Trip report: Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius/Kaunas, June 2025
Nov 18th, 2025 | 08:59 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 23,435
Likes: 0
Trip report: Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius/Kaunas, June 2025
From SFO we flew to NYC to visit family, and then to Berlin for more family visits, and then to Tallinn/ We returned from Vilnius directly to SF?O with a transfer in Amsterdam. The stops in NYC and Berlin complicated the planning (there are NO direct flights from the US to Berlin) and made an open jaw ticket impossible. The ticket usually comes as a package and there invariably was at least one leg with an unacceptable schedule, as for example, a leg from Berlin to Tallinn which required an overnight stop in Helsinki. So we broke down the tickets in the following manner:
SFO to NYC Alaska Airlines ($218.60)
NYC to Berlin via London British Air ($1,547.00)
Berlin to Tallinn Baltic Air ($375.98)
Vilnius to SFO via Amsterdam Air France (actually Baltic Air and KLM) $1850
The cost turned out to be about the same as an open jaw and maybe a little lower.
Our return flight was to be Vilnius, Amsterdam, Salt Lake City, SFO. When we arrived at the airport, we presented our printed Air France printed schedule, they sent us to an office to pay $150 for two suitcases in the hold, and when we return to the counter, they gave us our boarding passes for Vilnius telling us that our luggage is thru-booked to Salt Lake City. Our connections in both intermediary cities was only 1.5 hours, which felt very tight, so we had requested a wheelchair for my wife who uses a cane, hoping that the wheelchair trumps other passengers when it comes to using elevators (it does), and that the attendant would not spend time figuring out where to go for the next flight. The attendant came and took us to the central collection area for those needing assistance. They asked us which hotel we had booked, which is when we learned that our boarding passes to Salt Lake City were for the next day, our flight having been cancelled (we do not own a smart phone). The correction went very smoothly with the help of the wheelchair attendant. KLM provided us a hotel with dinner and breakfast and gave us two vouchers for food purchases in the terminal. They also rebooked us on a direct flight to SFO, which was a much earlier flight requiring us to be at the airport at 6 a.m. No hotel breakfast but we found a “bakery” in the terminal which accepted our vouchers and had very good food. Since we had not counted on this overnight, we missed 24 hours of our daily pills which were in our luggage; lesson learned.
Traveling in the Baltic countries is not a problem. I had wanted to take the train from Tallinn to Riga, but that required a change at the border so we took a long distance bus. The travel time was about the same: 4 hours. There is a train from Riga to Vilnius, but it leaves in the late afternoon and the tickets must be purchased either on-line or from the Lithuanian Railroad agent, wherever he may be but not in the main train terminal. So again we took the bus going to Bonn via Vilnius as one of its intermediate stops for another 4 hour drive. We used the train to go from Vilnius to Kaunas. Ticket rates vary according to age and possibly status. In Lithuania people over 80 pay a lower rate for public transportation, and museums are free with one notable exception.
We stayed in hotels this time, all of them located in the old city. This meant that city transportation was for the most part unnecessary. There were a few exceptions. In Tallinn we used a 5 day travel card purchased at a local kiosk (their equivalent of a 7-Eleven) which we used to get to our laundry service, to visit outlying museums, and to get to the central bus station for long distance buses. I do not recall any public transportation going through the old city core of these three Baltic capitals; but all three are encircled by street car lines.
Our first hotel was the 3 Sisters in Tallinn ($1014 for 6 nights). As of June 2025 the hotel was recently renovated and taken over by a new management. The first room they gave us had a “living” room with couches, coffee table and a large TV screen. Between this living room and the bedroom is a passage which has two doors: on the right the WC door (toilet and sink) and to the left a door that looked like a truncated barn door. It opens to a medieval tower staircase to be used in case of emergency.
The bedroom contained a modern four-poster bed a sink and a tub with a shower option. The shower had very light curtains to surround the tub which was against the wall. This was an old-fashioned brand new system. No non-slip pads. To use the available soap, shampoo, etc. was located on the wall in such a position that the wall had to be exposed to a full blast of the shower, and when taking a bath required getting up to reach them. I tried to take a shower, but as soon as the water turned on it caused an air circulation pattern that one curtain billowed into the shower sticking to the body. We went to reception and told them that the room was impossible and they gave us the room designed for wheelchair use. Much, much better. The dining room and kitchen were not operational.
