Baltics: the Curonian Spit, the Coast and Tartu

1. Day 1: Arrive in Vilnius

   Vilnius Airport (VNO) to your hotel near the Old Town

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Vilnius
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Vilnius Airport (VNO), about 7 km south of the centre. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall at any time of day and takes you to your hotel, a short walk from the Old Town. If you land early, the streets around Pilies gatve and Cathedral Square are an easy first walk, and most museums stay open until about 6 pm. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the twelve days ahead: how the drives are paced, what to pack for the dunes of the Curonian Spit, and where the free afternoons fall. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Lithuanian dishes at a restaurant in the Old Town, with cold beetroot soup in summer, potato dumplings and local beer or kvass. Plan to land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met all the same and your guide catches you up at breakfast.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Vilnius Airport (VNO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in the Old Town

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Vilnius Old Town

   On foot through the Old Town, Užupis and across the Neris

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Vilnius
   Day 2 details

   We start at 9 am with a licensed local guide, before the day groups arrive, at the Gate of Dawn, the last surviving gate of the city wall, with its chapel and icon above the arch. From there we walk down Aušros Vartų and Pilies streets past Orthodox, Catholic and Baroque churches to the courtyards of Vilnius University, founded in 1579, and on to Cathedral Square and the white belfry. Vilnius Old Town has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1994, and its lanes are easy to read on foot. After a coffee we cross the little Vilnia river into Užupis, the self-declared artists' republic, with its constitution posted on a wall in many languages. Lunch is your choice. The afternoon is free: the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in the former KGB building, the Gediminas tower if the hill is open, or a walk over the Neris to the old wooden houses of Šnipiškės beneath the glass towers of the new business district.

   Included

   • Guided Old Town walk with a licensed local guide: the Gate of Dawn, Vilnius University's courtyards, Cathedral Square
   • Užupis with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights
   • Gediminas Castle tower, if the hill is open

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 5 km on foot, much of it on cobbles, with short climbs.

3. Day 3: Trakai Castle and on to Kaunas

   Vilnius to Trakai, then Kaunas

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kaunas
   Day 3 details

   We leave Vilnius at 9:15 for the short drive west to Trakai, the medieval seat of the Lithuanian grand dukes, and cross the wooden footbridge to the red-brick Island Castle on Lake Galvė as the museum opens at 10 am, ahead of the coaches. Raised around 1400, ruined, then rebuilt in the 20th century, it now holds the castle museum. Lunch is kibinai, the baked pastries of the Karaim, a Turkic-speaking community brought here from Crimea at the end of the 14th century, whose wooden houses still line the main street. An hour's drive brings us to Kaunas, Lithuania's capital between the wars. In the afternoon your guide walks you from the brick castle and Town Hall Square of the Old Town to Laisvės alėja and the 1920s and 1930s buildings of the New Town, listed by UNESCO in 2023 as Modernist Kaunas. The evening is free in a city that is livelier and less visited than Vilnius.

   Included

   • Trakai Island Castle entry
   • Kibinai lunch in Trakai
   • Guided walk in Kaunas: the castle, Town Hall Square, Laisvės alėja and the modernist New Town

   Optional experiences

   • Ninth Fort memorial and museum in Kaunas
   • The funicular up to the Church of Christ's Resurrection and its roof terrace

   Free time: Evening free in Kaunas

   Activity: About 1.5 hours of driving in two stretches. About 4 km on foot.

   

4. Day 4: Klaipėda and over to the Curonian Spit

   Kaunas to Klaipėda, then the ferry to the Curonian Spit, Juodkrantė and Nida

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nida
   Day 4 details

   We leave Kaunas at 9 am on the motorway west, about 2.25 hours across farmland to Klaipėda, Lithuania's only seaport, once the Prussian town of Memel. A short walk takes in Theatre Square and its statue of Annchen von Tharau, the timber-framed warehouses along the Danė River and the outline of the old castle, and lunch is a sit-down meal in the Old Town. Mid-afternoon we drive onto the vehicle ferry for the few minutes across the lagoon mouth to Smiltynė and the Curonian Spit, a 98 km ribbon of sand and pine forest between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, shared with Russia and listed by UNESCO in 2000. On the way south we stop at Juodkrantė for the Hill of Witches, a forest path lined with oak carvings of characters from Lithuanian folk tales. By about 5 pm we are in Nida, a fishing village of blue and brown wooden houses near the southern tip of the Lithuanian side, our home for two nights.

