Baltic capitals self-drive
The classic Baltic route, driven at your own speed over ten days rather than watched through a coach window in seven.
The route.
- By car
- By ferry
Day by day.
Daylight is shown for a departure on 3 May, calculated for each day's own location. Ask us and we will run the figures for your dates.
Arrive in Vilnius, no car yet
Fly into Vilnius (VNO) and take the transfer we have booked into the Old Town. No car for the first two days: Vilnius is walkable and parking inside the Old Town is deliberately difficult. Your route book and phone briefing are waiting at the hotel.
- Private airport transfer, no car on day one
- Route book and offline maps handover
- An evening walk to Cathedral Square
Vilnius on foot
A full day in the largest baroque old town in northern Europe. The route book walks you through the university courtyards, the Gate of Dawn, and across the river into Užupis. The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights is the one indoor stop we insist on.
- Self-guided Old Town walk from the route book
- Vilnius University courtyards and the Gate of Dawn
- Užupis and the Museum of Occupations
Courtyard by Marriott Vilnius
Second night, same room.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
Collect the car, then the island castle
The car is delivered to your hotel at 09:00 with a walk-around and the paperwork done there rather than at an airport desk. Half an hour west to Trakai for the island castle, with your entry already timed. On to Kaunas for the night, an easy first drive of about 130 km in total.
- Car delivered to the hotel at 09:00
- Trakai island castle with timed entry
- An easy 130 km first day at the wheel
Hotel Kaunas, Laisvės alėja
On Laisvės alėja, the mile-long pedestrian avenue, with hotel parking behind.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
West to the Curonian Spit
A morning for Kaunas: the castle, the interwar modernist centre, and Pažaislis monastery on the way out. Then west to Klaipėda and the vehicle ferry to Smiltynė, with your slot reserved. Fifty km down the spit through pine and dune to Nida.
- Kaunas modernist centre and Pažaislis
- Reserved vehicle ferry slot at Klaipėda
- The spit road south to Nida
A day with the car parked
Leave the car at the hotel. The Parnidis dune and its sundial are a half-hour walk, best before nine. Bicycles are included today: the lagoon path runs 20 km north to Juodkrantė and the Hill of Witches, with a smoked fish lunch at the far end.
- Parnidis dune before the day-trippers
- Bicycles included, the lagoon path to Juodkrantė
- Smoked perch at a working smokehouse
Nidos Banga
Second night in Nida.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
The long day: crosses, a palace, a capital
The one demanding drive of the trip, about 380 km. Ferry back to the mainland, north to the Hill of Crosses at Šiauliai, then across the Latvian border to Rundāle Palace, where your entry is held for 15:30. Into Riga in the early evening.
Read the full day
This is the day the route book earns its keep. The Hill of Crosses is a twenty-minute stop, not an hour: it is a small mound with something over 100,000 crosses on it, and the effect is immediate. Rundāle needs ninety minutes and closes its ticket desk earlier than you would expect, which is why we hold the slot. Everything after Bauska is fast road into Riga.
- The Hill of Crosses at Šiauliai
- Rundāle Palace, entry held for 15:30
- Into Riga before dinner
Riga, car parked again
A full day out of the car. The Art Nouveau district on Alberta iela in the morning, the Central Market in its five zeppelin hangars at lunch, and the Old Town in the afternoon. Jūrmala is a 30-minute train ride if you would rather have the beach.
- Alberta iela and the Art Nouveau district
- Central Market in the zeppelin hangars
- Optional train out to Jūrmala
Neiburgs Hotel
Second night in Riga.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
The Gauja valley, then the Estonian border
Northeast into Gauja National Park: Turaida's red castle above the river at Sigulda, and the medieval castle ruin at Cēsis, where they hand you a candle lantern to go down into the cellars. Then northwest across the border to Pärnu, Estonia's summer town.
- Turaida castle above the Gauja
- Cēsis castle ruin by candle lantern
- Across the border to Pärnu
Hotel Pärnu, old town
A short walk from the beach and the wooden villa quarter, with parking on site.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
The coast road to Tallinn
A slow morning in Pärnu, then the coast road north via Haapsalu, a small spa town with a ruined bishop's castle and a railway station platform 200 metres long built for a tsar who came twice. Drop the car at your Tallinn hotel in the late afternoon.
- Pärnu beach and the wooden villas
- Haapsalu castle and the tsar's platform
- Car dropped at the hotel in Tallinn
Hotel Telegraaf
A converted 1878 telegraph station inside the walls. The rental company collects the car from the door.
Held, not booked, until your deposit clears. If it is gone by then we substitute an equal or better hotel and tell you first.
Tallinn, and home
A last morning inside the walls: Town Hall Square, the Patkuli viewpoint on Toompea, and Kalamaja's wooden houses if the flight is late. The car is already gone, so the transfer to Tallinn airport (TLL) is on us.
- Toompea and the Patkuli viewpoint
- Optional Kalamaja and Telliskivi
- Private transfer to TLL
Request your quote.
Tell us your dates and party size. We'll reply within one working day, with a private, fully-costed version of Baltic capitals self-drive 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 $410 pp deposit holds your dates
- Protected under the EU Package Travel Directive
Priced by party size.
- Per person
- $2,246(≈ €1,920)
- Total for 2
- $4,493(≈ €3,840)
- Deposit to book
- $819(≈ €700)
- Balance, 45 days out
- $3,674(≈ €3,140)
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.
- 9 nights in booked and paid boutique and 4★ hotels, with parking at every one
- Car hire for 8 days (compact estate or SUV) with unlimited mileage
- Full insurance with zero excess, cross-border cover for all three countries, and a second driver
- A bound route book plus offline maps and the whole route loaded to your phone
- Timed entry held for Rundāle Palace and Trakai Castle
- Curonian Spit vehicle ferry and the national park permit
- Daily breakfast
- A staffed local phone line, 07:00 to 22:00, and 24-hour roadside assistance
- International flights (into Vilnius, out of Tallinn: we can hold the open-jaw for you)
- Fuel, tolls and city parking away from the hotels
- Lunches and dinners (the route book shortlists two per town)
- Travel insurance (mandatory)
- One-way car drop fee at Tallinn (€180, payable to the rental desk)
