Do they speak English?

Latvia is the strongest on the index, which surprises people who assume Estonia leads on anything digital. In practice the gap barely shows: in Tallinn, as in Riga, you can go a full week without a language problem of any kind. Estonia's digital economy has pushed English deep into everyday working life.

Estonia and Lithuania follow, a little way behind Latvia and close to each other. In Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas, staff in hospitality and retail speak good English as a matter of course.

All three countries dub very little television, subtitling instead, which is one of the quiet reasons English proficiency across northern Europe is so high. People have been reading English dialogue since childhood.

The clearest predictor is age. Anyone educated after independence in 1991 learned English at school, and most speak it well. People educated before that learned Russian as their compulsory second language, and often speak little or no English.

This shows up in practice as a generational split at the counter. The young person in the coffee shop will switch to English instantly. The older person at a rural post office may not. In that situation, patience, a phone translator and pointing all work fine, and people are almost always willing to help.

A note on Russian: it is widely understood, especially in Latvia and eastern Estonia, but opening a conversation in Russian is not a neutral choice here. If you happen to speak it, wait to be invited. English is the safer opener everywhere, including with people whose English is weak.

Rural petrol stations, village shops and small-town bus stations. Regional bus drivers. Older taxi drivers, though app-based rides remove the problem entirely. Some rural guesthouse owners, who will nonetheless be delighted to see you and will manage.

Official paperwork, signage in smaller museums, and restaurant menus outside the capitals can be local-language only. Google Translate's camera mode handles all of this, and works offline if you download the language packs before you travel.

Practically speaking, none of these are trip-threatening. They are the moments when a trip becomes slightly more of an adventure than you had planned.

Lithuanian and Latvian are Baltic languages, the only two survivors of their branch of Indo-European. Lithuanian is famously archaic and retains grammatical features linguists otherwise have to reconstruct. The two are related to each other but not mutually intelligible.

Estonian is not related to either. It is Finno-Ugric, a cousin of Finnish and a distant relative of Hungarian, with fourteen grammatical cases and no future tense. An Estonian and a Latvian have no shared native language at all.

This matters for one practical reason: do not assume a phrase learned in Riga will work in Tallinn. They are as different as Italian and Turkish.

Thank you carries the most weight for the least effort. Lithuanian: aciu, which sounds close to a sneeze. Latvian: paldies. Estonian: aitah.

Hello: labas in Lithuanian, sveiki in Latvian, tere in Estonian. Please: prasau, ludzu, palun.

That is genuinely enough. Nobody expects a visitor to speak these languages, and the reaction to a foreigner attempting aciu or aitah is disproportionately warm. Attempting more than that will usually get you an amused correction and a switch to English.

The language question mostly disappears with a local guide, and not only for translation. The useful part is the explaining: why a building looks the way it does, what an older person in a village is actually telling you, what a menu item is before it arrives.

It matters most outside the capitals, which is also where the region is at its best. The old towns are easy in English. Setomaa, Latgale, the Lithuanian countryside and the fishing villages of the Curonian Spit are where having someone with you changes the trip.

Can you get by with only English in the Baltics?

Yes, comfortably. In Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, hotels, restaurants, museums, taxis and transport all operate in English. You will not need any local language for a normal trip.

Which Baltic country speaks the best English?

Latvia, on the EF English Proficiency Index. Its 2025 edition put Latvia sixteenth in the world, ahead of Estonia at thirty-first and Lithuania at thirty-third. The practical difference between them is small.

Do older people speak English in the Baltics?

Often not. Anyone educated before 1991 learned Russian as their compulsory second language. English proficiency is strongly generational, so you may find a language gap at a rural post office that does not exist in a city cafe.

Should I speak Russian in the Baltics?

Russian is widely understood, particularly in Latvia and eastern Estonia, but it is not a neutral choice given the history and the present. English is the better opener everywhere. If Russian turns out to be the only shared language, let the other person suggest it.

Are Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian similar?

Lithuanian and Latvian are related Baltic languages but are not mutually intelligible. Estonian is unrelated to both, a Finno-Ugric language closer to Finnish. Do not expect a phrase from one country to work in the next.

How do you say thank you in the Baltic languages?

Aciu in Lithuanian, paldies in Latvian, aitah in Estonian. These three words, plus hello, will carry you further socially than any other effort you could make.

• EF English Proficiency Index: Latvia
• EF English Proficiency Index: Estonia
• EF English Proficiency Index: Lithuania
• EF English Proficiency Index: about the index

• Are the Baltics safe?
• Cash or card in the Baltics?
• The Baltics without a car
• Plan a custom trip