Kristi

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Riga and Vilnius. We have 7 full days in late May/early June to split between the two cities and their surrounding areas. We will not have a car and will be relying on public transportation. I have a couple of starter questions:

1)I'm thinking of splitting the time 3 days Riga (including a daytrip to Sigulda)and 4 days Vilnius (including possible sidetrips to Kaunas and Trakai). Any thoughts? Anything I'm missing?

2) Is either city the better one to spend the weekend days in? Are there any weekend flea markets in either city that are worth the effort?

3) We will likely travel by bus between Riga and Vilnius, does anyone know how far in advance you have to reserve buses in Riga? Is it possible to fly in on Thursday night and be able to travel on Friday? Are weekend buses busier?

4) any suggestions for a midpriced hotel (less than $100 US per night) in Vilnius that is convenient to transportation? Don't need a lot of frills but it is important that it is comfortable.

5) are there still places left that sell old Soviet stuff (pins, tea holders, etc.)? We found quite a few shops in Tallinn a couple of years ago.

Thanks!

hsv

Kristi,

I do not (unfortunately) have any experience regarding Vilnius.

I do have some advice on Riga, though. You might be interested to read an itenerary suggestion I have posted recently on another thread here. It includes the main sights of Riga as well as lodging and restaurant suggestions.

The URL is: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34466066
Or, if you want to use the search option here: Riga for a day

For Russian gifts, you might want to try the market on Riga's Livu laukums.

For information on buses try http://www.eurolines.lv/en/index.php.

On your daytrip to Sigulda (which I highly recommend), take a look at the former Soviet Union's only bobsleigh track. If you are lucky, you can even take a run on a bobsleigh on wheels steered by an expert.
Do enjoy the small hike to Turaidas Pils (Castle) and visit the grave of one of Latvia's folk saga heroes. Also, Gutmanis cave is worth a look at.

You might also allow for a day somewhere at the coast. The Curonian Spit in Lithuania jumps to mind, but might be a bit far.
Closer to Riga, there is Jurmala, which has not been very well developped since Soviet Times, though, but features some nice wooden villas.
A little bit to the North there is the beach at Saulkrasti (might be combined with your Sigulda trip, possibly), a quaint beach town and popular escape from the city in summer.

Enjoy your time in the Baltics.
hsv

Kristi

hsv, thanks for posting all that excellent info here and on the other post, very interesting and helpful!

I've already booked the Radi un Dragi based on a review in In your Pocket, the most excellent guides to Eastern Europe

hsv

Kristi,

you're welcome!

One more suggestion for the Riga part of your trip: If you feel you still have some hours to fill or if you are able to fit this in on your trip to Lithuania, you might want to consider a trip to Rundale Pils (Rundale Palace), which is close to the town of Bauska to the South of Riga, close to the Lithuanian border. It is a magnificently restored Palace where state visitors are often entertained and well worth one or to looks at!

Even though you did not specifically ask for this, I will throw in a recommendation of Cafe Osiris in Riga for a leisurely breakfast in a laid back and artsy atmosphere or a light candlelight supper. It is located on Barona iela No.31, close to the Daile cinema.

And just to further ease your mind: Consider yourself lucky to have got a room at Radi un Draugi! It's in a prime location right next to St.Peter's Church which is very hard to beat!

Cheers
hsv

Kristi

Thanks for the additional info Runsdale looks interesting but I'm not sure how we would swing it without a car, I was trying to stay centrally in both Riga and Vilnius and do side trips.

Thanks for the restaurant rec as well, my mouth was watering on the train home last night reading about pancakes, pelmeni and piragi. I tried Lithuanian food here in Chicago for the first time last fall at the ironically named "Healthy Food" restaurant in Bridgeport and it was yummy.

