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| ESTONIA pic courtsey: National Geographic |
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| LATVIA OLD TOWN STREET |
Baltic Capitals comprises of three countries Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
All the three countries will spellbind you with there charm. The people here are friendly and tourism is the main source of economy here.
Where are they located?
Between the Russia and the Baltic Sea, with Russia's annexe Kaliningrad acting as a bookend for Lithuania. Belarus and Poland complete the perimeter. Running from Estonia in the north to Lithuania in the south, these flat, thickly forested lands are un spoilt, rural and sparsely populated, but all three have buzzing, historic capitals, folkloric traditions that have survived centuries of foreign oppression, and customs and cuisines shaped by a peculiar mix of German, Russian and, in Lithuania, Polish influence.
How do I tell the Balts apart?
For one thing, they speak different languages. Estonian, a vowel-heavy Finno-Ugric tongue (closely related to Finnish, and distantly to Hungarian), has 14 cases and is incomprehensible to English-speakers; it's still worth a listen, though, as it vies with Italian for the title of most beautiful language in Europe. Latvians and Lithuanians, who are descended from old Baltic tribes, speak ancient Indo-European languages Lithuanian is said to be the closest living language to Sanskrit.
The Estonians are famously reserved and tight-lipped: they're also stubborn, loyal, uncommonly good at singing and curiously dismissive of their Baltic neighbours. Latvians are equally musical, but are easy-going, talkative and notoriously indecisive. Compared with the other Balts, the Lithuanians are hot-headed, spontaneous southerners (although Vilnius is no further south than York): poetic, romantic, Latin and impossibly zealous about nature.
So is it cheap?
Yes and no. The cost of many services, including business hotels and car hire, is comparable to prices here, and many Western-manufactured goods, such as designer clothes or nappies, are actually more expensive. Local products, however, are a bargain, as are everyday items and services such as food, drink, taxis and public transport.
Things to know before going to the Baltic
The Baltic countries are traversed by the European highway E67, which in the Baltics is also known as Via Baltica. The highway connects Helsinki and Prague, going through Tallinn, Riga, Panevėžys, Kaunas, and Warsaw.
If travelling by car in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, there are numerous convenient Campsites
many of which are located in picturesque surroundings with access to rivers, lakes or the sea for swimming.
Every year, there are increasingly more cycling routes for safe and healthy travelling in the Baltic countries, for instance, the Euro Velo 13 route along the Baltic coastline.
All three Baltic countries are members of the Schengen Area, therefore European Union citizens are free to move from one country to the other without any internal border controls.
All Baltic countries have one currency – the euro (EUR).
When should I go?
The Baltic States are at their best between April and October; July is the hottest, and most touristy, month. Go in June if you want to witness the "white nights" (in reality, a kind of eerie grey that lingers through the brief night) and the ritualistic St John's Night festivals (23 June), which herald the long-awaited arrival of summer. Bonfires are lit across the countryside, and every village celebrates what was traditionally seen as the longest day of the year by drinking, staring into the flames or singing, dancing and leaping over the bonfire.
And where do I begin?
First-timers should aim for the capitals. All three have historic city centres, and are beautiful in strikingly different ways.
Tallinn, once a member of the Hanseatic League, is thoroughly modern in outlook, but it's also one of the best-preserved medieval cities in the world, with a spiky skyline, orange-topped castle towers and pastel-coloured houses. The wooded upper town has an uplifting, airy feel, with dreamy sea views and seagulls wheeling over the ramparts.
Riga's Old Town is also pretty, but the city's main strengths are its lively nightlife and the astonishing concentration of Jugendstil buildings.
Vilnius, the only inland Baltic capital, lies in a leafy bowl on the confluence of two rivers. Its Old Town is warm and mellow: with ochre-coloured houses, wrought-iron shop signs, extravagant baroque buildings and an enticing labyrinth of inner courtyards, it's less commercial and more bohemian than its northern counterparts.
The capitals are good bases for day or overnight trips. From Vilnius, visit Kaunas, the elegant second city (home to the Museum of Devils), or the windswept Hill of Crosses, in Siauliai; a moving testament to resistance: it was repeatedly bulldozed by the Soviets, but courageous Lithuanians kept rebuilding the mound. From Riga, take a trip to the medieval ruins of Sigulda Castle, the 18th-century Rundale Palace or the Jewish memorial at Salaspils, where giant sculptures commemorate the thousands murdered there by the Nazis.
Estonia's second city, the largely neoclassical university town of Tartu, is seen by many Estonians as the nation's spiritual capital. It was also the site of the country's first song festival, held to celebrate the abolition of serfdom in 1869. For a more exotic experience, go east to the shores of Lake Peipus, Europe's fifth-largest, to see the villages where persecuted Old Believers fleeing Russia found refuge in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But I want to get away from it all
Then you've come to the right place. During the Soviet occupation, much of the countryside was strictly out of bounds to foreigners, so rural areas are still remote and unspoilt. Animal-lovers will find an abundance of rare fauna: Estonia has brown bears and lynx; Latvia has more white storks than the rest of western Europe combined; and Lithuania, where a whopping 11 per cent of the country is protected territory, is home to a few very rare black storks. Perhaps the most remarkable natural treasure is the fragile Curonian Spit, a wild, magical strip of shifting dunes, fishing villages and fantastical wooden carvings that links Kaliningrad and the Lithuanian town of Klaipeda.
You're also guaranteed a bit of peace and quiet: Estonia, for example, has an average population density of 32 people per sq km (the UK packs more than 200 people into the same space), and its main islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, are spectacularly tranquil. While you're out in the wild, don't miss an opportunity to plunge into a rural sauna, where you can beat yourself (or a companion) with traditional birch twigs.
Can I swim in the Baltic sea?
Protests about the pollution of the Baltic helped fuel the Singing Revolution, and while much has been done to clean up the coastal waters, there's still room for improvement. The beaches, on the other hand, are clean and free from crowds, with good facilities and a backdrop of dunes and pine forests.
Three Latvian beaches now have Blue Flag status, including Majori, in Jurmala, a string of small seaside towns dubbed the "Baltic Riviera" for their fine white-sand beaches and beautiful old wooden bungalows. Kremlin bigwigs loved it too, and built a luxurious hotel complex with private beaches, indoor pools and giant banqueting halls; lesser mortals can stay there now, but at a price Estonia's short stretch of beaches is centred around the lively spa town of Pärnu, while Palanga, Lithuania's summer playground, has a splendid long beach with a nudist area, and an infectious party atmosphere in summer.
How do I get around?
Travelling between the Baltic countries is not as easy as you might expect. Riga-based Air Baltic flies between the capitals, but at prices tailored to the business traveller. The railway network is slow and desperately in need of investment, so the locals rely on cheap but comfortable coaches. It takes six hours to travel from Tallinn to Riga and another six to get from Riga to Vilnius. There's also a good network of buses linking the main towns. You won't save much time if you drive: speed limits are strict, and the quality of the main highways is erratic. The car comes into its own when you explore the countryside. There's a good choice of car-hire companies, but be warned: the quality of local driving can be frighteningly bad.
If you're not in a rush, cycling is the best way to get around the flat Baltic countryside the highest point, Estonia's Suur Munamägi (Big Egg Mountain), soars to a towering 318m.
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