I want to visit the Baltics next year--maybe in June. I can spend as much time as I want, but it will probably be around three weeks. I'd also like to see St. Petersburg, since when I went there in the 70's, I was sick, so I stayed in the hotel and didn't see anything.

Anyway, I'm wondering how much time to spend in each country--esp. in Riga, Tallin, and Vilnius. I like architecture, art, culture, some museums--like open-air museums. I'm very interested in the WWII and Cold War history. Seeing countryside would be nice, but not too much. I'm a city girl. I especially like strolling around through the old town and admiring the architecture.

I speak German, if that makes any difference.

I've been reading an Eyewitness guide, but I'm not getting a real idea of what to see, how much time to spend in a given city, etc.

Can you give me any help on how much time to spend on each city? I've been reading posts and recommendations by other Fodorites, so I'm getting an idea.

I've tagged this under Lithuania, but I'm interested in all the Baltics and St. Pete.

Oops! I meant that I was in Leningrad/St.Petersburg in the 60's, not the 70's.

By the way, I will continue to read previous reports and comments on Baltic trips made by Fodorites.

Peg, make sure to see Grūtų Parkas,

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grūtas_Park

And the genocide museum in Vilnius

http://www.muziejai.lt/Vilnius/genoc...uziejus.en.htm

Marija: Thanks. They both look fascinating.

Re St. Petersburg I would do EVERY one of the so-called major residences including the Peterhof and the Catherinehof; the Church on the Spilled Blood as well as the Peter and Paul Fortress.

As you can imagine the Hermitage is an absolute must (I just wish they'd let people into that basement where a lot of their stuff is stored) but even without that, the decoration alone is worth a visit IMO. The problem with the latter might be the number of people and the noise levels. Some sort of guide, audio or human (and with which/whom you use earphones preferable) would be worthwhile IMO.

And then there's the possibility of some sort of artistic performance and even if it IS "for the tourists" I can assure you Pavlova isn't going to get resurrected anytime soon so go for it. I think that city is amazing in so many ways and I barely scratched the surface as you can tell.

I thought St. Petersburg easily worth a minimum of 6 days; YMMV. I haven't been to the other cities you mention yet. If you can time your trip so you hit St. Petersburg during the White Nights, do it! Magnificent!

How are you going, alone , just two of you, a small group. ?

Travelling between these three Baltic Countries is rather easy in mile distance.

For example the total square miles of either Utah or Kansas or Idaho equals the total square miles of Estonia + Latvia + Lithuania.

So you can put the 3 Baltic Countries all inside ,say, Idaho !

It's all in my trip report Peg. Give me a shout if you have questions.

I'm going alone.

I sometimes forget the small size of many countries in Europe. Thanks, Percy. Knowing that makes a difference in how I travel.

Gertie: I love your trip reports. I just read your Baltics report for (I think) the third time.