home crucian carp What you need to know when traveling in the Baltics. Independent trip to Riga - five simple steps

What you need to know when traveling in the Baltics. Independent trip to Riga - five simple steps

It so happens that PRTBRT often broadcasts from the Baltic countries - one of its editorial bases is located in Latvia. We often look at how our friends and acquaintances travel around Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and clutch our heads. That's why we decided to write this column about how to truly experience these small countries where you really need to look for color.

Do not take the route Tallinn - Riga - Vilnius at once

For several days you just walk around the Old Towns of the three capitals, drink, eat, stare and spend money, and then say: yes, I was in this Baltics, everything is the same. Although all three cities are unique and very different, this can only be understood by visiting each one separately.

During a trip to three capitals you will remember some passages, but everything will stick together into one lump of cathedrals, towers, food and booze. And at the same time, each city has its own face and its own unusual places, which you most likely won't see. Simply because the “three (five, seven) days - three cities” format does not imply anything other than an endless race and walks in the Old Town together with British lovers of cheap flights to stag parties and getting drunk, old people and tourists from ferries.

Advice: Don't be fooled by the size of the countries - each is best viewed individually. Therefore, do not try to travel around everything during the allotted vacation time.

Old city Tallinn

But if you do go, don’t spend all your time in the Old Town

As already mentioned, each city has its own face and its own places of power: in Tallinn this is the Telliskivi district, which is located outside the Old Town. In Riga, for example, best bars have never been within the Old Town: just go for a walk along Krisjan Barona Street and turn into small streets. That's where the most will be interesting places and establishments such as the editorial staff's favorite bar - Taka or the city's most current dance floor - Piens.

In the Old Town there is average entertainment, typical bars and restaurants, of which there are many in any city in Eastern and Northern Europe from Krakow to Stockholm. This is not why you come to see the country.

Advice: If you know that there is no life in the Old Town, then there is no need to rent housing there either. Look for apartments on Airbnb or hotels near places of power: you will save both time and money.

Telliskivi district in Tallinn

Another cool place outside of the old town of Riga – Kaņepes Kultūras centrs

Don't linger in cities

You won't get to see the country in cities, so be sure to plan to visit alternative or out-of-town attractions.

From Tallinn you can easily go to see the quarry in Rumma (there is still room to climb through, don’t be scared by the fence), and then go to the island of Saaremaa, where there are almost more attractions than in all of Estonia.

From Riga you should definitely go to Irbene - a ghost town with a huge radar, spend the night on Cape Kolka, see the seaside Ventspils and Liepaja. Who even knows about the existence of the Mark Rothko art center in Daugavpils? The famous artist was born in this city.

From Vilnius you should definitely go to the Hill of Crosses and visit landscape park Europos Parkas is an analogue of the Russian Nikola-Lenivets, explore Klaipeda and cross the border with Russia on the Curonian Spit.

All three countries have many opportunities for diverse tourism: alternative attractions, eco-farms and national parks - plan your route so that you can spend one or two days in the capitals, get to know the main places and cultural life, and then go deeper!

Countries are replete with craft, family-run productions of everything from cheese to amber. Every year a fair is held in Latvia, where you can buy not just handmade things, but modern and beautiful accessories and clothes. It’s nice to use such things not because they are crafted, but simply because they are convenient and beautiful.

Mountain of Crosses

Quarry in Rummu

But if you are still delayed, be sure to travel out of town at least one day

If it’s already late and you stay in each of the capitals for three days, then don’t be sad: there are many interesting places around each of the cities:

near Vilnius - the beautiful Trakai Castle;

from Riga you should definitely go to Jurmala or national park"Kemeri";

From Tallinn, go to Laachema National Park.

By the way, the locations from the previous paragraph also apply to this: this is the Baltics, and you can go back and forth to any place within one country! The main thing is not to be lazy and plan. It’s entirely possible to rent a car for one or two days, or find a driver using BlaBlaCar, use Lux Express buses, or maybe even stop hitchhiking. In the summer, Estonia is filled with friendly Finns, while Latvia and Lithuania are filled with Poles and Germans (and less wary tourists in Russian cars).

