In September 2024 I went on another trip by World Insight, a German travel agency for group trips. This time it should be Eastern Europe, since that region has been successfully ignored by me over all the years. The Baltic states have always triggered interest in me, just because they are so different countries with their own cultures.
When I was a child, these countries were part of the Soviet Union, and they were among the first to quit that huge empire. Who knows how the future looks like for these small countries? As a song in the 80s suggested: "Besuchen Sie Europa, solange es noch steht (Visit Europe while it is still standing)".
Overview of the complete trip
Of course, you cannot visit every corner in 15 days, even if those countries are among the smaller ones in Europe. For each country, we had a mere 5 days to explore, and those days should pass faster than expected.
The trip started at the top in Tallin, the capital of Estonia. We then headed towards the southwest and reached the island Saaremaa. Then our route continued via Pärnu towards the southern border, where reached Latvia.
In Latvia we first had a stopover in Cēsis (slightly to the east), then we drove in southwest direction towards Rīga, having another stop in Sigulda.
After a few days in Rīga, we left the country in southern direction, reaching Lithuania.
We had some stopovers in the north, then reached Klaipėda, from where we went on the Curonian spit. At its southern end (on the Lithuanian side), we had some sunny days in Nida. Then we got back on the bus and traveled through the central parts of the country to Kaunas.
The trip got to its end in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, and nearby locations.
You can choose a part of this trip by clicking on the flag:
