Discover the Baltics

Name: Discover the Baltics
Brand: Exodus
SKU: AVV
Availability: LimitedAvailability
Rating: 4.6 (97 reviews)

97 reviews

Overview

Experience the very best of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, from cultural hotspots to scenic national parks

Centuries-old castles, Cold War history, fascinating cities and wild landscapes. The Baltics are packed with intrigue and beauty – ideal for a cultural adventure. On this small-group trip, we explore the very best spots in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, visiting all three capitals, historic old towns and the once-secret Soviet missile base in Plokstine forest. We enjoy the natural beauty too, spending plenty of time in the scenic national parks and coastal hotspots. It’s the perfect balance of cultural and natural wonders and a fascinating introduction to the Baltics.

Key Information

Travel Style Classic: The quintessential Exodus adventure, pairing iconic sights and cultural discovery with comfortable stays: Classic
Activity: Culture
Activity Level: Easy
See our Activity Level Guidelines to check if this holiday is right for you.
Trip Code: AVV
Ways to Travel: Classic, Guided Group
Countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Carbon Footprint: 19.3kg CO2e per person per day

What's Included

All accommodation: 11 Comfort nights (hotels)
All breakfasts and one dinner
Immersive itinerary with all transport (ferry and bus) and listed activities
Expert tour leader to enhance your adventure
Group arrival and departure transfers available

Positive Impact

We donate to our Foundation and rewild 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller. Find out more about how our adventures support nature and people to thrive.

Don't Forget To

Request a single room if required, purchase travel insurance and arrange any visas and vaccinations. On this trip local taxes (approximately €14) are not included.

Highlights

Experience the best of the Baltics: ancient castles, Cold War history and wild landscapes

Unwrap the history and culture of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the help of our expert tour leader

Explore the pine forests, waterfalls and sandy beaches of Lahemaa National Park

Visit the Plokstine Cold War Museum in a once-secret Soviet Union missile base

Discover the Hill of Crosses, a unique and mysterious pilgrimage site

Marvel at the magical fairytale island castle of Trakai

Itinerary

First Destination: Tallinn
Next Destination: Vilnius

Accommodation:Hotel Metropol or Tallinn Express (or similar)
Meals included:Dinner

Accommodation:Hotel Metropol or Tallinn Express (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Hotel Tartu (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Best Western Santaka Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Comfort Hotel LT - Rock'n'Roll Vilnius (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Comfort Hotel LT - Rock'n'Roll Vilnius (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

First Destination: Tallinn
Next Destination: Vilnius

Begin your adventure in the medieval city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where centuries-old architecture meets a modern tech scene and Baltic history.

Around 6pm, say tere (hello) to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead.

Your tour leader then ensures a big Estonian welcome by arranging a group dinner together.

Want to explore Tallinn further? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

Accommodation:Hotel Metropol or Tallinn Express (or similar)
Meals included:Dinner

Today we explore vibrant Tallinn, the largest city in Estonia. The Old Town, framed by ancient city walls, is full of architectural wonders. In the morning, we have a guided tour of the city taking in some of the main attractions, including the Toompea palace and castle, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Dome Church and St Nicholas church. We then have a free afternoon to explore the picturesque Old Town, which happily lacks an invasion of modern architecture. Dive into the past as you explore cobblestone alleys with spluttering torches and secret stairways; the old town holds new surprises around every corner, even for residents. We overnight in Tallinn old town.

Accommodation:Hotel Metropol or Tallinn Express (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

In the morning, we leave Tallinn and journey to Tartu, stopping at Lahemaa, the largest national park in Estonia. It’s a popular tourist destination with sandy beaches, waterfalls and mossy pine forests; it also has a variety of cultural sites, including Palmse Manor and the 400-year-old fisherman’s village of Altja. After lunch, we transfer to Tartu for a guided tour. Tartu, the capital of southern Estonia, is the second-largest town in the country, with lots of local culture, including festivals, concerts and theatre exhibitions. We spend the night in a hotel in the centre of Tartu.

Accommodation:Hotel Tartu (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Historic Cesis, on the Gauja River valley, is now a celebrated art-and-culture hub. However, it’s also home to one of the finest old towns in Latvia, where red-roofed buildings with restored facades line cobbled streets. The star attraction here is undoubtedly the Medieval castle, a partly preserved fortification knocked down and rebuilt in various forms. There will be option to visit the museum in the morning.

We then transfer to Gauja National Park, a region known as Latvian Switzerland. After, we transfer to Riga.

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

This morning, the magnificent old town of Riga awaits. We will have a guided city tour taking in winding alleys, elegant boulevards and 800 renovated art nouveau buildings. We then have a free afternoon to soak up the romantic atmosphere of the city and enjoy a relaxing lunch before exploring some of the great shops.

