Photo: Kaupo Kalda / Visit EstoniaThree capitals by rail
The three capitals are a few hours apart and every hotel on this route is inside the old town. A car would only be something to worry about.
- Self-guided
- Guided, on request
The route.
- By train
- By car
Day by day.
Daylight is shown for a departure on 12 April, calculated for each day's own location. Ask us and we will run the figures for your dates.
Arrive into the baroque
Transfer from the airport to a hotel inside the old town. The route book's orientation loop takes about ninety minutes: Cathedral Square, the university courtyards, and Gediminas hill for the roofs at dusk.
- The largest surviving baroque old town in northern Europe
- Vilnius University's thirteen linked courtyards
- Gediminas hill at dusk
- A ninety-minute orientation loop on foot
Užupis, and the Jerusalem of the North
Before 1941 about a third of Vilnius was Jewish and the city was known as the Jerusalem of the North. The Great Synagogue is gone and the ghetto gates are marked in the road surface. The route book tells you what stood where, which is the only way to read the quarter now.
- The Republic of Užupis and its constitution
- The old Jewish quarter, read with the route book
- The MO Museum of modern Lithuanian art
- Coffee on Literatų, the street of writers
An island castle, half an hour out
The suburban train to Trakai takes thirty-five minutes and runs most of the day. A red-brick castle on an island in a lake, reached by a wooden footbridge, and kibinai pastries from the Karaim community that has been here since 1397.
- Trakai island castle and its footbridge
- The Karaim quarter and its three-windowed houses
- Kibinai, straight from the oven
- A lake walk before the train back
Photo: © Grotthuss Boutique Hotel
Grotthuss Boutique Hotel
An old town hotel with brick-vaulted rooms and a gated inner courtyard, about fifteen minutes on foot from the railway station.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
North by train
Riga is the largest city in the Baltics and the old town is compact enough to cross in fifteen minutes. The House of the Blackheads was rebuilt from rubble in 1999 on its fourteenth-century footprint, and the Dome Cathedral holds the fourth largest organ in Europe. The route book marks a weekday recital if the timing works.
- The through train north, seat reserved
- The House of the Blackheads, rebuilt 1999
- The Three Brothers, Riga's oldest houses
- Your luggage already at the hotel
The densest Art Nouveau on earth
A walking day. Alberta iela and the Eisenstein facades in the morning, the central market in its five zeppelin hangars at lunch, and the quiet wooden suburb of Kalnciems in the afternoon if you still have legs.
- Alberta iela and the Eisenstein masks
- The Riga Art Nouveau Centre, Alberta iela 12
- The central market in five zeppelin hangars
- Kalnciems, the wooden quarter across the river
Castles in the Gauja valley
An hour north on the suburban train into the Gauja national park. Turaida's red-brick tower over the valley, the ruins at Sigulda, and a cable car strung across the gorge between them.
- Turaida castle and its tower over the valley
- The Sigulda ruins and the sandstone caves
- The cable car across the Gauja gorge
- Forest paths, and the train back before dark
Photo: © TRIBE Riga City Centre
TRIBE Riga City Centre
A design hotel in an Art Nouveau building beside the National Museum of Art, about ten minutes on foot from the old town.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
Across to the north
Tallinn's walls, towers and merchant houses are largely intact, which is rare anywhere and almost unheard of this far north. The route book's evening loop goes up to Toompea for the two viewing platforms, then down the Short Leg passage into the lower town for dinner.
- Express coach north, seat reserved
- Toompea and the two viewing platforms
- The town wall and its towers
- Dinner in the lower town
Photo: © Rixwell Collection Savoy Boutique Hotel
Rixwell Collection Savoy Boutique Hotel
An Art Deco hotel on Suur-Karja inside the old town, three minutes on foot from Town Hall Square.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
Kalamaja, then the airport
A last morning. The wooden quarter of Kalamaja and the Telliskivi factory yards behind the station, then the airport, which is four kilometres from the old town and one of the quickest in Europe to get out of.
- Kalamaja and its painted wooden houses
- Telliskivi creative city in the old factory yards
- Balti Jaam market for a last hour
- Tallinn airport, ten minutes away
Self-guided by design. Prefer a guide along? We can plan a private, guided version of this trip on request.
Request your quote.
Tell us your dates and party size. We'll reply within one working day, with a private, fully-costed version of Three capitals by rail to follow within two.
within two working days
Prices shown in USD for reference. You're billed in EUR.
- Private trip: just your party, your pace
- Flexible dates, year-round departures
- No payment taken to enquire
- A $328 pp deposit holds your dates
- Protected under the EU Package Travel Directive
Priced by party size.
- Per person
- $1,281(≈ €1,095)
- Total for 2
- $2,562(≈ €2,190)
- Deposit to book
- $655(≈ €560)
- Balance, 21 days out
- $1,907(≈ €1,630)
Calculated from the same per-person rates as the table below. Final pricing is confirmed with your quote and moves with your dates, room choices and any day you change. Billed in EUR.
Per-person rates by party size
Prices shown in USD for reference. You're billed in EUR.
What's included.
- 7 nights in old-town hotels (twin or double)
- Vilnius to Riga by train, seat reserved
- Riga to Tallinn by express coach, seat reserved
- Return rail tickets for the Trakai and Sigulda day trips
- Route book with platforms, walking maps and timings
- Daily breakfast
- Airport transfer in Vilnius on arrival and in Tallinn on departure
- Luggage transfer between city hotels on the two moving days
- A local support number, 08:00 to 21:00, seven days
- International flights
- Lunches and dinners
- Travel insurance (mandatory; we can recommend providers)
- Museum and castle entry
- City transport beyond the booked intercity legs
The Baltics, in your pocket.
Cool facts, the places we love, the food and the best months, in 11 illustrated pages. Free to download, no email needed.
