The Baltic - anyone been?

[gruntage]

I've just booked a trip to the Baltic with my mate flying into Helsinki, and travelling down towards Kaunas for the return flight. Over the 11days we will be stopping in Helsinki Finland,Tallinn Estonia, Riga Latvia, Vilnius Lithuania and Kaunas Lithuania. We are hoping to see FC Honka whilst in Finland and my friend is sorting tickets for some Estonian game - no idea who!

Anyway, its a region I've long wanted to visit and so I am pretty excited about this trip. Have any of you been to any or all of these cities/countries? Any tips on things to see or do? Any recommendations?

We are going in the start of September, and I understand the weather will be ok at that time.

 

[daveinprague]

A lot of stag parties go there now to piss off the natives rather than coming to Prague

 

[Estonian Seagull]

I've been living in Tallinn for nearly 6 years and spend quite a lot of time in Riga and (to a lesser extent) Vilnius, mainly because work. Let me know what kind of things you are interested in, and I'll try to suggest some decent places to go.

 

[Mr Banana]

I thought Finland was ace, but a bit weird. Recommend hiring a van and driving round Lapland, it's supernaturally atmospheric, especially at night when you've always got half a chance of catching the Northern Lights, and scenically it's kinda overwhelming. Avoid all the tourist stuff though, and it's a bit subdued and expensive (we spent most of the time in Rovaniemi), like a far less exciting version of Sweden (although Sweden is the best.) Make sure you try out all the exotic meats - reindeer and stuff - I was always jealous at not being able to. If you go to Lithuania make sure you go clubbing, it's hilarious. You could probably balance the high costs of Finland with how cheap it is in Lith.

 

[Spider]

I've been living in Tallinn for nearly 6 years and spend quite a lot of time in Riga and (to a lesser extent) Vilnius, mainly because work. Let me know what kind of things you are interested in, and I'll try to suggest some decent places to go.

How did you end up living in Tallinn?

I've been to Tallinn and Riga - both great cities. I really want to go back and spend some more time in the region!

 

[est.83]

... my friend is sorting tickets for some Estonian game - no idea who!

We are going in the start of September, and I understand the weather will be ok at that time.

Noo, make sure it's not Estonian League game cos its level of football is shocking and there will be no more than 100 spectators. Cannot recommend that.

Our national team game against Italy on 3rd of September could be fun though.

 

[crodonilson]

I went to Riga in May, really enjoyed it despite some mixed reviews on here. We took in a Skonto Riga game which was enjoyable, their season is in the summer so if you time it right you should be able to go, and the cost of entry was £2!!

I would recommend trying the Cityscape hotel, it's comfortably the tallest building in Riga and the top floor has a bar which offers spectacular panoramic views of the city. The city market is huge, one of the biggest in Europe I believe and you will be able to pick up some bargains there. Also we didn't pay for any transport while we were there, so got free public transport for 4 days.

 

[essbee]

I've been to Riga - loved it.

Cheap beer as well. Well at that time it was (2004)