Riga & Vilnius
 

We are flying into Riga in September. Any suggestions about seeing both Riga & Vilnius--is it even possible to see both cities in four days? Any help and ideas would be most
appreciated. Thanks. Jan

My new daughter-in-law is from Kaunus (1 hour from Vilnius) and my son lived in lived in Lithuania for a year. It is my understanding from them that the bus ride to Riga from Vilnius is only 4 hours. They actually did a 1 day trip to Riga where you leave on the bus at the crack of dawn, spend the day in Riga, and then come back to Vilnius on the same day. So it would seem to me that 4 days should definitely be doable. We haven't been yet, but are going next summer so I'll be interested to hear from you how the trip goes.

My business partner is married to a Lithuanian girl. One can see Vilnius and Riga in four days.

We did Vilnius and Riga on the same trip but with a little longer stay of about 7 days. The trip between the two took about 4 1/2 hours and I think we took a late afternoon bus so that we wouldn't waste a day of sightseeing. You can see Riga and Vilnius in 4 days, 2 days a piece is about right to hit the highlights. We added on several daytrips, Rundale Palace and Sigulda from Riga and Trakai from Vilnius.

Here's a link to the bus schedule between the two
http://www.eurolines.lv/en/netiesi.p...=56&bid=64

Frankly, I -as it appears in contrast to others- think that would be a pretty rushed schedule. I think at least two full days should be allowed for Riga proper.
Distance to Vilnius is about 300 km. I would allow approx. 4 to 5 hours for this - which equals more than half a day of travel to be realistic.
Should you choose to fly into Riga and out of Vilnius this might be feasible (and I don't say reasonable), otherwise it appears to be just not advisable.

Actually, hsv, that was my original reaction to the question, perhaps I should have said it's doable but not advisable. There are several worthwhile excursions outside of Riga that can be done as daytrips.

We did take buses later in the afternoon around 5 or 6 pm which gets you in rather late and you need to allow time to get to the bus station so you are really spending about 1 1/2 days in each city. And note that the area around each of the bus station is a little seedy late at night. We didn't have any problems but I did feel a bit uncomfortable.

Kristi,

you and I seem to think along the same lines regarding the area.

I think we had already pointed out a few options for worthwhile sidetrips from Riga on another thread of jlpx2.
Counting in these 4 days would in fact be unrealistic for both cities.

Have a nice evening!
hsv

Jan- Be sure to catch the open air Ethnographic Museum in Riga if you have time. I brought a group of teens there in the fall of 2003 and they really enjoyed it (which is saying a lot!!). Very nice activity, which you can do at your own pace. It was a beautiful place to walk around.
We stayed at the DeRome Hotel, and found it to be very comfortable and convenient. Of course it is directly across from a McDonald's, but also close to internet cafes, etc.
Have fun! Riga is a nice little town.

Thank u for your suggestions--the flights don't seem to leave at a
doable time--so i think we will rent a car-maybe stay one night in Tallin--and then drive back to Riga--I appreciate any and all suggestions. THanks jan

If anybody is intersting in renting an appartment in the hart of vilnius, i have 2 very cozy and quite big flats in oldtown to offer. Prices per one day are about 50euro, the price depends on how long will You stay and how many people will be. If You are interested please contact me by email [email protected]