TRAVEL David Wickers takes us on a tour of the Baltic capitals
Inspired by our recipes? Now explore the Baltic capitals with travel writer David Wickers
WHY I LOVE THE BALTICS
If you think the word Baltic implies Brutalist architecture and hen and stag parties, think again. The three capital cities of Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius have plenty to offer for a long weekend.
RIGA, LATVIA
The largest and arguably most cosmopolitan of the three Baltic capitals, Riga is both hip and historic, with an elegance and grandeur that prompted Graham Greene to call it the ‘Paris of the North’. UNESCO further acknowledged its cultural legacy by listing the city both for its medieval cobblestoned core, with renovated buildings dating back to its Hanseatic roots, and for its Art Nouveau architecture – the highest concentration in any European city.
SIGHTS TO SEE
Get a cultural fix at the Art Nouveau Museum in Alberta Street and the Riga Bourse gallery in the old stock exchange. Among Riga’s architectural highlights are the impressive House of the Blackheads in the heart of the old town (below). Located on the bank of the river Daugava is the soaring 13th-century steeple of St Peter’s Church (take the lift for a bird’s-eye view), and the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which looks back in anger at Riga’s three occupations, by the Soviets, the Nazis and back to the Soviets again.
WHERE TO EAT
The Central Market, the largest in Europe, is housed in hangars originally designed for Zeppelins. It’s a great spot for gathering a picnic, one best enjoyed in Kronvalda Park. But save room for dinner at Vincents, the classiest restaurant in town, which lists Prince Charles and Elton John among its diners.
GO WITH
Regent Holidays offers a choice of three-, four- and five-star hotels (regent-holidays.co.uk)
TALLINN, ESTONIA
With its UNESCOlisted 13th-century Old Town of well-preserved cobbled streets, Gothic church spires, courtyards and merchants’ houses dating from its role as a key trading port in the Hanseatic League, Tallinn is Instagram (or postcard!) pretty. In some ways it looks more like an inspiration for a Disney fairy tale than the capital of a country that spent almost three centuries under the Russian yoke. Despite its reputation as a party town, it offers so much more than hen and stag dos and cheap booze.
SIGHTS TO SEE
Top spot is the onion-topped Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral (1), which sits above the old town, best approached by the cobbled alley known as the Long Leg up Toompea Hill. A sobering reminder of the Soviet era is the KGB Museum housed in the once heavily bugged Hotel Viru, the only place foreigners were allowed stay. The best views in town are from the 400-foot tower of St Olaf’s church – in the 16th century it was the tallest building in the world. Another, easily missed, highlight is the Estonian Maritime Museum, which sits beneath a massive concrete dome originally built as a hangar for seaplanes. Among the exhibits is a 1930s submarine where you can walk, or rather bend, into its claustrophobic interior.
WHERE TO EAT
Kalamaja, an old industrial district, is now blooming with affordable restaurants and cafés (try Levier for excellent coffee and cakes). For dinner, head to Leib (3) in the old town, or F-Hoone, which occupies part of the old railway buildings and warehouses in Telliskivi (the so-called Creative City).
GO WITH
Easyjet Holidays (easyjet.com/en/holidays) features the elegant Von Stackelberg among other hotels.
VILNIUS, LITHUANIA
The most southerly of this trio of east European capitals Vilnius (6), unlike the other two, sits inland, 200 miles from the coast, straddling the banks of the river Neris. The main neighbourhood of interest lies just to the south of the Gediminas Tower, part of the once mighty 15th-century castle. It’s worth climbing up the hill, or riding the funicular, for the great views.
SIGHTS TO SEE
The compact old town is a handsome mish-mash of architectural styles from Gothic to Baroque, and a density of churches, arguably topped by the 18th-century neoclassical cathedral, with a could-be-Greek columned portico, and St Casimir’s, which the Soviets previously turned into a museum of atheism. There are also two art museums, one with classic works, the other contemporary.
WHERE TO EAT
Restaurant Lokys (4), which dates from the 15th century, specialises in Lithuanian dishes, which means lots of meat and potato with game a speciality – wild boar, elk and even beaver stew.
GO WITH
Kirker (kirkerholidays.com), which features the Relais & Chateaux Stikliai hotel and restaurant in the former Jewish quarter.
TALES OF THREE CITIES
In addition to individual city-break packages to these three Baltic cities, which are all served by low-cost carriers, several companies offer tours that encompass all three, some with detours to take in interesting coastal spots, such as Parnu in Estonia, and national parks including Curonian Spit (5) in Lithuania and Lahemaa (2) in Estonia, home to wolves, bears and other wildlife.
Regent Holidays (regentholidays.co.uk) can arrange such itineraries with a choice of three-, four- and five-star accommodation. All of these cities also feature traditional Christmas markets.
Art, architecture, culture... the Baltic capitals have plenty to offer for a long weekend