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

In the morning, we transfer by train to Jurmala, the largest seaside and spa resort in the Baltic states and known for its unique natural resources, including healing mineral waters, pine forests and dunes. The town is also home to unique wooden art nouveau architecture. After exploring the town, we will transfer back to Riga for the night.

Accommodation:Islande Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Firstly, we visit the 18th-century Rundale Palace, which was designed for the Duke of Courland by Italian architect Rastrelli, who also designed the winter palace in St Petersburg. Today, the palace is the most magnificent piece of architecture in the Baltic states, surrounded by impressive gardens.
We then cross the border to Lithuania and have time to explore the Hill of Crosses before transferring to Klaipeda Port for a short tour around the small old town taking in reconstructed merchant houses and the remains of Klaipeda Castle.

Accommodation:Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

We start the day with a short ferry ride across the lagoon to the Curonian Spit, a Unesco World Heritage site between the Curonian Lagoon and Baltic Sea. Here, we have the day to explore the largest drifting dunes in Europe. We will also visit the Hill of Witches and the Lithuanian sea resort of Nida to climb the Great Dune for the views. We transfer back to Klaipeda where we spend the night.

Accommodation:Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

We transfer to the Plokstine forest and visit the Cold War Museum, which is housed in a once-secret Soviet Union missile base. We can view the internal control facility, see decommissioned missiles, and learn more about the five-decade-long period. We then travel to the town of Kaunas, and take a walking tour of the beautiful old town, which includes the 13th-century castle, old town hall, Cathedral Basilica and Church of St Francis Xavier. We stay overnight in Kaunas.

Accommodation:Best Western Santaka Hotel (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

We stop in Trakai, the former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to tour the medieval castle on an island in Lake Galvė. Built in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, it was a residence of Lithuania’s grand dukes.

We also meet a local Karaim woman for a kibinai (savoury pastries) workshop (around 1hr 30min-2hr). Sharing her family recipe and stories of Karaim food traditions, she guides us as we each make one pastry, with our tour leader translating throughout. Our hosts provide a second pastry each, before we sit down to enjoy both with hot broth.

We then transfer to Vilnius, where we stay the night.

Accommodation:Comfort Hotel LT - Rock'n'Roll Vilnius (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

We have the whole day to explore Vilnius. There is a guided city tour in the morning and then plenty of time to explore at your own pace. The city was developed around its Town Hall and there is a great deal of diverse architecture to see. There are many narrow streets that lead to intimate courtyards, plus the larger landmarks of the castle complex, cathedral square and Royal Palace. There are also plenty of museums to dip into. We overnight in Vilnius.

Accommodation:Comfort Hotel LT - Rock'n'Roll Vilnius (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

The tour ends after breakfast in Vilnius. Begin your return trip home or, if you’d like a bit more time to explore this fascinating city, speak to your sales representative about extending your stay.

Meals included:Breakfast

Dates & Prices

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Accommodation

A selection of three-star hotels

On this trip, we stay in three-star hotels, ideally located for access to the key sites. Below are some of the properties we typically use.

Tartu: Hotel Tartu (night 3)

Discover the Baltics

In the city centre, Hotel Tartu is within walking distance of the old town and the Vanemuine Theatre (the oldest theatre in Estonia). It also has a 70-seat cafe on the ground floor plus a sauna centre (additional cost) with Finnish and steam saunas. If you plan on using the sauna centre, you need to bring flip flops (or purchase them from the hotel for €3).

Riga: Islande Hotel (nights 4-6)

Discover the Baltics

Near the Daugava River, the Islande has a magnificent panoramic view of Riga Old Town. It’s located in a green area of Ķīpsala island, a 12-minute walk from the Old City, and offers a wide range of amenities, including a bowling alley, sauna, gym, two restaurants and a summer terrace.

Klaipeda: Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel (nights 7-8)

Discover the Baltics

In the port city of Klaipeda, we stay at either the Old Mill Hotel or Memel Hotel(above), which are both ideally located for our ferry ride to the UNESCO-listed Curonian Spit. The former was once the biggest rice mill in Lithuania, before being converted into a 32-room hotel in 2008. The latter takes over a property built in 1876, and offers 50 comfortable rooms.

Kaunas: Best Western Santaka Hotel (night 9)

Discover the Baltics

Our night in Kaunas is spent in the 92-room Santaka Hotel. It’s located between the city centre and old town and, if you have time, there’s a sauna to enjoy.

Vilnius: Comfort Hotel LT – Rock’n’Roll Vilnius (nights 10-11)

Discover the Baltics

With an industrial style and music theme, our Vilnius hotel has plenty of personality. The 80 rooms are all air conditioned with underfloor heating in the bathroom, plus the Mellow restaurant serves a menu packed with local produce. Other nice additions are a free-to-use gym and a lobby shop selling beers, snacks, sandwiches and more.

