Baltic Capital Cities

A lovely trip exploring three very different capital cities plus an overnight in a most unusual manor house! Our guide Simona was excellent, totally organised, VERY knowledgeable, would definitely recommend this trip which could be undertaken at any time of year.

Having to spend 5 hours in a small service station whilst the agent decided what to do about providing a coach that was in working order spoilt what would have been an excellent holiday. The guide did the best she could for us, it seemed to be the ‘office’ that was the problem.

Three fabulous countries, a great itinerary and a most wonderful tour leader, Signe of Riga - knowledgeable, approachable & personable. I’d recommend a couple of nights in Helsinki at the end by getting the ferry from Tallinn, and an extra night in Vilnius at the beginning. Excellent accommodation & sights throughout the trip & a lovely group. The transport was comfortable and spacious & the cuisine was fantastic.

I really enjoyed the trip and the tour leader was absolutely excellent and did a brilliant job. Just a few minor thoughts about the itinerary. - We just had a day and a half in Riga. It would have been great to have a little more time there. Is the visit to the Manor necessary?, would it allow more time in Riga if the manor was not included? - It was not possible to visit the KGB Museum in Vilnius, so a visit to the Museum of the Occupation in Riga with a guide was included instead - this was excellent and could be considered as a regular part of the trip. - We stopped at Parnu on the way to Tallinn, it was a lovely place and it would have been great to have slightly more time there, I think we only had about 1 hr 15 mins there, so it was rather rushed. (We had been given the choice between a 9.00 am or 9.30 am departure from the hotel; it may have been useful to know that the trade-off would be less time in Parnu with the 9.30 am time that was picked.) Regarding accommodation, I thought that the hotels in Vilnius and Riga were great (particularly the Riga one). However, I had a real issue with the mattress at the Park Inn Hotel in Tallinn, it was far too soft, to the extent that I needed to take painkillers in the morning as my back was so sore. I spoke to the hotel staff twice after the first night, but I was told that unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. I mentioned it to the tour leader, and after she spoke to the hotel staff, the hotel brought a different mattress, so I was able to sleep on the floor on this mattress. I finally got a proper night's sleep on the third night of my stay at the hotel. The two nights without much sleep and in pain when I got up really impacted my enjoyment of the time in Tallinn, and it was disappointing that the hotel only took action when the tour leader raised the issue, not when I had done so twice. Flight arrangements - when I booked the holiday I had asked about flights, the outbound flight time I was given had me arriving in Vilnius at 11.30 pm on the Saturday evening, when I queried the time of arrival with the assistant (ie. that it arrived after the starting meeting), I was told this was the recommended flight. (if you record phone calls this can be checked). I then booked my own flights but used the flight provided by the Explore staff member, expecting that many of the group would be on the same flight. I was very surprised and disappointed to find out this was not the case. I was the only one on that flight. 11 out of 14 of the group had been there for the welcome meeting and following dinner, and I felt at a disadvantage in the group when I joined them the following day. I would have rated the trip overall as excellent, had it not been for the hotel in Tallinn and the information provided about flights.

Well balanced introduction to three quite different countries for the first-time visitor, enhanced by excellent tour-leader and other guides.

Fascinating countries which this tour lets you dip in to. The trip is mostly city based with the addition of a night in the countryside at Pakruojis Manor, quirky and beautiful accommodation, the beer tasting here was especially memorable. The accommodation is all of a good standard with the locations in Vilnius and Riga being very central. The only downside to the trip was the group tour leader, it seemed she may have been a last minute replacement and she wasn’t really up to the standard required although, not for the want of trying. The local guides provided were all very good. I would recommend The Baltic Capital Cities tour.

This tour is not a full on pace as advertised. There was a lot of free time which had I known I would have done much more research beforehand to fill the days up instead of wandering around looking for points of interest,

3 countries in 7 days was always going to give just a glimpse of each country but so much was learned about the history and culture and the itinerary in each capital city was excellent giving plenty of time to visit key locations as well as relax In cafes and restaurants or just wander.