10 Days in the Baltics: Vilnius, Riga & Tallinn

Fly into Vilnius, fly home from Tallinn. In between: Vilnius (3 nights) → Riga (3 nights) → Tallinn (3 nights), moving north by road in one direction with no backtracking. This 10 day Baltics itinerary covers Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and each country gets about three days. The three countries sit in a line along the Baltic Sea, so the longest drive on the route is about 4.5 hours. All three use the euro and are in the Schengen area, so there are no border checks between them.

Ten days is enough to see the three capitals and one excursion from each. It is not enough for Kaunas, the Curonian Spit, the Estonian islands or Tartu as well. We have longer routes for those, and the end of this guide shows where to add them.

Vilnius has one of the largest baroque old towns in Europe, and the whole of it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is compact and walkable, with more than a dozen churches inside a few streets. A local guide is worth having on day two: Vilnius was for centuries a Lithuanian, Polish, Jewish and Russian city at the same time, and the layers show up in the buildings once someone points them out. Walk up to the Gediminas Tower for the roofs, then cross the river to Užupis, a small artists' quarter that declared itself a republic on April Fools' Day in 1997 and has its own constitution on a wall.

On day three, drive to Trakai, about 30 minutes west of the city. The red-brick castle stands on an island in Lake Galvė and was built in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. The town is also home to the Karaim, a small Turkic community who were settled here in the 14th century. Try kibinai, their meat pastries, for lunch. You are back in Vilnius by late afternoon.

The road from Vilnius to Riga is about 300 kilometers. Leave in the morning and stop at the Hill of Crosses, near Šiauliai, about halfway. More than 100,000 crosses cover one small mound, left by pilgrims over more than a century. Soviet authorities bulldozed it several times, and the crosses came back each time. It is quiet, strange and worth the hour. After that, it is about two more hours to Riga.

Riga is the largest city in the Baltics, and the historic center is a UNESCO site. It has one of the best collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, mostly on Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela, a short walk from the Old Town. The Central Market is in five former Zeppelin hangars, and it is the best place for a cheap lunch of smoked fish, rye bread and local cheese. Leave one evening for the Old Town squares and the Dome Cathedral.

On day six, take the day trip to Sigulda, about an hour east of Riga. Gauja National Park is a wooded river valley with sandstone cliffs, caves, and medieval castles on both sides of the river. Turaida Castle, built in red brick in 1214, has a tower you can climb for views over the forest. Rundāle Palace, a baroque palace south of Riga, is the alternative if you prefer art and architecture to walking.

The drive from Riga to Tallinn is about 310 kilometers and 4.5 hours along the coast road. Stop in Pärnu, Estonia's summer seaside town, for lunch and a walk along the long sandy beach. You reach Tallinn in the late afternoon.

Tallinn has the best-preserved medieval old town in northern Europe, with city walls and more than twenty towers still standing. It is also a very modern city: Estonia is known for its digital services, and Skype was built here. Spend day eight with a guide in the Old Town, from the Town Hall Square up to Toompea hill, where the Estonian parliament sits beside the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Walk down to Kalamaja, the wooden-house district with cafes and a street-food market in the old Telliskivi creative quarter.

On day nine, drive east to Lahemaa National Park, about an hour away. It is Estonia's oldest national park, with forest, bogs, rocky coast and the Baltic German manor houses at Palmse and Sagadi. A short boardwalk over the bog gives a good look at the landscape. On your last morning, you can fly home from Tallinn Airport, or take a fast ferry to Helsinki in about two hours.

Vilnius: in the Old Town, within walking distance of Cathedral Square. Riga: in the Old Town for convenience, or in the Art Nouveau district for quieter streets and good restaurants. Tallinn: in the lower Old Town, or just outside the walls near Telliskivi if you prefer a modern neighborhood. In all three cities the Old Towns are cobbled, so luggage is easier if the hotel has a driver drop-off nearby.

June to August is the main season: warm days, light until late in the evening, and outdoor tables everywhere. Around June 23–24, all three countries celebrate midsummer with bonfires and wreaths, which is a good week to be there if you book early. May and September are quieter, with milder weather and lower hotel prices. In December the Old Towns have Christmas markets and snow is likely, but days are short and Lahemaa and Gauja are harder to enjoy. Between November and March, expect temperatures below freezing.

If you have 12 days, our Grand Baltics tour adds Kaunas, a day in Lahemaa and Tartu, Estonia's university town. With 14 days or more, add the Curonian Spit in Lithuania or the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Muhu. If you only have 5 or 6 days, choose a single country: our 5-day Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia tours each cover one capital and its surroundings. You can also fly into Tallinn and out of Vilnius. The route is the same in reverse, and the choice mostly depends on which airport has better flights from your home city.

We build the route around your dates, with a private driver for the three transfers, local guides in each capital and hotels chosen for location. We also check the opening days for castles and museums before we fix the order of the days. One person on our team is your contact from the first email to the flight home.