In October 2021, I visited Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania with a friend. At this point, these countries had the highest rates of covid in Europe and just a couple of days before our flight Latvia announced that they would be going into lockdown for a month. Regardless, we'd only spend one day there during the lockdown and had each been in various countries during lockdowns so this didn't faze us. On top of this, it was forecast to rain for the duration of our trip, despite blue skies the previous week. We had very mixed weather, but one consistency was the beauty of the autumnal hues throughout.
Riga, Latvia
I was slightly apprehensive about visiting Riga, as a couple of friends and family members had visited and didn't enjoy themselves, however we managed to find flights from London to Riga for only £8 (with just a backpack) so decided to see it for ourselves. The city is fairly small and after arriving in the afternoon, we managed to make our way around the old town in just a couple of hours, enjoying the colourful buildings and interesting architecture. The city was very quiet (likely due to the impending lockdown) and different parts were reminiscent of Germany, Austria, and Russia. My favourite sight this day was definitely House of the Black Heads, which can be seen in the left hand picture above.
We managed to try the local beer, however all of the restaurants closed early, meaning that we couldn't try the local food on our first day. The second day in Riga was spent exploring the city further, including the art district (where it suddenly poured down on us) and the Orthodox Church, which was my favourite monument in the city as the artwork in the interior was intrinsically detailed. It was also on this day that we tried the Baltic coffee chain 'Caffeine', which was a core part of our trip and offered a great selection of food and drinks. We also took this opportunity to learn about the Baltic States' history and were shocked by how tragic and harrowing it was; I'd truly encourage you to look into it if you haven't already as it is very fascinating and involves occupation by both the Nazis and the Soviet Union and a peaceful demonstration in which citizens held hands across the three states in a fight for independence (termed 'the Baltic Way'). Two things that impressed me about Riga were that almost everyone that we interacted with (including pharmacists, baristas, and delivery drivers) spoke English very well and the city was extremely clean. Our last night was spent in lockdown, with a takeaway in one hand and Netflix in the other.
The following morning we left for Vilnius, which is only a 4 hour bus journey from Riga. That said, we very nearly missed our coach as my phone couldn't locate the coach station and we arrived with just one minute to spare after asking a local on the street for directions. Of course, despite it having been grey and rainy since our arrival, on the morning of our departure there was not a cloud in the sky... Nonetheless, we waved Riga goodbye and set off on a very fancy coach with plenty of legroom and individual TVs (with a great selection of movies) headed for Lithuania. This journey passed surprisingly quickly and before we knew it, we'd arrived in Vilnius.
Vilnius, Lithuania
Shortly after arriving in Vilnius, we had two realisations: 1) Vilnius was much colder than Riga; and 2) this was a much bigger city than Riga was. Luckily, one of my friends from Imperial is Lithuanian and living in Vilnius, so we went for a drink with her in Spunka bar that evening. I'm very accustomed to travelling to rogue places and using Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor to find my way around, but there's nothing like having a local point out the best spots to visit and the customs. In fact, it was on my friend's advice that we ended up having a beer within a prison, which I will elaborate on shortly.
As aforementioned, Vilnius is significantly bigger than Riga and although we managed to see everything that we wanted to, we walked for many hours to explore the city. I really loved Vilnius and found the city beautiful, with vibrant churches and lots of artwork, as shown in the pictures above. Similarly to Riga, the city was very clean and although it was much colder, we got very lucky with the weather, managing to avoid the rain and even getting some sunshine! My favourite areas in Vilnius were the Old Town by Gates of Dawn and the Town Hall Square (in the central picture above), mainly due to the stunning buildings. It was in the Town Hall Square that we witnessed a Guinness world record being made: the longest duration of full body contact with ice (at just over 3 hours)!
I'd strongly recommend climbing the Gediminas Castle Tower as from here you get an amazing view of the city, however my favourite memory of Vilnius was definitely visiting Lukiškės Prison Bar and enjoying a beer inside prison grounds as it felt very surreal. This location is a former prison as well as a filming location for Season 4 of Stranger Things. Although it was still used as a prison only 2 years ago, it now is the host of prison tours (including night tours) and boasts a bar in the courtyard where people can enjoy a pint. En route to the prison, we passed the Museum of Genocide Victims, where victims' names are inscribed into the stone and nearby there's a building with a brief history of Lithuania on the exterior, which was very educational and fascinating.
