the baltic states: HELSINKI, ESTONIA, LATVIA & LITHUANIA

• Enjoy the old towns of Tallinn and Riga, with their unique cityscapes of medieval merchant houses, gabled spires and neo-classical palaces

• Discover the distinctive styles of the Baltic States, from medieval castles to the emergence of Nordic modernism and Marimekko

• Appreciate the region’s long history, stretching from its pre-Christian roots to the Singing Revolution of 1989

• Understand the legacy of the Cold War, including a secret bunker in the forests of Latvia and Vilnius’s excellent Museum of the Occupations

• Visit less-touristed towns, including Tartu with its traditional architecture, the medieval capital of Kaunas, and Trakai, home to the autochthonous Karai people

SATURDAY 29 AUGUST 2026 – ARRIVAL (D)

We assemble in the lobby of our hotel in Helsinki at 2.00pm, to meet our tour leaders and take a walking tour. Helsinki’s fascinating past saw it rise from a minor outpost in the Swedish Empire to a provincial capital in Russia’s west, becoming a flourishing modern centre of architecture and design. In addition to the imposing nineteenth-century buildings that line the harbour, we admire Helsinki’s more recent contributions to architecture, from the Lutheran cathedral dominating the skyline to Saarinen’s Central Station and the award-winning designs of the Kamppi Chapel or “Chapel of Silence”. In the evening, we enjoy dinner together in a local restaurant. Overnight Helsinki. NB: while no arrival transfers are included in the tour cost, it is a simple taxi ride of ca 30 minutes/€50 from the airport into the city centre. Contact us for further information.

SUNDAY 30 AUGUST – ART & ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI (B)

Modern Finnish identity is closely linked to distinctive styles of art and architecture that emerged in the late nineteenth century, bringing to the fore elements of folk culture long rejected by the Swedish and Russian ruling class. After a talk in the hotel, we explore this heritage today at the Atheneum, the Finnish National Gallery. Its collection showcases how Finnish artists, from the Romantics to the moderns, adapted Western European styles to their own aesthetic vision. After lunch at leisure, we continue to the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, with a building designed by Stephen Holl to reflect the proportions of the human body and the Golden Mean. Following a visit of its well-regarded collections and temporary exhibitions, there is time to stroll through the adjacent gardens to Alvar Aalto’s beautiful Finlandia Hall. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Helsinki.

MONDAY 31 AUGUST – TO ESTONIA (B, D)

We check out of our hotel this morning and travel by private coach to the ferry terminal. Here, we board a ferry for the approx. 2.5-hour journey across the Baltic to Tallinn. There are cafes on board, allowing for a simple lunch at leisure. NB: group members must move their own luggage to/from the coach, and when boarding/disembarking the modern and accessible ferry. Arriving in Tallinn, we are met by a private coach and send our luggage on to our hotel, while we stretch our legs on a stroll of the revitalised harbourfront warehouse district. Following the Livonian Crusades, when modern-day Estonia and Latvia were conquered by Teutonic knights and Cistercian monks (with the pope’s blessing), Tallinn flourished as the northern outpost of the Hanseatic League, the trade federation that dominated the Baltic and North Seas. Continuing on foot into the nearby Old Town, we visit the Niguliste Museum. Originally built as a thirteenth-century church, it preserves a collection of medieval artefacts and a fascinating fragment showing the Dance of Death, a popular but little-surviving theme in medieval art. There is the opportunity to ascend to the viewing platform for the panorama, before we walk to our hotel together and check in. Later, there is dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Tallinn.

TUESDAY 01 SEPTEMBER – IN TALLINN’S OLD TOWN (B)

Tallinn’s name is a contraction of the Estonian for “Danish castle”, and from the eleventh century there was indeed a castle here. Now UNESCO World Heritage-listed for its beautifully preserved streetscapes of Hanseatic merchant houses and Gothic churches, Tallinn has a complex history between Danish, German, Swedish and Russian empires. These can be traced in its architecture, as we discover on a walking tour this morning, from the Hanseatic Guild House and palaces of Tallinn’s main square to the Gothic churches that were stripped of their decorations when the town converted to Swedish Lutheranism. After lunch at leisure, the rest of the afternoon is free for independent explorations. You might like to visit the Virus KGB Museum or Kiek in de Kök, a museum in the bastions of the castle. We meet this evening for a talk in our hotel. Overnight Tallinn.

