Baltic Capitals
Day 1: Vilnius
Arrival to Vilnius, overnight.
Day 2: Vilnius - Trakai - Vilnius
Breakfast and sightseeing tour in Vilnius. The capital city of Lithuania is situated on the confluence of two rivers: Neris and Vilnele. The Old Town, which is included to the UNESCO World Heritage List, looks like a maze of small streets. In the center of the Old Town stands the Cathedral with a bell tower. It occupies the site of an ancient pagan temple to the God Perkunas and originally lay within the fortification system of the Lower Castle. In the narrow old streets one will see numerous pieces of historical heritage, like St. Anna’s Church, University building, St. Peter-Paul Church.
The trip to Trakai is following in the afternoon. Trakai is an ancient capital of Lithuania, situated 25 km south from Vilnius. The famous Trakai Castle occupies one island of Lake Galve. This unique fortification used to strike fear into the hearts of crusaders in the Middle ages.
Return to Vilnius. Overnight.
Day 3: Vilnius - Riga
The whole day trip to Riga with a stopover in Rundale, visiting the Rundale Palace in baroque and rococo style and French-style park. It was designed by the architect B.F. Rastrelli of Italian – Russian origin, who also designed famous Winter Palace and other great buildings in St. Petersburg, as well as Catharine Castle in Tallinn.
Arrival to Riga in the afternoon, overnight.
Day 4: Riga
Riga sightseeing tour in the morning. The Old Town of Riga is located between Daugava river and the city canal. As a center of commerce in the Middle Ages, there was a lot of money floating around. It shows. The merchant houses, guilds and churches have that extra touch of class and wealth. The Old Town contains a big number of historic buildings, not to mention the medieval town walls, dating back to the 13th century. The Powder Tower is one of the oldest buildings in Riga. One will also see the Swedish Gate, Riga Castle, “The Three Brothers” House, St. Jacobs Church and, of course, the Dome Cathedral. In August 2001 Riga has celebrated it’s 800 anniversary.
Free afternoon to enjoy Riga’s spirit. Overnight in Riga.
Day 5: Riga - Gauja National Park - Tallinn
Departure to Tallinn after the breakfast. Visit to Gauja National Park near Sigulda on the way. The surroundings of the park are often named as Latvian Switzerland. Three once famous castles were situated on the hills around. Stopover at the ruins of the 13th century Order of Knights Castle, which was connected with other small buildings by underground passage ways, at the Sculpture park dedicated to Latvian folklore, at Bishop’s Castle in Turaida and Gutmann’s cave. Trip to Tallinn, overnight
Day 6: Tallinn
Guided tour in Tallinn in the morning. Tallinn’s old city has remained much the same from the previous ages, but in a way it has changed more in the past decade than it did in the past 100 years. Vital symbiosis of past and present opens in front of curious spectator’s eyes. During the tour one will see the Old Town, the towers “Long Hermann” and “Fat Margarete”, the Town Hall, St. Olav’s and St. Nikolay’s Churches, Pirita monastery, Olympic Yachting Center and the great Song Vale.
Trip to “Rocca-al-Mare” open air museum in the afternoon. All aspects of Estonian rural architecture are exhibited there, with houses of rich and poor, it now consists of 70 buildings. Overnight in Tallinn.
Day 7: Tallinn
End of our service after the breakfast.