Kemeri National Park

Spend more time searching

Not all good hotels, campsites and guesthouses are available on the usual booking sites. For example, the editor’s favorite campsite Saulesmājas with barrel houses on Cape Kolka (another chic Latvian location - a meeting place of waves Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga) appeared on booking.com only in May of this year!

Or another great option - glamping Klaukas in the Sigulda area and national park Gauja. And this is just what is on the surface - there are dozens of such places, but you will have to prepare well and search.

Camping Saulesmājas

Don’t forget that these are already different countries

If in the minds of the older generation this is still a homogeneous Baltic region, then for the modern traveler striking differences are striking: Estonia and especially Tallinn are full-fledged Northern Europe, Lithuania gravitates towards Poland, and Latvia is still at an undefined crossroads, but with European features. At the same time, each of these countries has preserved unique original places and cultural features. Understanding this simple fact will help you take a different look at these neighboring countries and choose the one that is closer in spirit for a full-fledged trip!

Check tickets to Tallinn, or maybe Riga or Vilnius

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We had been planning a trip to Latvia for a very long time. And then somehow all the cards fell in line. I wanted a change of scenery, but it wasn’t far to go and there was the sea.

I'll start with the pleasant thing - a visa. I heard that Latvians are harmful in this regard, and you shouldn’t really count on a long-term visa. But here the brothers did not let us down: they opened a six-month “cartoon” to all members of our journey. I won’t write about the whole process, documents, etc. I’ll just say that the Pony express delivery service surprised me. This service is provided free of charge at the visa center and passports are delivered directly to your home.

We went on the trip by car. It turned out to be more budget-friendly and our hands, that is, our legs, were freed on the spot. The entire journey took 13 hours, including the border. There were no problems at border control. Everything is fast and clear. But the main thing here is to calculate the time and not get caught in the shift changes of the border guards. Usually this is from 8 to 9 and from 20 to 21.

Riga welcomed us with beautiful weather. Despite the fact that it was August, in the Baltics we were lucky to find +30 degrees. I can confidently add Latvia to the list of cities where I want to return. Therefore, I will describe point by point how and what and answer the main questions.

What to see?

Of course, the most important asset and charm of Riga is the old city. You can safely park your car on the outskirts and go sightseeing on foot.

The Dome Cathedral - main cathedral countries and a must visit place. Enough ancient building. The first stone was solemnly laid in 1211. Since then, it has been rebuilt many times, but it has not lost its grandeur.

Unfortunately, when we were there, the spire and tower were completely in the scaffolding, so especially beautiful photos No. But we did go to the historical museum. The ticket cost 3 euros.

The main asset of any Catholic cathedral is the organ. We were unlucky and it was restored, but now not only services, but also concerts are regularly held in the Dome Cathedral. The poster can be viewed on the official website. If you have the opportunity to hear the music of this particular organ, you should not miss it. It’s not for nothing that it was recognized as wonderful-sounding in the world.

The interior decoration is not particularly luxurious, but how calm it is...

Stained glass windows are an integral part of all Catholic cathedrals.

At an altitude of 72 m there is an observation deck where an elevator will take you. From a bird's eye view there is an excellent view of the city on the banks of the Dvina. Observation deck open every day except Monday.

Main Dome Square. She seemed a little typical to me. Very similar to squares where they prefer the Gothic style, as in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The same neat gingerbread houses.

Cat house. I used to think that Egypt is a country of cats, but it turns out to be Latvia. They are everywhere here and all black! Superstitious people would go crazy. But as a desperate cat lover, I wanted to see this particular house.

The story goes: the house belonged to Mr. Blumer, who really dreamed of joining the guild, which was located opposite his house, but he was not accepted at all. As a sign of protest, he installed black cats on the roof and turned their butts straight towards the guild. As a result, Comrade Blumer was nevertheless accepted into the coveted state, and the cats were turned in the opposite direction. But since then they have been symbols of Riga.

Narrow streets of Riga. Back in the days of the USSR, if you needed to film a movie “abroad,” you went to Riga, because even then it resembled Europe as much as possible. Such film masterpieces as Sherlock Holmes and 17 Moments of Spring were filmed here.

Monument to the Bremen Town Musicians.

The monument was cast by Bremen sculptor Christa Baumgartel. The moment is depicted when the musicians look into the window of the robbers, and judging by their worn noses, everyone believes in the magical power of these guys. But they look creepy.