Worth knowing

Private rooms: Like most tour operators, we room solo passengers together. If you’d prefer to have a private room, it’s normally possible to do this for a supplement. If you do opt for the single supplement, please note that in some hotels, this may mean having a room with a single bed. If you would like a double room for sole use, this can be requested at the time of booking for an additional supplement. Speak to your sales representative for more information.
Air conditioning: Air conditioning is uncommon in hotels across the Baltics, where summers have traditionally been short and mild, with periods of hot weather typically lasting only a few days or weeks.

Essential Information

Trip Expert

Lukas Misiunas

Expert Leader: Lithuania

Introducing Lukas Lukas has been expertly guiding trips around the Baltic states since 2014, having gained his guiding licence from the Travel Department in Lithuania.

This trip is graded Activity Level 1 (Easy). For more information on our trip gradings please visit our Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.

It has quite a busy itinerary based around sightseeing in the Baltic states. There is a fair amount of walking around towns, cities and parks, but all on good paths, mainly wooden boarded and sometimes cobbled streets in the old towns. The walks are suitable for anyone with a reasonable level of fitness; you will just need a good pair of sports shoes to be comfortable. To visit all the highlights of the three countries, there are some long bus journeys.

Renovations: Trakai Castle is currently undergoing renovation work, which may mean you see some scaffolding on the outside of the building.

Key information

Recommended arrival time: You can arrive at any time today. There will be a welcome briefing around 6pm this evening in the start hotel.
Airport: Tallinn Airport (TLL)

Getting to the start hotel

The start hotel is approximately a 25-minute drive from the airport. Your options for this journey are:

Take an Exodus transfer

Exodus provides one group arrival transfer from the airport, which is timed to coincide with the arrival of a chosen flight. You may join this transfer at no extra cost, provided you can be at the airport before the transfer leaves. Speak to your sales representative for the group arrival transfer times or to arrange a private transfer.

Make your own way

You can book a private transfer with your sales representative at an approximate cost of €71–€104, payable before departure. Prices vary by day or night due to a night‑time supplement. Please ensure you provide us with all relevant information at least two weeks before departure. If you would like further information on joining this trip, please speak to your sales representative.

Catching your return flight

There’s a group departure transfer to Vilnius Airport (VNO), which is timed to coincide with the arrival of a chosen flight. Please speak to your sales representative if you wish to join. If the group departure transfer does not suit your flight time, speak to your sales representative to arrange an alternative transfer.

Consider taking the train

Reach this trip by train from the UK or across Europe and lower your carbon footprint. Our partner, Byway, can take care of the planning and booking.

Estonia

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Estonia. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through. Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/estonia
Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/estonia
United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/estonia/entry-requirements
USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Estonia.html

Latvia

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Latvia. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through. Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

Lithuania

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Lithuania. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.
Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/lithuania
Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/lithuania
United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/lithuania/entry-requirements
USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Lithuania.html

There will be buffet breakfasts in the hotels offering plenty of choice including cold meats, cheese, eggs, bread, jams, juice and coffee.

Lunches will be a mixture of picnics bought from local shops and cafe stops.

Dinners will be taken in the hotel restaurants or in local restaurants and will be hearty meals. Cuisine in this area is often centred around pork, veal, fish, potatoes, sauerkraut, and soups such as borsch (beetroot soup – in Lithuania this is also served cold). Dumplings are also popular and in Trakai, large and delicious baked dumplings called kibinai are traditionally served.

The climate is largely influenced by the Baltic Sea. The summers see temperatures from 20C to 30C (68F to 86F). In the evenings, the temperatures will not drop too much. There is little rain in the summer but, of course, it is always a possibility, so come prepared. The days will be long, with 19 hours of daylight. In spring and autumn, there is the possibility of light rain and temperatures can be cool. Estonia is the furthest north we travel and therefore the coldest, although the temperature range described applies. Lithuania is the furthest south, which makes it the warmest country of the three. Estonia is often described as the more Scandinavian country than the other two.

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.

Reviews

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Linda Coyle

Excellent! We've nominated him for your Best Leader Awards. His work ethic, attention to detail, knowledge and overall sociability was second to none.

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Discover the Baltics

Overview

Experience the very best of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, from cultural hotspots to scenic national parks

Key Information

What's Included

Positive Impact

Don't Forget To

Highlights

Itinerary

Dates & Prices

Need flights or extra nights? Book through us and fly with confidence

Book Your Flights With Us

Accommodation

A selection of three-star hotels

Essential Information

Trip Expert

Key information

Getting to the start hotel

Catching your return flight

Consider taking the train

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Reviews

Great memories

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Discover the Baltics

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

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