Judyrem

Kristi, both my parents are Lithuanian, and I agree that some of the food CAN be yummy IF prepared right. I get a kick out of reading the posts about E. Europe and the differant foods available. My husband has always been reluctant to go there, because he thought the food would be yucky ;-(. Judy

Marija

The March issue of Conde Nast Traveler has a long article about traveling along the sea in the Baltics. Trakai and Kaunas are good side trips. You may also want to visit the Hill of Crosses (Kryziu Kalnas) outside of Siauliai. It's one of the most impressive sights in Lithuania. On the way to Kaunas, consider stopping in Rumsiskes, an outdoor ethnographic museum, similar in style to those in Oslo and Stockholm. Food in Lithuania is plentiful, good and relatively inexpensive for tourists. In Lithuania there is also an outdoor "musuem" of old Soviet statues, etc., that you might find interesting. Hope you enjoy your visit to the Baltics. Sekmes!

hsv

Although I heartily recommend Cafe Osiris, I still would have dinner in one of the places I mentioned on the other threads first!

In particular:
- Staburags on Caka iela for rustic Latvian fare
- Charlestons in Blaumana for lovely International cuisine in a pleasant and relaxed setting
- Vincents in Elizabetes for that special gourmet experience

Apart from this eating business, you might want to include a small trip to Meza Parks if the weather is lovely.
It is a large Park on Riga's Northern city limits. It features clean air, some receational facilities (also Riga's zoo) and the so called Great Estrade (Lielais Estrade), a stadium where the annual song festival is held with thousands of singers forming a choir. Even if nothing is on, this is impressive to see if you can imagine the atmosphere there in one of the places where Latvian culture was even persued when it was forbidden anywhere else.
You can get to Meza Parks by tram (No.11 from Barona) or by boat. Boats leave from opposite the Radisson SAS hotel by the Daugava on the shore of Old Town (11 novembra iela). Of course you can also combine both means of transportation.

Kristi

hsv (or anyone else), if you had to narrow down the daytrips to two of the following which would you ax-Jurmala, Sigulda or Rundale? I love palaces and Rundale was designed by the same guy that designed St. Petersburg's winter palace so I imagine that it is grand. Will it be too early in the season to visit Jurmala in late May? And thanks for the additional restaurant tips!

Judyrem, I guess I am lucky not only to have a husband who likes E. European food but also to live in Chicago where there is an abundance of it. Weren't you posting about going to Russia on another thread? I think the food will be similar

Marija, thanks for the Lithuania info, I need to start thinking about that part of the trip as well so I allocate the days correctly

hsv

Although I am usually a great lover of the Baltic sea, I might feel tempted to skip Jurmala. It actually consists of a string of beach communities (Jurmala being Latvian for "beach&quot and is therefore not that easily walkable. Plus, for some reason it has not recovered from Soviet times as nicely as Riga or even Sigulda (or its Estonian counterpart Pärnu) and still features some run-down concrete blocks of hotels that do not please the eye that much.
Transportation wise it is reachable more easily than Rundale Palace, though, as there is a (very slow) commuter train available from Riga's central station.
You have to weigh those two options for yourself, I guess. I would not skip Sigulda in any case.

One more restaurant recommendation (along with the other one posted here and the ones posted on the "Riga for a day" thread): In Berga Bazars shopping mall between Elisabetes and Dzirnavu iela for a romantic dinner there is Symposium. It is owned by Andrejs Zagars (director of Riga's Opera, also operates Cafe Osiris) and features quite good Mediterranean cuisine in very sleek surroundings.
http://www.zagars.lv/all.html

You might also inquire at the Latvian Opera which performances are on. Price level is really resonable and the interior is just beautiful. The standard of performances is pretty good, too.
http://www.opera.lv/default.asp
If you are still in town by the beginning of June, there is the Opera Festival, which you might consider to reserve tickets for in advance.
http://www.opera.lv/rof/rof_E.htm

GMT2272

We're in the early stages of planning a trip to the Baltics. We will have 11 or 12 days in June and will have a rental car. We have no definite plans yet, but prefer smaller hotels or guesthouses/pensions with some character. We like Eastern European food, so local out-of-the way places are fine. I like visiting the open-air museums and places that feature folk art. Can anyone help figure out some sort of a schedule? I figured we would need reservations in Talinn, but would we need to make them ahead for the whole trip, or just come prepared with a list of possible places. Other than in the main cities, what are costs like for food and accomodation. What were your favorite places and what do you wish you would have skipped? Any favorite foods there?