WEDNESDAY 02 SEPTEMBER – ART & ESTONIA (B, D)

We check out this morning and visit two important art sites in Tallinn. Kadriorg Palace was commissioned by Peter the Great as a summer residence for his second wife Catherine I. Surrounded by a garden of fountains, hedges and flowerbeds and modelled on Versailles, it exhibits paintings from Russia and Western Europe. Close by is the striking contemporary architecture of the Kumu Art Museum, housing Estonian art from the eighteenth century to the present. After time for lunch at leisure, we continue to Tartu. After checking in to our hotel, we enjoy dinner together in a local restaurant. Overnight Tartu.

THURSDAY 03 SEPTEMBER – TARTU (B)

Tartu is often considered Estonia’s cultural capital: the site of its oldest university, national museum, first national theatre and first singing festival. But the university was also a key intellectual centre for Latvians, giving the city a strong historical connection to Latvia, and was among the first Baltic provinces annexed by Russia in the 1700s. Today we explore the city on foot on a walking tour, including the historic buildings of the university and the city’s traditional timbered houses. After lunch at leisure, we visit the Estonian National Museum, a striking contemporary building whose exhibits move from the region’s pre-history to the emergence of modern Estonian culture. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Tartu.

FRIDAY 04 SEPTEMBER – A SOVIET BUNKER & A MEDIEVAL CASTLE (B, L)

We check out this morning and depart by coach for the Gauja National Park. Here we have a guided tour of a Soviet-era nuclear bunker, built for the leaders of the Communist party and Riga’s military command. It boasted independent power, recycled water and oxygen supplies, but remained a secret until after the end of Communism. Following lunch in a local restaurant, we continue to the Castle of the Livonian Order in Sigulda. This is often considered one of Latvia’s most beautiful sites, built in the 1200s but expanded in the fifteenth century when it became the residence of the Lord Marshall of the Livonian Order. This branch of the Teutonic Knights governed medieval Latvia. Continuing to Riga, we check into our hotel. Your tour leaders can make suggestions for a simple independent dinner. Overnight Riga.

SATURDAY 05 SEPTEMBER – RIGA OLD TOWN (B)

Riga is a gem of the Baltics, with a delightful World Heritage-listed Old Town. After a talk in our hotel, we take a walking tour this morning of its picturesque squares, Gothic-style St Peter’s Church, castle, the famous Cat House and the medieval guildhouses of merchants and craftsmen. We time our visit of the cathedral to coincide with the daily organ recital. After lunch at leisure, we travel by private coach to the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, where 118 historical buildings from around Latvia have been moved to the lightly-wooded shores of a lake. Latvians’ connections to lakes and forests are an important part of the national culture. Returning to Riga, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Riga.

SUNDAY 06 SEPTEMBER – ART & ARCHITECTURE IN RIGA (B)

We begin today at the Latvian National Museum of Art, which has a comprehensive collection of Latvian art and was specifically designed as an elegant “temple of art”. In fact, it is the first custom-designed gallery in the Baltic region. After a leisurely lunch, there is the option of free time or to continue with Pēteris to a nearby neighbourhood. During 1901-1906, many of its buildings were constructed in an Art Nouveau style and they are today well preserved. We meet this evening for a talk in our hotel. Overnight Riga.

MONDAY 07 SEPTEMBER – RUNDĀLE PALACE & THE HILL OF THE CROSSES (B, L)

We check out and travel towards Kaunas by coach, calling in first at Rundāle Palace. Built as the Rococo residence of Latvia’s Dukes of Courland and Semigallia, its lovingly restored interiors are the masterpiece of Johann Graff, a leading German interior designer of the eighteenth century. After our visit of the palace and its grounds, we enjoy lunch at the on-site restaurant before crossing into Lithuania. We stop at the Hill of the Crosses, originally a memorial for those who fell in the 1831 rebellion against Russia. In the twentieth century, crosses and funerary monuments continued to be placed here to commemorate those who perished as a result of the struggle against Communism. Continuing to Kaunas, we check into our hotel. The evening is at leisure, and your tour leaders can assist with dining suggestions. Overnight Kaunas.