   Included

   • Guided walk in Klaipėda Old Town
   • Sit-down lunch in Klaipėda
   • Vehicle ferry to the Curonian Spit and the Neringa entry fee
   • The Hill of Witches at Juodkrantė

   Free time: Evening free in Nida

   Activity: About 3.25 hours of driving in three stretches: Kaunas to Klaipėda about 2.25 hours, then about 1 hour down the spit with the ferry and the Juodkrantė stop.

   

5. Day 5: The dunes of Nida

   Nida, the Parnidis Dune, the Grey Dunes and the lagoon shore

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nida
   Day 5 details

   This is why we sleep on the spit instead of visiting it on a day trip: at 8:30, before the buses arrive from Klaipėda, we walk up the Parnidis Dune, about 52 m high, to its stone sundial and the view south over the shifting sand toward the Russian border a few kilometres away, with the lagoon on one side and the open sea on the other. Back in the village we see the Ethnographic Fisherman's Homestead and the Thomas Mann summer house on the hill, where the writer spent three summers in the early 1930s, and have a lunch of smoked fish by the harbour. In the afternoon a short drive north brings us to the Nagliai reserve and the Grey Dunes, where boardwalks cross bare sand that has buried whole villages over the centuries. Late in the day you are free: the Baltic beach is a 30-minute walk through the pines, and the lagoon side catches the sunset.

   Included

   • Parnidis Dune and the sundial at 8:30 am
   • Ethnographic Fisherman's Homestead and the Thomas Mann summer house
   • Smoked-fish lunch in Nida
   • The Grey Dunes boardwalk at Nagliai

   Optional experiences

   • Bike hire for the forest cycle path along the spit
   • Neringa History Museum

   Easier option: Skip the Grey Dunes boardwalk and spend the afternoon by the lagoon or at the hotel.

   More active option: Hire a bike and ride part of the cycle path north through the pines toward Juodkrantė, about 30 km one way, with the vehicle bringing you back.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 6 km on foot, including soft sand and the wooden stairs up the Parnidis Dune.

   

6. Day 6: The Hill of Crosses and on to Riga

   Nida to the Smiltynė ferry, then the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai and Riga

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Riga
   Day 6 details

   This is the longest drive of the trip, about 4.75 hours and 345 km on the road, plus any wait for the ferry. The drive back up the spit and the crossing add about an hour before we reach the mainland, and the Hill of Crosses lies near the road to Riga via Šiauliai; we split the day into three stretches of two hours or less. We leave Nida at 8:30, drive back up the spit and take the ferry to Klaipėda, then cross northern Lithuania through farmland to the Hill of Crosses, 12 km north of Šiauliai. Tens of thousands of crosses, rosaries and carvings crowd a small hill and its paths; the Soviet authorities bulldozed it more than once, and people kept bringing crosses back. Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby before we cross into Latvia, with no border checks, and drive on through the plain of Zemgale. We reach Riga at about 5 pm. Your hotel is a short walk from the Old Town, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Ferry from the Curonian Spit to Klaipėda
   • The Hill of Crosses with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Šiauliai

   Easier option: Take a shorter stop at the Hill of Crosses, about 20 minutes on the main path, and rest in the vehicle between stretches.

   More active option: Walk the full loop of paths around the hill and on to the Franciscan friary behind it, about 2 km, before lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in Riga

   Activity: About 4.75 hours of driving in three stretches: Nida to the ferry about 1 hour, Klaipėda to the Hill of Crosses about 2 hours, the Hill of Crosses to Riga about 1.75 hours, with stops of about 1 hour at the Hill of Crosses and 1 hour for lunch. Waiting time for the ferry is extra.