The hotel in Riga was fine, with a card system to enter the room, and before that to use the elevator. It had a self-serve laundry room, with hotel service people around who helped us use the machine, let us know that they would take care of it, and then followed up with drying and folding our laundry (we gave them a tip). The hotel has an attached restaurant. $614.11 for 5 nights
In Tallinn we used a commercial self-serve laundry which it isn’t. There are gruff women who will take the laundry, take care of the washing and drying, and then leave the laundry all piled up in a basket.
In Vilnius the hotel room was cramped. It used to be a monk’s cell. Domus Maria $552.18 for six nights.
Laundry service via the hotel desk is expensive. It might have a breakfast service but we did not even ask. The central market was a ten minute walk from the hotel and we had our breakfast (a roll and coffee) there.
We ate well, especially in Riga followed by Tallinn and then Vilnius. In some cases we had made reservations before leaving the U.S., in other we passed by the restaurant earlier in the day and made the reservation for later which might be another day, and in some cases we just walked in.
In Tallinn we ate in the basement of the town hall, which is only for those who enjoy having a medieval experience with the servers costumed accordingly. The food was not bad but I prefer better lighting and a more modern belle époque and up atmosphere.
The Tallinn outdoor museum offers basic Baltic pub food, good for what it is. We had a decent museum restaurant meal in the National History Museum of Estonia. I mention these two because they are out of the central city with no other options near-by.
Tallinn restaurants:
We entered the building and eventually found ourselves in the Restoran Trofé whose main dining room is in a repurposed cellar. The food was very good, prices ($104.20) probably higher than run-of-the-mill restaurants. Noise level low.
Outside the old town we ate at Restoran Härg which we found as it rang a bell from some list of recommended restaurants. Not our style (casual) business, nor type of food which is strongly oriented to beef. It was a disappointment, even if the food was well cooked, and expensive ($144.90). https://resto.harg.ee/en/
Restaurant Rataskaevu 16 is more to our taste. Excellent food, not cheap ($119.41) in pleasant atmosphere. https://www.rataskaevu16.ee/en/
On Mündi tn, between Pikk tn and the main square, there is a restaurant where we ate twice because I liked their cured meat platter which was generous. It offered other regional specialties, all of them decent.
In Riga if you want to celebrate and are willing to spend (prix fixe plus drinks $363.42), this is the restaurant:
https://flic.kr/p/2rpEhdP
https://flic.kr/p/2reM9V4
and here is the report from someone else:
https://www.nodestinations.com/blog/...ern-restaurant
We also ate at Tails an upscale restaurant specializing in seafood, located behind embassy row and on the side street that forms the corner of the Russian embassy. We shared a platter of seafood which was excellent but a mistake for two. I am always tempted by those seafood platters, and I should refrain myself. The platter would be a good first course for a party of four. It was our only course, and probably did not do justice to the variety of dishes that were offered beyond the seafood platter.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfzxHk
There is also a very good inexpensive seafood restaurant, more like a small diner with limited choices, in the connecting hall between the hangars that constitute the central market.
We did not have much luck in Vilnius. It’s not that the restaurants are bad, but none that had a special appeal. We ate one night in a German restaurant, but it was not as if we were looking for German food or that the restaurant had a special appeal.
There was one restaurant where we made a reservation two days before. It is Ertlio Namas. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...us_County.html
For the price ($182.80) it was a disappointing prix fixe. The young, practically boyish, waiter tried hard to have a relationship with us, but something was lacking in the service. It has received excellent reviews, so perhaps we are getting jaded.
I will not detail our wanderings through the cities. Tallinn and Vilnius have more pre 20th century buildings in their core than Riga which must have had a burst of development at the turn of the 19th century. Guidebooks will recommend the sites more comprehensively than I would. However they all have an abundance of buildings that date from the early part of the 20th century until 1939.
Here are the museums that I would recommend:
In Tallinn we visited the part of the maritime museum which is in the Fat Margaret tower. It consists of an exhibit of Hanseatic trade centered around the retrieved remains of a trading ship.
https://flic.kr/p/2reeyuz
plus models of diverse freighters and passengers ships of the 19th and 20th century. We did not see the museum section which is by the harbor.