TUESDAY 08 SEPTEMBER – KAUNAS (B)

For much of its history, Kaunas looked to Central Europe for its political and diplomatic connections, rather than to the north. This was the case from the time of the medieval Duchy of Lithuania right through to its conjunction with the Kingdom of Poland in the sixteenth century. Kaunas is Lithuania’s second largest city and was the inter-war capital in the modern era. On a walking tour this morning, we discover this modern history preserved in public squares and buildings, from Freedom Avenue to the 1930s-style Resurrection Church. Kaunas is known for the elegance of its Renaissance and baroque Old Town, and we also enjoy an opportunity to ride on one of its historic funiculars. In the afternoon, we continue to the M.K. Ċiurlionis Museum of Art, dedicated to this modernist composer and painter. His works are closely aligned with the European Symbolism movement. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Kaunas.

WEDNESDAY 09 SEPTEMBER – TRADITION IN TRAKAI (B, L, SUPPER)

We check out and travel to Trakai. Located within a national park that overlooks Lake Galve, Trakai was the centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fourteenth century, and in the fifteenth century an island castle was built here to celebrate the defeat of some crusading Teutonic Knights. Trakai is also the home of the Karaites, a Turkic group invited to Lithuania as bodyguards in the fifteenth century. Only a few hundred Karaites remain today, dedicated to their Jewish beliefs, language, architecture and cuisine. We enjoy an opportunity to encounter this important ethnic minority over lunch with a Karaite family. Continuing to Vilnius, we check into our hotel and enjoy drinks and snacks together for a light supper. Overnight Vilnius.

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER – IN VILNIUS (B)

Vilnius’s Gediminas’ Hill was fortified in the tenth century, and by the fourteenth century the settlement was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. We discover Lithuania’s capital and largest city this morning on a walking tour, including the medieval castle and neo-classical cathedral. Its sculptures highlight Old Testament prophets as well as the New Testament evangelists, fitting for a city that Napoleon called “the Jerusalem of the North” due to its vibrant Jewish population. Napoleon stayed in the Bishop’s Palace on his way to Moscow in 1812. In the afternoon, we visit the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. Lithuania was occupied by the Soviets for fifty years, and the museum is located in the former KGB headquarters. It offers a sobering account of the struggles of partisans and the victims of Russian arrests, deportations and executions. In the later afternoon, there is the option to undertake a walking tour with Pēteris of Vilnius’s Soviet-era architecture, or to visit the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania with Mindy. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Vilnius. 

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER – ART OF LITHUANIA (B, D)

We commence today with a visit to the National Gallery of Art, an important modern home for the Lithuanian national collection. There is a focus on modernist and contemporary Lithuanian painting and sculpture, and the decorative art collections are also represented. The afternoon is at leisure, and if you are feeling energetic you might like to make the short but steep climb (which includes stairs) up to the Hill of the Three Crosses for a panorama over the city. We meet this evening for a farewell dinner, an opportunity to discuss our impressions of the Baltic countries that we have visited. Overnight Vilnius.

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER – DEPARTURE (B)

Tour arrangements conclude after breakfast in our hotel. Vilnius airport is well served by flights to European international hubs, such as Istanbul, Helsinki, Vienna and London airports. While no departure transfers are included in the cost of the tour, the airport is a simple 20-minute taxi ride from the centre and you can expect to pay approx. €40. Contact us for more information.

In addition to quality of service, the hotels on this tour have been chosen for their central locations in these regional capitals and room size. Nevertheless, their style of décor varies from simple to traditional and even hyper-modern.

Radisson Blu Plaza 4* Helsinki, 2 nights

https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-blu-helsinki

Hotel Telegraaf Autograph Collection 5* Tallinn, 2 nights

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/tllak-hotel-telegraaf-autograph-collection/overview/

Art Hotel Pallas 3* Superior Tartu, 2 nights

https://pallas.tartuhotels.ee/en/hotell/

Hotel Neiburgs 4* Riga, 3 nights

https://neiburgs.com/

Hotel Daugirdas 4* Kaunas, 2 nights

https://www.daugirdas.lt/en/

Radisson Collection Astorija 5* Vilnius, 3 nights

https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-collection-vilnius-astorija

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 14 nights’ accommodation at 3* Superior, 4* and 5* hotels in regional capitals

• All breakfasts and 7 lunches or dinners, including drinks

• All ground transport, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• Talks by and expertise of an Australian tour leader

• Commentary and tours by and expertise of a Latvian guide throughout

A $1,500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

A second deposit of $2,000 is due on 01 May 2026.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 15 June 2026.

When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept our terms and conditions. You can read our terms and conditions here.