The Baltic tours classics: 7 days/ 6 nights

Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn - Sigulda - Riga

Breakfast. Departure to Riga (307 km from Tallinn), the capital of Latvia.

Stop at the Gauja National Park, Sigulda city (250 km from Tallinn) often referred to as the Latvian Switzerland.  Gauja National park includes the valley of the Gauja River and together with its tributaries it forms a particularly original landscape. The territory comprises more than 500 monuments of archeology, architecture, history starting with 11th century.
Enjoy beautiful vistas of the Gauja River Valley, visit the 13th century Turaida Castle, now housing a small History Museum, and relax walking in the adjoining Sculpture Park, featuring works of Latvian sculptors.
Lunch en route.

Evening arrival to Riga. Dinner and overnight in Riga.

Riga

Breakfast. Riga City Tour by bus and walking tour. Riga has hundreds of ways for enticing visitors – its rich history, architecture, spacious gardens and parks, museums, art galleries and world-class opera…and daily treats like a walk in the enormous colorful central market or going to a cozy café, club or pub...

The tour includes the most significant sights of Riga and begins along the central boulevards of Riga, enjoying the view of the City Canal parks, the Art Nouveau buildings of the beginning of the 20th century, the Opera House. In Old Riga you will see the Dome Cathedral, the Church of St. Peter, the old Guild Houses, the Swedish Gate, the architectural ensemble Three Brothers, St. Jacob's Church, the Parliament House, Old Riga Castle, and view the many wonderfully restored buildings, now housing cozy restaurants, cafes, bars and souvenir shops.

Lunch and free afternoon in Riga.
Dinner and overnight in Riga.

Riga - Rundale Palace - The Hill of Crosses - Vilnius

Breakfast. Departure to Vilnius (320 km from Riga), the capital of Lithuania.

Stop in the Rundale Palace (66 km from Riga), this Palace (18th cent.) is the most outstanding monument of Baroque and Rococo art in Latvia. The palace is an example of the early work of Italian-Russian architect Rastrelli who also designed the famous Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. You will be impressed by the authentic beauty the Golden Hall, the White Hall, private quarters of the Duke of Courland Johan Ernst Biron. Interiors are decorated with authentic 18th century furniture, paintings and china. To complete your impressions have an enjoyable walk in a beautiful French-style park.
Lunch en route.

Stop at the famous Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai (30 km from the Rundale Palace). The Hill of Crosses, a unique historic place in the world. It is probably the best place to get aquinted with cross-making, a branch of Lithuanian folk art, wich was inscribed on the UNESCO Non-material and Verbal Heritage Masterpiece List. On this hill more than 100 000 crosses have been discontinuously put up to plead for grace or to express gratitude since the ancient times. It is the only place of its kind in the world, included to the Guinness Book of Records for its uniquenes.
Arrival to Vilnius. Dinner and overnight in Vilnius.

Vilnius - Trakai - Vilnius

Breakfast. Morning City Tour, the 3-hour acquaintance with Vilnius Old Town where you can feel the atmosphere of the city's history of the 16-19th centuries while walking along its narrow winding streets or visiting the most exiting architectural and historic monuments: Vilnius Cathedral erected on the historic site where pagan gods were worshipped and where Vilnius was founded as far back as the 13th c., a nearby Gediminas Castle on the hill rising above the city centre, a gem of the Lithuanian Gothic’s - the 16th c. St. Anne's Church, the Vilnius University, a famous centre of science and enlightment since its very foundation in 1579, vilnius Town Hall, Jewish Quarter and the Dawn Gate with a miraculous icon of Virgin Mary.

Afternoon departure to Trakai, former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 27 km to the west of Vilnius, is a favourite place for an outing. The Trakai Castle situated on an island in the midst of Lake Galve is the most famous and most photographed 15th cent. castle.  Standing on an island in Lake Galve, the Castle now houses an interesting museum telling its history, famous in the times of the Grand Duke Vytautas when the country borders were stretching from the Baltics till the Black Sea. Enjoy a small  town -Trakai, located on a 2-km-long peninsular with attractive old wooden houses, mostly built by Karaites, a Judaist sect brought by Duke Vytautas from the Crimea and still living here.

Lunch in Trakai.

Transfer back to Vilnius.
Dinner and overnight in Vilnius.

Vilnius

Itinerary includes:
* 6 overnights in centrally located hotels;
* 6 Breakfasts;
* 5 Lunches (3 course with water + coffer or tea);
* 6 Dinners (3 course with water + coffer or tea);
* English speaking guide escort during whole tour;
* 35-50 seats coach with air-conditioner and video (2 transfers airport - Vilnius, Tallinn - airport are included);
* Sightseeing tours (Vilnius, Trakai, Rundale, Riga and Tallinn);
* Entrance fees (Vilnius University campus, Trakai Castle museum, Rundale Place, Riga and Tallinn Dome Cathedrals, Turaida castle).