Baltic Visitor

The first thing that most people mention about the climate of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is that the winters are really quite cold. This is undeniably true, although it never gets anywhere near as chilly as much of neighbouring Russia. The temperature in many parts of the region rarely gets above freezing between December and […]

[Read more →]

Visitors to Riga will soon discover that there are a wealth of free guides to the city, most of them pocket sized and available in hotel lobbies. I was looking through my stash of them and thought that it might be useful to run through some of the best.
Of the pocket sized freebies, the best […]

[Read more →]

If you are thinking about visiting the Estonian islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Muhu, or even if you are not, it’s worth taking a look at an article on hitchhiking writing by Joel Alas for the Baltic Times. Despite being described as ‘a hitchhiker’s guide’ it is more of an amusing look at the islands […]

[Read more →]

A new tram service will launch in Riga on 24th June, transporting tourists in an Art Nouveau inspired ‘retro sightseeing streetcar’ between the Central Market and Anatomical Theatre (Kronvalda Boulevard 9). According to an article in Standby News, the tram journey will take 10 minutes if there is little traffic and will cost 3Ls (about […]

[Read more →]

The Baltic Times has posted an entertaining piece by Joel Alas, who went out in Tallinn on June 5th – the Tuesday night that the new smoking ban was introduced. The journalist finds many of the city’s bars empty, with everyone outside on the pavement instead. He finds himself less than impressed by the atmosphere […]

[Read more →]

My recent posts about Latvia have tended to highlight the negative – arrested tourists and nightclub scams (although the latter story was about the police cracking down successfully) – so I thought it was about time that I wrote something more wholeheartedly positive. After all, Latvia is a great country to visit. I am particularly […]

[Read more →]

The top spot in Lithuania for a spa break, Druskininkai – set among pine trees at a bend in the Nemunas River – has been a popular resort since the 19th century. During the Soviet period huge sanatoriums for medical treatment and recuperation were built alongside the more attractive early 20th century villas, but since […]

[Read more →]

[ 23 June, 2007 to 24 June, 2007. ] The biggest festival in the Baltic calendar, midsummer is celebrated with a night of partying on 23rd June. It is a true pagan throwback, with the sun symbolically defeating the darkness, although it also has a more practical side as it marks the start of the summer harvest.

Midsummer goes by a different name in each […]

[Read more →]

Yesterday morning I went to an event run by the Slovak tourist board, promoting the country as a spa break destination. This got me thinking about the various opportunities within the Baltics, and over the next few days I will be posting a series of short pieces on the subject.
The top spot for spa breaks […]

[Read more →]

I have spent a lot of time in Latvia recently, and have visited a lot of hotels. Within Riga and Jurmala, accommodation tends to be overpriced although there are some very good places to stay. Elsewhere, the choice tends to be limited and there are a lot of acceptable but unexciting options for around 20Ls […]

[Read more →]