Vilnius Tours in May 2026

You will see beautiful old buildings and many other things on this interesting trip but early May was the wrong time to go this year. We were quite cold most of the time. During our walking tour of Tartu, it even snowed a little. At least we didn't encounter much rain. The hotels are very good, with excellent access to the Old Towns in the three capitals. Explore has changed the hotels that people complained about, I think.

This trip is a great introduction to the Baltic States. Ona, our tour leader, was very knowledgeable which added value to the trip. There’s a wealth of architectural styles in the region, particularly enjoyed Riga for its rich Art Nouveau designs. The stay at the Manor Hotel in the countryside was an interesting change to the city stays. The restaurant prices were reasonable given the quality of the food.

A wonderful tour of the Baltic capitals! Our guide, Ona, was fantastic—knowledgeable, organized, and full of positive energy. If I could give six stars instead of five, I would! The only downside was the long driving distances between cities, which meant we spent quite a few hours on the road. Overall, a memorable experience with a great group and an outstanding leader.

Lovely whistle stop tour of the Baltics, Ona was very knowledgeable and helpful and it was interesting to hear her stories of life in the USSR. Only thing is she did take us to a couple of quite fancy/expensive restaurants which weren't suitable for everyone.

Finally got to do this trip which was on my bucket list before the pandemic. It was certainly worth the wait and lived up to all my expectations. This is one of the best Exodus trips I have travelled on. I find ex-Soviet countries fascinating and we certainly got a good introduction to the histories of all 3 countries together with an insight into their views about the current situation. This was due to the generous ways in which both our guide Andrius and the local guides were prepared to share some of their experiences from less liberal times. It was all very thought provoking and led to some thoughtful discussion between fellow travellers. But on a lighter note - the itinerary was more varied than I was expecting. We saw capital cities, medieval streets, Art Nouveau architecture, crumbling and restored castles, fishermen's wooden cottages, Soviet elite holiday homes, a palace built in the time of the Tsars , a decommissioned nuclear bunker, museums, art galleries and some ex-KGB "facilities". Trips into the countryside were also included, we visited the sea in all 3 countries, some fantastic national parks and drove through wonderful forests. Even the weather was on our side - I could be forgiven for thinking the Baltics are countries where the spring sun creates beautiful dappled patterns whilst glinting through the fresh green forest foliage. It only rains when you are in the bus between destinations! However, there was also a heatwave in Southern Europe, so future travellers should not take too much notice of this comment.

This tour was so much more interesting than I’d expected it to be. Admittedly I knew virtually nothing about the histories of the three countries - other than the fact that they’d all been under Soviet rule - but I hadn’t expected them to be *so* different in terms of their culture, food, architecture, …. I loved the three capital cities - Tallinn’s old town, Riga’s architecture (especially its Art Nouveau buildings) and Vilnius’s university buildings - and also Tartu, Kaunas, Cesis, Jurmala and Klaipeda. I also loved the dunes of the Curonian Spit and walking the Hill of Witches. The Plokstine Cold War Museum visit was chilling (even though I can remember some of the events documented there) and I found visiting the occupation/KGB museums in Tallinn, Riga and especially Vilnius harrowing. Luckily there were much lighter times too: Rundale Palace (where we had a very amusing guide), the beautiful Pazaislis Monastery, the boat trip and walk around Trakai Castle, the amazing sculpture park and reconstruction of Turaida Castle (where I amazed myself by climbing the tower!), the concert in Riga Cathedral, …. So many happy memories of this trip!