7. Day 7: Riga Old Town and Art Nouveau

   On foot through Old Riga, the Central Market and the Art Nouveau district

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Riga
   Day 7 details

   We start at 9 am with a licensed local guide in Old Riga, on the UNESCO list since 1997, while the lanes are still quiet: the Dome Cathedral, the Three Brothers, the Swedish Gate, the rebuilt House of the Blackheads on Town Hall Square and St Peter's Church, whose tower lift gives the best view over the red roofs and the Daugava. Mid-morning we walk to the Central Market, housed in five hangars built for zeppelins, and taste smoked fish, rye bread and Latvian cheese before a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon we cross the boulevard ring to Alberta iela, a single street of Art Nouveau facades from the early 1900s, and the Riga Art Nouveau Centre, an apartment restored to how it looked when it was new. You are free from about 3:30. Walk back to the Old Town through the Esplanāde and the canal park, take the optional canal boat, or rest before an evening in the Old Town lanes.

   Included

   • Guided Old Riga walk with a licensed local guide
   • St Peter's Church tower
   • Riga Central Market with tastings
   • Sit-down lunch
   • Alberta iela and the Riga Art Nouveau Centre

   Optional experiences

   • Riga canal boat
   • Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

   Free time: From about 3:30 pm

   Activity: About 6 km on foot, mostly flat, some cobbles.

8. Day 8: Sigulda, Turaida and Cēsis

   Riga to Sigulda and Turaida in the Gauja valley, then Cēsis

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cēsis
   Day 8 details

   An easy day in the Gauja National Park, Latvia's oldest, where the river has cut a valley of sandstone cliffs and pine forest. We leave Riga at 9 am and are in Sigulda an hour later. At the Turaida Museum Reserve we climb the brick tower of the 13th-century castle for the view down the valley, and walk the Folk Song Hill sculpture garden and the little wooden church. Below the castle is Gutmanis Cave, the largest grotto in the Baltic states, its walls carved with names going back centuries. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Sigulda. In the afternoon we drive 40 minutes on to Cēsis, one of the oldest towns in Latvia, where the ruins of the castle of the Livonian Order stand beside a park and a lake. You climb the west tower with a candle lantern and walk the cobbled old town, then the evening is free in a small, quiet place after the cities.

   Included

   • Turaida Museum Reserve: the castle, the Folk Song Hill and the wooden church
   • Gutmanis Cave
   • Sit-down lunch in Sigulda
   • Cēsis Medieval Castle with a lantern climb, and the old town

   Optional experiences

   • Bobsleigh track in Sigulda (summer wheeled bob)
   • Canoeing on the Gauja

   More active option: A walk of about 5 km along the Gauja valley trails between Turaida and Sigulda, rejoining the group for lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in Cēsis

   Activity: About 1.75 hours of driving in two stretches. About 4 km on foot, with tower stairs at Turaida and Cēsis.

   

9. Day 9: Into Estonia: Tartu

   Cēsis to Valmiera and Valga, then Tartu

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Tartu
   Day 9 details

   We leave Cēsis at 9 am and drive north through Valmiera to Valga and Valka, a single town split by the Latvian and Estonian border, then on through the forests of southern Estonia to Tartu, about 2.5 hours on the road with a coffee stop. Tartu is Estonia's second city and its university town: the university was founded by the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf in 1632, and students still set the pace of the place. After a sit-down lunch your guide walks you from the sloping Town Hall Square and its fountain of kissing students up Toome Hill to the brick ruins of the cathedral, the old observatory and the bridges named for angels and devils. Tartu was a European Capital of Culture in 2024. The late afternoon and evening are free; the Estonian National Museum, on a former Soviet airfield, is a short taxi ride, though it usually closes on Mondays. Like Cēsis, Tartu is a one-night stop: both are small enough to see in an afternoon, and a second night would cost one in Riga or Tallinn.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Tartu
   • Guided walk in Tartu: Town Hall Square, Toome Hill, the cathedral ruins

   Optional experiences

   • Estonian National Museum
   • University of Tartu Museum in the cathedral

   Easier option: Stay at the hotel or in a cafe on the square after lunch instead of the Toome Hill walk.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2.5 hours of driving with a coffee stop. About 4 km on foot, with a climb up Toome Hill.

