Baltic Visitor

Regular visitors to this site may have noticed that I recently added an Amazon widget in the sidebar on the right hand side of the page, allowing visitors to buy copies of some of the best Baltic guidebooks. I thought that it might be a good idea to give a run-down of the main options (although I might vary or extend the offerings over time).

The Lonely Planet: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is perhaps the one with the greatest brand recognition, and it’s a good book if you are planning to visit more than one of the Baltic countries. I don’t always agree with the assessments in the book – I think it’s unduly harsh about some of the less touristed parts of Latvia such as Daugavpils, for example – but it’s a solid choice which is particularly strong on hotel and restaurant reviews. LP also publish a short guide to Tallinn.

The Rough Guide to the Baltic States is also a good choice, with some interesting cultural material at the back and reliable practical information throughout. I haven’t seen the latest edition, which will be published in January 2008, but it will be a welcome update since the previous edition was getting a bit dated. It is possible to pre-order the new edition from Amazon.

My personal favourites, though, are the Bradt guides to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Partly this is because as single-country volumes they can go into more depth than the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide; they also display an exceptional degree of cultural sensitivity and are written by people with a genuine depth of knowledge. I can’t recommend them highly enough. The only downside is that the Lithuania and Latvia guides are due to be updated (in fact, the latter has a new edition coming out in July).

For those only planning to visit the Baltic capitals, Bradt also has mini-guides to Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, as well as a guide to all three.

Finally, for those looking for a cheaper option the In Your Pocket guides may fit the bill. They are not available through Amazon, but are easily found within the region’s tourist centres and can be downloaded for free from the In Your Pocket website.

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