The Estonian Open Air museum is worth a visit and can be a relaxing day in the countryside, a break from the urban scene.
https://flic.kr/p/2redFfy
Of a particular interest is a Soviet era apartment building which contains apartments of different location. Those for rural workers set in the middle of the countryside had fewer modern facilities than those from urban buildings which fit my recollection of living in public housing in the Paris suburbs in the late 1940’s. The furniture seemed to be a cheap version of Danish modern.
https://flic.kr/p/2re9aHB
The Adamson-Eric Museum located between the lower and upper town is dedicated to a single local artist of the early 20th century.
https://flic.kr/p/2ref7K8
The Estonian Applied Art and Design Museum consist mainly of 20th century crafts.
https://flic.kr/p/2reePvH
The KUMU Art museum is architecturally interesting, the collection less so.
If looking for the current scene in Tallinn, go behind the train station.
https://flic.kr/p/2reeKwk
Here is the Tallinn photo album combining our two visits to the city:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCk2de
In Riga we visited 4 museums.
The Latvian National Museum of Art is almost obligatory for an overview of art in Latvia.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfmQbe
There is an Art Nouveau apartment to be visited in one of the Art Nouveau apartment buildings
https://flic.kr/p/2rfkFu6
Less interesting than the aforementioned museums in the Mentzendorff’s House, Rigans' house-museum.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfyAe7
I really liked Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation in Latvia located right by the Riga cathedral.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfyAda
This is the Riga album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCkDE8
Vilnius is not lacking in museums, but the impressive locales (a modern building across the river and the castle area) don’t make up for what appears to be slim pickings.
The Lithuanian National Art Gallery had one special exhibit of some interest but it is quite far in walking distance from the castle. The building was practically deserted.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgsWNV
The Old Arsenal is presumably the Decorative Arts museum, but appeared to be closed except for two small special exhibits.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgnpyV
We were luckier in Kunas. First there was the Art Deco apartment with a €25 fee per person !for a two hour guided presentation. A little steep, but it was worth it. The organization running the show apparently has also a Art Nouveau apartment.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgp1vg
The Kaunas Picture Gallery had an interesting exhibit on children during the Soviet occupation.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgoNp7
This is the Vilnius/Kaunas album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCmsmh
SFO to NYC Alaska Airlines ($218.60)
NYC to Berlin via London British Air ($1,547.00)
Berlin to Tallinn Baltic Air ($375.98)
Vilnius to SFO via Amsterdam Air France (actually Baltic Air and KLM) $1850
The cost turned out to be about the same as an open jaw and maybe a little lower.
Our return flight was to be Vilnius, Amsterdam, Salt Lake City, SFO. When we arrived at the airport, we presented our printed Air France printed schedule, they sent us to an office to pay $150 for two suitcases in the hold, and when we return to the counter, they gave us our boarding passes for Vilnius telling us that our luggage is thru-booked to Salt Lake City. Our connections in both intermediary cities was only 1.5 hours, which felt very tight, so we had requested a wheelchair for my wife who uses a cane, hoping that the wheelchair trumps other passengers when it comes to using elevators (it does), and that the attendant would not spend time figuring out where to go for the next flight. The attendant came and took us to the central collection area for those needing assistance. They asked us which hotel we had booked, which is when we learned that our boarding passes to Salt Lake City were for the next day, our flight having been cancelled (we do not own a smart phone). The correction went very smoothly with the help of the wheelchair attendant. KLM provided us a hotel with dinner and breakfast and gave us two vouchers for food purchases in the terminal. They also rebooked us on a direct flight to SFO, which was a much earlier flight requiring us to be at the airport at 6 a.m. No hotel breakfast but we found a “bakery” in the terminal which accepted our vouchers and had very good food. Since we had not counted on this overnight, we missed 24 hours of our daily pills which were in our luggage; lesson learned.
Traveling in the Baltic countries is not a problem. I had wanted to take the train from Tallinn to Riga, but that required a change at the border so we took a long distance bus. The travel time was about the same: 4 hours. There is a train from Riga to Vilnius, but it leaves in the late afternoon and the tickets must be purchased either on-line or from the Lithuanian Railroad agent, wherever he may be but not in the main train terminal. So again we took the bus going to Bonn via Vilnius as one of its intermediate stops for another 4 hour drive. We used the train to go from Vilnius to Kaunas. Ticket rates vary according to age and possibly status. In Lithuania people over 80 pay a lower rate for public transportation, and museums are free with one notable exception.
We stayed in hotels this time, all of them located in the old city. This meant that city transportation was for the most part unnecessary. There were a few exceptions. In Tallinn we used a 5 day travel card purchased at a local kiosk (their equivalent of a 7-Eleven) which we used to get to our laundry service, to visit outlying museums, and to get to the central bus station for long distance buses. I do not recall any public transportation going through the old city core of these three Baltic capitals; but all three are encircled by street car lines.
