengen so would have to shorten Portugal to fit everything pre-Ukraine into 90 days.

Question = has anyone visited these countries and what did you think?

More specific question = we were thinking get an airbnb apartment for a week in the capital of each country since they seem small enough that we could make day trips (or maybe overnight?) to other points of interest as needed, does this seem like a reasonable plan?

A bit late but I loved the Baltics, especially the Latvian countryside but the capitals too (although Tallinn was a bit Disney-fied like my hometown Quebec City).

I think a full week in each capital might be a bit much for Latvia and Lithuania. For that part I would suggest a loop: Vilnius, Klaipeda or Palanga, Liepaja or Ventspils or someplace else in Courland (Kurzeme), and finally Riga. Of course it’d be easier to rent a car with that itinerary but public transportation seemed pretty good (I had a car).

[lieqiang]

Thanks BG, I've got some googling to do on those places.

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by lieqiang

Thanks BG, I've got some googling to do on those places.

My favorite places in those countries, your interests may differ:
Vilnius (great little Central European-looking city with its Baroque churches)
Cesis (beautiful rundown Latvian town)
Karosta (surreal Soviet neighborhood north of Liepaja)
Curonian Spit NP (dunes and empty long sandy beaches)
Rundale Palace (not quite St. Petersburg but nice)
Riga’s Jugendstil neighborhood, old city and Museum of the Occupation
Jurmala and Palanga (cool old seaside towns)
Tallinn old city beyond the crowded central square

Somehow I think I recall you have been to Helsinki, if not then it’s worth a day trip from Tallinn or a night there.

[eureka1]

I LOVED Helsinki. It's worth more than a day.