mgg

We are going to Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius in June. Would appreciate suggestions on best travel method between these, car, bus, train? How about the Radisson's in all 3 cities?

ben_haines_london

The train services were infrequent, and are becoming more so, so if you are to visit cities you need buses. These are modern and comfortable. Eurolines take 5 ? hours Tallinn to Riga and 5 hours Riga to Vilnius, and there are night busses between Tallinn and Vilnius, but other lines take half an hour more, stop a little more, and are cheaper and equally pleasant. You just book at the bus station the day before travel, or even the day of travel.

If you are to visit villages or country houses you should hire a car, but I have not done that.

I am sorry I do not know about hotels.

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hsv

I think I would rule out trains as they are indeed infrequent and unreliable.
Buses are an option, though my personal preference would be a rental car as you will be more independent and can stop at places on the road (e.g. take a bath in wonderful Pärnu on your way from Tallin to Riga or vice versa). This might not be advisable, though, if you have an open-jaw flight.

Regarding the Radissons:
The one in Tallinn is a modern high rise that was opened approx. 3 years ago. It is about a 10 min. walk from Old Town, is pretty big and caters mainly to a business clientele.

The one in Riga is pleasant, too, but is on the "wrong side" of the river. On the plus sides, if you get a city view room, you will indeed have a very nice vista, but it affords a 10 min. walk across a heavily frequented bridge across the Daugava River just to reach the limits of Old Town. It is even farther from the Art Nouveau District and in general I would advise against staying there, unless you really care for their swimming pool.

Alternatively, you might want to take a look into Hotel de Rome, a pleasant 4 to five star in a prime location on the border of Old Town, close to the Art Nouveau District, too.

For a little less money, its three star sister property, the Konventa Seta, is nice enough and right in the middle of Old Town close to St. Peter's church.

A modern equivalent to the Radissons might be the huge but nicely renovated Revalhotel Latvija (3 *+) on Elisabetes close to the Art Nouveau district and many restaurants, which is a 7 min. walk from Old Town.

More expensive would be its sister property, former Communist Party executive Hotel Ridzene, which has been nicely renovated and today is managed by Estonian chain Revalhotels, too. Rooms in both hotels are not very large, though.

For real luxury there would be the small and more intimate Grand Hotel Palace right by the dome within Old Town city limits.

If you do decide on renting a car, I would advise against staying within Old Town, though, as its streets are not easy to navigate upon your arrival and you need to purchase a permit to enter. But you might want to check with your hotel in that case (I know that at least Konventa Seta features a small guarded parking lot in Old Town).

Cannot really comment on the Radisson in Vilnius of which I only know that it is situated in a very nice Art Deco building and should have a good location, but take this with a bit of caution as this is based not on first hand knowledge.

I have posted several times on hotels in all cities here, so you might want to do a text search for those cities.

www.derome.lv
www.revalhotels.com
www.schlossle-hotels.com
www.inyourpocket.com

Happy trails!

mgg

thank you for information! will use bus! trying to find air conditioned hotel in Riga.

ben_haines_london

The site http://www.inyourpocket.com has a good annotated list of hotels.

Ben Haines,London

hsv

Of the hotels I mentioned above, I believe only Konventa Seta might be not airconditioned. But do check on that if you are really interested.

Try this site of a reliable Latvian travel agency to find a good rate in Riga or just compare rates, too:

http://www.viariga.lv/en/viesn/riga.htm

Kristi

I'm going to Vilnius and Riga in late May and have been doing a bit of research on hotels. I found at least in Vilnius that some of the Western chain hotels such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Best Western are located outside of the main tourist area but the 21 advance purchase rates on their websites are attractive (63E for Holiday Inn, 69E for Crowne Plaza) but alas nonrefundable. The Radisson, however, is right in the middle of old town, a great location, but the rates that I see are 2-3 times higher (179E-194E).

Another option you might look at in Vilnius is the new Novotel, just recently opened. I thought the location looked good and the price per night ranged from 96-120E. The Scandic Neringa also looked like a good hotel in a good area, I think I saw a 99E rate on their website. I have opted for the Barbacan Palace, got a 77E rate by booking through the internet.

Do check out In your Pocket, I found their advice to be on the money when we were in Krakow

I received advice to go by bus as well, here's a schedule between the three cities on Eurolines

http://www.autobusai.lt/en/schedule_en.php

And another one that shows the price as 40LT between the two cities

http://www.eurolines.lt/english/lent..._rig_toks_1700