Our first hotel was the 3 Sisters in Tallinn ($1014 for 6 nights). As of June 2025 the hotel was recently renovated and taken over by a new management. The first room they gave us had a “living” room with couches, coffee table and a large TV screen. Between this living room and the bedroom is a passage which has two doors: on the right the WC door (toilet and sink) and to the left a door that looked like a truncated barn door. It opens to a medieval tower staircase to be used in case of emergency.
The bedroom contained a modern four-poster bed a sink and a tub with a shower option. The shower had very light curtains to surround the tub which was against the wall. This was an old-fashioned brand new system. No non-slip pads. To use the available soap, shampoo, etc. was located on the wall in such a position that the wall had to be exposed to a full blast of the shower, and when taking a bath required getting up to reach them. I tried to take a shower, but as soon as the water turned on it caused an air circulation pattern that one curtain billowed into the shower sticking to the body. We went to reception and told them that the room was impossible and they gave us the room designed for wheelchair use. Much, much better. The dining room and kitchen were not operational.
The hotel in Riga was fine, with a card system to enter the room, and before that to use the elevator. It had a self-serve laundry room, with hotel service people around who helped us use the machine, let us know that they would take care of it, and then followed up with drying and folding our laundry (we gave them a tip). The hotel has an attached restaurant. $614.11 for 5 nights
In Tallinn we used a commercial self-serve laundry which it isn’t. There are gruff women who will take the laundry, take care of the washing and drying, and then leave the laundry all piled up in a basket.
In Vilnius the hotel room was cramped. It used to be a monk’s cell. Domus Maria $552.18 for six nights.
Laundry service via the hotel desk is expensive. It might have a breakfast service but we did not even ask. The central market was a ten minute walk from the hotel and we had our breakfast (a roll and coffee) there.
We ate well, especially in Riga followed by Tallinn and then Vilnius. In some cases we had made reservations before leaving the U.S., in other we passed by the restaurant earlier in the day and made the reservation for later which might be another day, and in some cases we just walked in.
In Tallinn we ate in the basement of the town hall, which is only for those who enjoy having a medieval experience with the servers costumed accordingly. The food was not bad but I prefer better lighting and a more modern belle époque and up atmosphere.
The Tallinn outdoor museum offers basic Baltic pub food, good for what it is. We had a decent museum restaurant meal in the National History Museum of Estonia. I mention these two because they are out of the central city with no other options near-by.
Tallinn restaurants:
We entered the building and eventually found ourselves in the Restoran Trofé whose main dining room is in a repurposed cellar. The food was very good, prices ($104.20) probably higher than run-of-the-mill restaurants. Noise level low.
Outside the old town we ate at Restoran Härg which we found as it rang a bell from some list of recommended restaurants. Not our style (casual) business, nor type of food which is strongly oriented to beef. It was a disappointment, even if the food was well cooked, and expensive ($144.90). https://resto.harg.ee/en/
Restaurant Rataskaevu 16 is more to our taste. Excellent food, not cheap ($119.41) in pleasant atmosphere. https://www.rataskaevu16.ee/en/
On Mündi tn, between Pikk tn and the main square, there is a restaurant where we ate twice because I liked their cured meat platter which was generous. It offered other regional specialties, all of them decent.
In Riga if you want to celebrate and are willing to spend (prix fixe plus drinks $363.42), this is the restaurant:
https://flic.kr/p/2rpEhdP
https://flic.kr/p/2reM9V4
and here is the report from someone else:
https://www.nodestinations.com/blog/...ern-restaurant
We also ate at Tails an upscale restaurant specializing in seafood, located behind embassy row and on the side street that forms the corner of the Russian embassy. We shared a platter of seafood which was excellent but a mistake for two. I am always tempted by those seafood platters, and I should refrain myself. The platter would be a good first course for a party of four. It was our only course, and probably did not do justice to the variety of dishes that were offered beyond the seafood platter.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfzxHk
There is also a very good inexpensive seafood restaurant, more like a small diner with limited choices, in the connecting hall between the hangars that constitute the central market.
We did not have much luck in Vilnius. It’s not that the restaurants are bad, but none that had a special appeal. We ate one night in a German restaurant, but it was not as if we were looking for German food or that the restaurant had a special appeal.