   

10. Day 10: Lahemaa National Park to Tallinn

    Tartu to Palmse Manor and Altja in Lahemaa National Park, the Viru Bog, then Tallinn

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Tallinn
    Day 10 details

    We leave Tartu at 8:30 and drive north past Rakvere, about 2.25 hours, to Lahemaa, Estonia's first national park, a coast of forest, bog, fishing villages and glacial boulders on the Gulf of Finland. At Palmse we walk through the restored manor house, its park and orangery, the home of a Baltic German family for two centuries. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the park, and then we visit Altja, a fishing village of wooden net sheds and a swing on the shore, and stop at Käsmu, the captains' village, where erratic boulders lie along the beach. On the way to Tallinn we walk the Viru Bog boardwalk, about 3.5 km over moss and black pools to a viewing tower, in the low afternoon light. It is about an hour from the bog to Tallinn, and we arrive at about 6 pm. Your hotel is in or by the Old Town, and the evening is free.

    Included

    • Palmse Manor house and park
    • Sit-down lunch in Lahemaa
    • Altja fishing village and Käsmu
    • Viru Bog boardwalk

    Easier option: Walk the first part of the Viru Bog boardwalk to the first viewing point and back, or stay with the vehicle.

    More active option: Walk the whole Viru Bog trail and climb the viewing tower.

    Free time: Evening free in Tallinn

    Activity: About 3.75 hours of driving in three stretches: Tartu to Palmse about 2.25 hours, short hops within the park, and about 1 hour from the bog to Tallinn. About 6 km on foot.

11. Day 11: Tallinn Old Town

    On foot through Toompea and the Lower Town

    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Tallinn
    Day 11 details

    We start at 9 am with a licensed local guide, before the cruise passengers reach Toompea on summer mornings. Tallinn's Old Town has been on the UNESCO list since 1997 and is one of the most complete medieval town centres in northern Europe. On Toompea, the upper town, we see the pink Parliament building in the castle, the onion domes of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Dome Church, and look out over the red roofs and the harbour from the Kohtuotsa and Patkuli viewing platforms. Then we walk down the Short Leg street to the Lower Town: the Gothic Town Hall on its square, the town wall and its towers, St Catherine's Passage and the old merchant houses. Lunch is your choice and the afternoon is free: the Kadriorg Palace and park, the Telliskivi creative quarter, or the Seaplane Harbour museum. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together in the Old Town.

    Included

    • Guided Old Town walk with a licensed local guide: Toompea, the viewing platforms, the Town Hall Square
    • Farewell dinner

    Optional experiences

    • Kadriorg Palace
    • Estonian Maritime Museum at the Seaplane Harbour
    • St Olaf's Church tower

    Free time: Afternoon free

    Activity: About 5 km on foot, on cobbles and stairs between the upper and lower towns.

    

12. Day 12: Tallinn and home

    Tallinn to Tallinn Airport (TLL)

    • Drive about 15 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 12 details

    The trip ends after breakfast. Tallinn Airport (TLL) is only about 4 km from the Old Town, so a morning in the city works even with an early-afternoon flight. Use it for the last things you missed: the Kiek in de Kok tower and the bastion tunnels under Toompea, a walk along the walls, coffee in Town Hall Square while the cafes set out their tables, or the Telliskivi flea market on a Saturday. Hotel checkout is usually at noon, and the hotel keeps your luggage if your flight is later. Book a flight leaving after about 11 am; our driver collects you about two hours before departure, and your guide checks the time with you the evening before. If you are going on to Helsinki, the fast ferries across the Gulf of Finland take about two hours from the Old City Harbour, a short walk from the Old Town, and we can book an extra night or a ferry ticket for you.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Tallinn Airport (TLL), about two hours before your flight

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book flights after about 11 am; the airport is about 15 minutes from the Old Town.

Wildlife and weather: From May to September days run from about 15 to 23 degrees, with sunset after 10 pm around Midsummer. July and August are the warmest and busiest months on the Curonian Spit; May, June and September are quieter. The sea is cool for swimming except in high summer. On the spit, look for grey herons and cormorants at Juodkrantė and elk in the forest at dawn.

• Vilnius2 nights
• Kaunas1 night
• Nida2 nights
• Riga2 nights
• Cēsis1 night
• Tartu1 night
• Tallinn2 nights