Within walking distance from Old Riga, or as it is affectionately called local residents- old lady, there are also several attractions.

Powder Tower.

Lime watch. Latvia has Laima not only in Vaikule, but also in watches and even candies. By the way, Laima is translated into Russian as “happiness.” A constant meeting place for all citizens. Located opposite the Freedom Monument.

Riga National Opera. Quite a significant place in the city.

This is a fast food cafe. The specialty of this establishment is its spicy dishes. Every day the menu changes and opposite each dish there are hot chili peppers, which determine the severity of the sensation. Maximum 10. On the day we were there, the hottest was with 3 peppers. I’ll say right away that a dish with 2 peppers will make you cry, but with 3 you’ll breathe fire. It’s scary to imagine the extreme level with 10 points.

The prices are very reasonable. You can take the whole dish or half a portion. This establishment is closed on weekends! And on weekdays it is open from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Address: Gertrudes iela, 6

2nd place. Restaurant Lido. Quite a famous restaurant with unusually beautiful decorations! I advise you to first walk around the territory and take a couple of pictures, and then go inside. On the 1st floor there is a buffet restaurant. Take a tray and fill it with whatever your heart desires. Let me tell you right away, everything is delicious! Especially desserts. There is a bar on the -1st floor. They also have their own mini-brewery there, where they brew beer and immediately serve it to guests. And on the 2nd floor there is a restaurant and a banquet hall. There's already a dinner menu there. The choice is yours. But the interior is incredible! I can’t even imagine how beautiful it is here at Christmas.

– two countries and five cities.

Day 1. Moscow – Riga – Jurmala

I decided to start my journey from, where I arrived by train (5 thousand rubles). I love traveling with this particular type of transport, I like to look out the window and watch cities, forests and fields flashing by one after another. I got into the compartment late in the evening, and the next morning I found myself in one of the most beautiful cities Baltic states.

I lived in a hostel for two nights in Riga Seaqulls Garret Hostel(60 EUR for two for two nights). I’ll say about the hostel that it was not the best choice - the beds creaked, there was shouting outside the door, and at night there was terrible snoring. Then I still had little experience + greed is my second nature. Now I'm trying to fight this quality for the sake of comfort.

In general, you won’t be able to relax in a hostel, unless, of course, you first stock up on earplugs. But the main thing is cheap and clean bed.

Having left my things, I decided to postpone the exploration of the city until tomorrow, and on the first day of my trip to go to the famous resort city where “ New wave", "Jurmalina" and other festivals. It's terribly interesting! We all think that Jurmala is a whole city, but no. This is one collective name for the entire coast, where such settlements as Dubulti, Bulduri, Lielupi and, God forgive me, Stirnurags are located. But I went to Majori.

How did I get to Jurmala? Jurmala is located just 20 kilometers from Riga. The easiest way is by train, which leaves every 15-20 minutes from central station towards Sloka or Tukums.

I spent the rest of the evening in Riga, in the restaurant with cows “1221”, which is located on “Blumenstraße” - Flower Street.

Day 2. Riga

Riga is a real medieval Europe, it is old City on the cold Baltic coast. She is like a rich merchant's wife who guards her treasures. The city seems to have frozen and does not want to change anything. This trip was like traveling back in time for me.

All day I walked along the narrow streets of the city, ate in best restaurants, traveled around sightseeing tours and followed the “must visit” plan that I wrote about.

Day 3. Trakai – Kaunas – Vilnius

Early in the morning I left Riga for a new country for me - Lithuania. I got there on a luxury bus, one might say a five-star bus with all the amenities. I was the only one who had a whole chair with lunch on it. Before my eyes hung a TV filled with films and music for every color and taste. And for all this I had to pay only about 1,200 rubles.

It’s only a three-hour drive to Lithuania, but this move was like a whole journey for me. Green fields, grazing cows and Lithuanian-Latvian villages flashed through the window. And it was so good! Look for bus tickets from Riga to Vilnius.

Upon arrival, I immediately checked into the hostel Jimmy Jumps House(30 EUR). A cozy, inexpensive youth hostel where you can make yourself a delicious breakfast with waffles in the morning.