Having been in lockdown and thus not able to try much Latvian cuisine, we were very keen to make the most of Lithuanian cuisine. Luckily, Vilnius did not disappoint as Lithuanian cuisine was offered in abundance. One of my favourite things when visiting new countries is trying authentic dishes that the locals eat and I really enjoyed the local dishes, though they were very rich and heavy. In the left hand picture above, we tried 'Zeppelins', which are made with potatoes and meat and are extremely filling. Similarly, the meat-filled dumplings in the picture on the right hand side were delicious but heavy. Although I ate a couple of delicious soups in Vilnius, I wasn't a massive fan of the sweet rye bread (which encased my soup in the central picture above) and due to my dislike of herring and beetroot, a few local dishes were off the table.
Regardless, I ate very well in Vilnius, and loved the traditional doughnuts with strawberry jam as seen in the picture on the left. Of course, we had to try the local brunch spots too and I'd strongly recommend Sugamour, where the orange juice was very refreshing and the Eggs Royale did not disappoint, as well as Holy Bagel, which had pancakes to die for. As aforementioned, for a lively atmosphere I'd recommend the prison bar or Spunka, however for a quieter drink I really enjoyed the Beer Library, and was given samples of local beers to try before committing to a single choice. It was also in Vilnius that I had my first mulled wine of the year, and rest assured that it most definitely did not disappoint.
Tallinn, Estonia
Having finished two more ACA exams in early December, I decided to celebrate with a trip to Tallinn before Christmas. I had serious doubts about whether I'd be able to go as Omicron cases had been spreading at an alarming rate globally and many of my friends in London had tested positive for covid, however I cancelled most of my plans the week before in order to ensure that I could go.
Luckily, no restrictions were put in place to prevent the trip and we were able to visit this underrated city. Tallinn is beautiful, with a picturesque old town and very accessible public transport. On arrival, we simply used Apple Pay to take a tram straight to the old town (where our Airbnb was located) and thereafter everything was in walking distance, which was very convenient (and cheap)! Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, restaurants and bars had to close at 11pm, however this didn't affect us greatly as we were only visiting for a few days.
That said, these few days were the coldest (and shortest) I'd experienced throughout the whole year, at -9°C and with only 6 hours of daylight each day, but we were extremely lucky to have snowfall during our trip. Despite not having an itinerary, there was plenty to see and do in this stunning city, and as we visited the various churches and viewpoints, we fell in love with Tallinn. Despite its controversy, my favourite landmark was Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which is a Russian orthodox cathedral situated directly in front of the Parliament of Estonia and was built whilst Estonia was part of the Russian Empire. From here there are very nice viewpoints and it is easy to explore the city.
I'd strongly recommend visiting Telliskivi Creative City, which reminded me greatly of LX Factory in Lisbon and is made up of many small shops, bars, and restaurants surrounded by art and sculptures at every corner. This was a real highlight of the trip and was close to Balti Jaam market, which was cool and gave us a taste of the local produce. On the other hand, the district of Kalamaja displays some colourful, wooden 'Tallinn houses', which were built in the 1920s and 30s and are very well-preserved. The city is filled with various museums, however many are closed at the beginning of the week over the Winter months and there is a hop on-hop off bus, which also operates at a reduced frequency over Winter, so it is worth planning these things in advance if you would like to explore these options. Regardless, there is plenty to do in Tallinn, and my favourite activity we did (other than climbing up a steep incline to avoid walking along the path for an additional 10 minutes) was definitely ice skating, as despite it being my third time ice skating within a week, the ice was perfect and it was very picturesque. It is also possible to get a ferry to Helsinki for a day trip or weekend, however we didn't look into this due to our time constraints.
Tallinn's Christmas markets are renowned and for good reason; there are many stalls with a variety of gifts to buy and foods to try. I bought a bracelet for my mum and we tried a lot of food, including elk sausage with baked potatoes and sauerkraut (which was much sweeter than usual), mulled wine, mini pancakes, and crepes, which were all delicious. Furthermore, there were bins everywhere to dispose of any rubbish and in general Tallinn was a very clean city. Everything we ate in Tallinn was delicious (despite being 'unsophisticated' to quote a French traveller we met), and I'd recommend the wild boar stew from 'Old Estonia' on the square, the eggs Brooklyn from So Brooklyn in Balti Jaam market, lattés from Caffeine (which I had missed dearly), and brunch from Kohvik Must Puudel, which was recommended by a local. Finally, I'd recommend trying one of the local beers at Hell Hunt, which is thought to be Estonia's first pub, with a very cosy vibe and was well frequented by us during our stay and was where we met some other travellers.
Overall, I'd strongly recommend visiting the Baltic States as they have so much to offer, including a fascinating history, delicious food, and beautiful cities. They are extremely underrated at the moment, which allows trips to these countries to be cheap compared to more popular destinations, and as this region experiences four distinct seasons, it would be great to visit in Summer or Spring to explore the countries in another ambiance.
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