tledford

My daughter and I are flying into Vilnius, Lithuania mid-day on Wednesday, August 4th. We depart early in the morning on August 15th from Helsinki, Finland. Does anyone have any suggestions on how many days to stay in each location and the best mode of transportation between cities?

spaarne

I went the other way, H>T>R>V. The only transport I could find was the EuroLines bus in the Baltics and the Tallink ferry over to Helsinki. I would divide the time equally between the 4 cities.

If you drink make sure you bring whatever you need to Helsinki. Booze, beer, and wine is bloody expensive there.

lanejohann

you can do tallinn as a day trip easily from helsinki
very nice ferries take you there...
we saw modern tallinn as well as the old town in one day...it is really a beautiful place

helsinki...didnt have a great time there cos we had the timing out of whack...we missed the harbour markets and the weather was dreadful...so windy and drizzly which curtailed our evening walks
we stayed at hotel helsinki...the sokos chain...fantastic breakfast in a lovely atmospheric restaurant attached..a good location walking distance to trains and buses

tledford

Thank you for your imput. I will post a trip report when we get back. There doesn't seem to be much info on this area.

tledford

Back from the trip- and the buses between cities were great. The tallink ferry was expensive, so was food and drink in Helsinki. I loved Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. Dividing the time equally among the 3 cities was good advice. I wasn't crazy about Helsinki, but probably didn't give it as much of a chance. We didn't want to take the time away from the other 3 cities so we only spent a day there. We had to go to Helsinki because there were no flights home from Tallinn.

crzn1

Thanks for the follow up tledford, If you have the time a trip report would be great. Near the end of May we are spending 3 nights in Vilnius, flying to Tallinn and spending 3 nights then the bus to Riga with another 3 nights, then flying to Berlin staying 2 nights.If you have any suggestions on places to stay (especially Riga),eat,or things to see and do, they will be greatly appreciated -- Thanks John & Robin

spaarne

crzn1,

You are doing some back tracking. How about starting in Tallinn and heading south?

For cheap diggs in Riga I recommend the hotel/hostel Profitcamp with breakfast included. For dinner, the Lido in Old Town is great. It is buffet style and you pay by the weight of what you take. The Dicken's Pub has a good lunch special. The adjacent restaurant is expensive.

irishface

Tledford, I hope you will heed the suggestion to do a trip report. Riga, Vilnius, and Tallin fascinate me and are on the shortlist of places I want to visit.

tledford

I did write a rather short trip report- if I knew how to give you the link I would but i think you can click on my name i don't post all that much so you should be able to find it.

My hotel in Riga was the Radi un Draugi which was in a good location and had all the basics that i want in a hotel. they had a laptop to use for free in the 2nd floor lounge. It wasnt fancy at all but for me it was fine.


My daughter and her boyfriend stayed in the Monte Kristo and for 50 a night was not bad at all! It was a little darker and older looking and closer to the train station not quite as good a location but Riga is so small it didn't matter. I thought it was quite the deal. It was sort of charming.

In Tallin we stayed at the Hotel St Petersbourg which we loved. It was charming and definitely a 4 star hotel with great service and lovely rooms.

In Vilnius we stayed with host families. I will write a post on the top things we saw in the 3 cities tomorrow for you.

You are smart to go to the Baltic States. I have been to quite a bit of Europe and this was the best trip I have been on by far. Everything was so relaxed and friendly and incredibly interesting with the Russian influence and the history of these countries.

crzn1

Thanks so much for the follow up. We have been considering the Monte Kristo and we will probably end up booking there. We have hotels booked in the other cities. We are looking forward to your "top things" report...

Janalta

I traveled Warsaw-Vilnius-Riga-Tallin-Helsinki this year. I chosen ECOLINES, because they were cheapest and the buses weren't different from other companies. I bought tickets online at their website and printed them in hostels I lived. So I bought 4 tickets and got a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki. ECOLINES had wi-fi, air conditioner, hot food (not very expensive) and the stewardesses were nice. They offered me a blanket and all trip I had two sits for my own

In Warsaw i lived in Hostel Krokodyl. It was not far away from center, in calm place, a guy who worked there was nice, everything was clean, but it was empty. In common room (which is quiet dark) I was the only one. It was boring to be there I really liked Copernicus science museum and the Lazienki park in Warsaw.

In Vilnius I stayed at Jimmy Jumps house - the best hostel I have ever been. Very funny, helpful and nice girls who work there, very friendly people, pub crawl, very clean rooms and toilets. The common room was full of people and very bright. Everything you need was there I liked the town center, some bars, KGB museum and the hills in city center.

In Riga I stayed at Central Hostel Riga. It had very nice common room, where every could stay and drink coffee or a beer and have some conversation. Girl who worked there was very helpful, the hostel was in city center. Although, our toilet had broken and it wasn't very good smell everywhere. It wasn't very clean. Very beautiful old town, sightseeing from church tower and the seaside was really cool (just a cold weather)

In Tallinn I stayed to my friend and in Helsinki I was just for one day. In Helsinki I was just in city center and in Tallinn I remember very beautiful old town, World War underground and very funny bar - Labor Bar where everything is in science theme

tominsh

Great place to stay in Riga: http://www.balticsuites.com/