Trakai is another reason to come to Lithuania for the weekend. This is a great idea for a trip, let's say, for the May holidays. When people talk about the Baltic country, the first thing that comes to mind is Trakai, a place that should be included in the “must see” list.

Trakai harmoniously combines an orange-colored castle; mirror surface of water; boats painted in the Lithuanian flag with fishermen sitting in them; whimsical courtyards with ladybugs, hand-painted glass bottles. This is all complemented by sunny weather, spring mood and red tulips that grow everywhere here.

This is a wonderful place, harmoniously combining a castle, mirror-like surface of water, boats painted with the Lithuanian flag and quaint courtyards with ladybugs, glass bottles, hand-painted with acrylic. This is all complemented by sunny weather, spring mood and red tulips that grow everywhere here.

Not far from Vilnius there is a wonderful town of Kaunas, not yet trampled and untouched by crowds of tourists, which is definitely worth a look if you are in Lithuania.

Returning to Vilnius, happy as an elephant, I quickly fell asleep. The next day promised to be fine and rich in pleasant impressions from walking around Vilnius.

Day 4. Vilnius

After exploring the city, it turned out that this is an amazing place to relax on May holidays. You’re even surprised how so many interesting things fit in such a very small town.

We went to the Prie Katedros brewery, where we tried local beer, climbed Castle Hill, walked around the Old Town, and looked at all the painted houses in Užupis.

We took the Vilnius-Moscow train back home (we paid 7 thousand per person for a compartment).

This Baltic route turned out to be complete and eventful; we tasted a lot and saw even more. For four days on the road, 38 thousand were spent for two, including travel, accommodation, food and a couple of souvenirs.

It doesn’t matter whether you are an experienced traveler or this is your first time in Europe, you are quite capable of organizing a trip to Riga on your own. Without dwelling on the advantages of the city, which we have written about more than once, we will present five stages of planning a trip on your own.

Planning time for a trip to Riga

Riga is a very popular city among tourists; more than a million guests visit it every year, and the mayor’s office plans to increase this figure to 1.5 million tourists per year. And this is with a population of 700 thousand inhabitants, that is, there are 1.5 tourists per Riga resident.

But still, we hasten to reassure you, even during the peak periods, tourists disperse throughout Riga and Jurmala in such a way that for Muscovites the city may seem deserted.

The best period to visit Riga is from May to August, as well as during Christmas and New Year holidays. If you are planning a trip at this time, make sure to reserve your hotel and transport tickets 2-3 months in advance.

If you prefer a calm atmosphere, then we recommend coming in the second half of April, or from September to mid-October.

The tourist flow is declining, but the weather often gives warm sunny days. Plus, hotels at this time reduce their prices for accommodation, so you can save up to 30-50% of the summer room rate. Below we will share the secret of how to book a hotel in Riga at the most profit.

Applying for an entry visa to Latvia

Latvia is part of the Schengen zone, which means that if you have a Schengen visa in your passport, then you can skip this point - the road to Riga is open to you.

If you don’t have a visa, you will have to apply for one.

We described this process in sufficient detail on our website in the ““ section, here you can read about necessary documents, the procedure for filling out the questionnaire and.

Book a hotel in Riga

Yes, let's start with the hotel.

There are several reasons for this - you can get to Riga by various means of transport, the number of flights per day alone reaches five (Aeroflot, Transaero, Utair and Airbaltic). But there is still a train, a bus, Personal car, finally. There are also a lot of hotels in Riga (about 200), however, in high season occupancy reaches 100%. Finally, you can refuse a hotel reservation, but plane tickets are problematic.

With booking, everything is very simple; without further ado, you just need to go to one of the on-line hotel booking services.

The risk at this stage is minimal, because no one prohibits it later.

We are planning how we will get to Riga

We have already reviewed the most economical ways to travel, which you can read by following this link ().

In our understanding, the best solution is an airplane. At completely reasonable prices, you don’t waste a night on the train (with the obligatory rise at three in the morning for customs control), don’t waste your nerves crossing the border by car, and don’t sit on a bus for fifteen hours.

Getting ready and dreaming about the trip

The troubles are behind us, it's time to plan your trip. First, we look for guides to Riga on the Internet.

It doesn’t work, there are websites, but how can I download it to my phone? If you don’t want to buy books, then carry them with you around the city?