There was one restaurant where we made a reservation two days before. It is Ertlio Namas. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...us_County.html
For the price ($182.80) it was a disappointing prix fixe. The young, practically boyish, waiter tried hard to have a relationship with us, but something was lacking in the service. It has received excellent reviews, so perhaps we are getting jaded.
I will not detail our wanderings through the cities. Tallinn and Vilnius have more pre 20th century buildings in their core than Riga which must have had a burst of development at the turn of the 19th century. Guidebooks will recommend the sites more comprehensively than I would. However they all have an abundance of buildings that date from the early part of the 20th century until 1939.
Here are the museums that I would recommend:
In Tallinn we visited the part of the maritime museum which is in the Fat Margaret tower. It consists of an exhibit of Hanseatic trade centered around the retrieved remains of a trading ship.
https://flic.kr/p/2reeyuz
plus models of diverse freighters and passengers ships of the 19th and 20th century. We did not see the museum section which is by the harbor.
The Estonian Open Air museum is worth a visit and can be a relaxing day in the countryside, a break from the urban scene.
https://flic.kr/p/2redFfy
Of a particular interest is a Soviet era apartment building which contains apartments of different location. Those for rural workers set in the middle of the countryside had fewer modern facilities than those from urban buildings which fit my recollection of living in public housing in the Paris suburbs in the late 1940’s. The furniture seemed to be a cheap version of Danish modern.
https://flic.kr/p/2re9aHB
The Adamson-Eric Museum located between the lower and upper town is dedicated to a single local artist of the early 20th century.
https://flic.kr/p/2ref7K8
The Estonian Applied Art and Design Museum consist mainly of 20th century crafts.
https://flic.kr/p/2reePvH
The KUMU Art museum is architecturally interesting, the collection less so.
If looking for the current scene in Tallinn, go behind the train station.
https://flic.kr/p/2reeKwk
Here is the Tallinn photo album combining our two visits to the city:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCk2de
In Riga we visited 4 museums.
The Latvian National Museum of Art is almost obligatory for an overview of art in Latvia.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfmQbe
There is an Art Nouveau apartment to be visited in one of the Art Nouveau apartment buildings
https://flic.kr/p/2rfkFu6
Less interesting than the aforementioned museums in the Mentzendorff’s House, Rigans' house-museum.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfyAe7
I really liked Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation in Latvia located right by the Riga cathedral.
https://flic.kr/p/2rfyAda
This is the Riga album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCkDE8
Vilnius is not lacking in museums, but the impressive locales (a modern building across the river and the castle area) don’t make up for what appears to be slim pickings.
The Lithuanian National Art Gallery had one special exhibit of some interest but it is quite far in walking distance from the castle. The building was practically deserted.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgsWNV
The Old Arsenal is presumably the Decorative Arts museum, but appeared to be closed except for two small special exhibits.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgnpyV
We were luckier in Kunas. First there was the Art Deco apartment with a €25 fee per person !for a two hour guided presentation. A little steep, but it was worth it. The organization running the show apparently has also a Art Nouveau apartment.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgp1vg
The Kaunas Picture Gallery had an interesting exhibit on children during the Soviet occupation.
https://flic.kr/p/2rgoNp7
This is the Vilnius/Kaunas album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCmsmh
Nov 19th, 2025 | 05:46 PM
#5
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,618
Likes: 0
This was interesting to read, as we also spent some time in the Baltics a few months ago - in our case, Tallinn and Riga, along with Helsinki. I was in Vilnius 20 years ago for a couple of days and will go back at some point (after I’ve done more genealogy research).
We visited some of the same sites as you, and some different places. Rataskaevu 16 was also one of our favorite restaurants. In fact, we stayed in an apartment around the corner, next door to its sister location.
There’s a lot to learn about the region’s complex history and cultural influences, and each city offers a different experience. At the same time, we found it fairly easy to travel around the region. Having English everywhere didn’t hurt!
Thanks for taking the time to share.
We visited some of the same sites as you, and some different places. Rataskaevu 16 was also one of our favorite restaurants. In fact, we stayed in an apartment around the corner, next door to its sister location.
There’s a lot to learn about the region’s complex history and cultural influences, and each city offers a different experience. At the same time, we found it fairly easy to travel around the region. Having English everywhere didn’t hurt!
Thanks for taking the time to share.
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
isabel
Europe
42
Aug 10th, 2020 05:50 PM
koshyp2000
Europe
11
Apr 11th, 2016 07:38 PM