Well, it’s a completely reasonable desire, which we are meeting halfway - on our website you can download (and freely) four parts of the guide to Riga -

There are no copyright violations - the guide was prepared by the site and we give you all rights to use and distribute it! (just don’t change anything in the text) The fourth part is coming out soon - “Riga - the pearl of Art Nouveau”. We can promise that it will not be the last.

Finally, we have available advice on where and how to pay for parking... oh, it’s not good to praise yourself, so we’ll stop here and want to wish you a great unforgettable vacation in the very beautiful city Baltics!

I want to tell you how my friend and I visited the Baltic states ourselves, without agencies. I won’t talk about the sights, just about the business. How to go yourself. This is my first independent trip.

At the time of our trip, such a tour of the three Baltic capitals cost 44,000 per person for a week, and it cost us 23,000. Almost two days in each city. There is a difference!!! TIP: I always buy books from the Orange Guide series. Wonderful series. I take it with me on all my trips when I go on my own.

VISA. I’ll say right away that we decided to submit documents to Visa Center. A little more expensive, but simpler: if something goes wrong, they still reprint the documents on their own forms. For money. Documents are submitted to the embassy or visa center of the country where you will spend the most time, namely nights, regardless of the sequence of visiting countries. We started from Lithuania, but we submitted visa documents to the Latvian visa center, because... in Vilnius there were two days, but one overnight stay, and in Riga and Tallinn two nights each. You will find a list of documents on the websites. Along with your documents, be sure to bring copies of your hotel reservations and copies of all tickets, and insurance is required. Read carefully. For example, at the time of our registration, they did not accept hotel reservations from booking in Lithuania. Maybe something has changed. We booked on Hotels.com. There weren't many people in the center, it took about an hour and a half. We waited longer for the documents to be reprinted. After 10 days, my husband arrived and took our passports with visas. When submitting documents, you indicate who will pick them up. Very comfortably.

TRAVEL BETWEEN COUNTRIES: we chose the bus. Tickets were booked on the website.

Very convenient site. Buses take an average of 4 hours. There’s not much to see on the road. The buses were empty. Maybe it’s not the tourist season, or maybe I’m just lucky. We chose the second half of the day, left at 5 pm, arrived at 9 pm, slept, and in the morning walked around the city with fresh energy. We chose hotels closer to the center and bus stations so as not to spend extra money on travel.

HOTELS. We chose inexpensive ones with the intention of only spending the night. Breakfast.

VILNIUS. We arrived on an airBaltic plane. The plane is tiny: 15 rows with two seats per aisle.

They flew perfectly. From the airport we took a bus to the Comfort Vilnius 3* hotel. There are two hotels in Vilnius with a similar name and we were a little misinformed by the locals, but from one hotel

It's an extra 15 minutes on foot to ours. Found. The hotel is small but nice. For a night or two, no more. There wasn't even a closet in our room.

We took only breakfast in all hotels. The food was decent, the linen was clean. All attractions are within walking distance. We didn’t spend any money on travel anywhere.

We arrived in Vilnius at 10 am, the bus to Riga was the next day at 16.30. From the hotel to the bus station it's a 10 minute walk. Almost two days were enough to see the main attractions and just walk around the city. But that's not what this review is about. Travel on your own, don't be afraid of anything.

RIGA. From the bus station to the 4* hotel it’s a 10 minute walk. The hotel is very good. When you booked, you got a discount. The breakfast was amazing, there was even champagne. There is no such breakfast in Turkish fives. Clean, quiet, 5-7 minutes to the center. The room even had an ironing board and iron, a kettle, tea and coffee. At 17.00 bus to Tallinn. We walked everywhere and didn’t spend money on transport.

TALLINN. In Tallinn from the bus station to the hotel 3* by tram 10 min and on foot 5 min. The hotel is not bad, but there is no tray in the shower, and the water almost did not go through the hole in the floor and flooded the entire floor in the bathroom. But as a joke, there was a mop, you know, with a rubber band to collect water. But across the road is the Old Town and all the attractions. Return to Moscow on an airBaltic plane. By taxi 15 euros and in 20 minutes on the spot.

CONCLUSION: It's half the price, you are your own boss, travel by yourself and everything will be fine. We walked in all cities; I can’t say anything about the prices for transport.