BALTIC PANORAMA

Vilnius - Klaipeda - Riga - Tallinn - St Petersburg - Helsinki

13 days / 12 nights

A tour through the major cities of the Eastern Baltic seacoast with an emphasis on amazing history, art and beautiful nature

Day 1: Upon arrival in Vilnius you transfer to your hotel for accommodation.

Afternoon free for independent activities.

Day 3: Morning drive to Klaipeda, Lithuania’s window on the Baltic Sea. En route a visit to the Amber Museum in Palanga, Lithuania’s prime sea resort just 25 km away from Klaipeda. The Museum explains the fascinating formation, processing, practical application, and the structural variations of amber. The museum has a wealth of amber pieces with trapped insects or plants dating back millions of years, as well as a collection of unique pieces of amber, and examples of fossilized tree resin brought from all over the world. Overnight in Klaipeda.

Day 4: A short ferry crossing takes you to the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage site and National Park. Sightseeing includes a walk on the Hill of Witches, exhibiting wooden sculptures based on Lithuania legends and folk tales, an excursion to Nida, a small quiet fishing village famous for its majestic sand dunes, some up to 60 metres high, visiting the famous German writer Thomas Mann’s House, a neo-Gothic Church, an old ethnographic cemetery and a private Amber Gallery.

Day 5: Departure to Riga with an en route stop at the Hill of Crosses; it is Lithuanian’s national pilgrimage site. Standing upon a small hill are many hundreds of thousands of crosses that represent Christian devotion and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity. You arrive at Riga in the aafternoon with time to settle in to your hotel accommodation.

Day 6: A morning tour of the Old Town of Riga encompasses the most significant sights of Riga - the Dome Cathedral, the Church of St. Peter, the old Guild Houses, the Swedish Gate, and the architectural ensemble of Three Brothers, St. Jacob’s Church, the Parliament House, and Old Riga Castle. The tour will then continue along the central boulevards of Riga, passing by the City Canal parks, the Bastion Hill, the Powder Tower, the Latvian National Theatre, the Fine Arts Museum, the Art Nouveau buildings from the beginning of the century, the Freedom Monument, University of Latvia, the Opera House, and the Daugava River with its bridges.

Afternoon free.

Day 7: Drive alongside Riga Bay to Tallinn. En route stop at the picturesque Gauja National Park for a visit to the ruins of the 13^th century Turaida Castle, now housing a local History Museum Gutmanis cave, the largest in Latvia and steeped in legends and tales, and other notable landmarks.

Late afternoon arrival to Estonia’s capital, Tallinn.

Day 8: A half day city tour of Tallinn takes you to the surroundings of Tallinn and its Old Town. Among other attractions it includes a visit of Catherine’s Valley Park and Palace, the Song Festival Amphitheatre, the traditional “Old Songs Festival” venue for the past 120 years. You’ll see Tallinn’s most important attractions: Toompea Hill and the Parliament building, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tall Hermann, Kiek in de Kök and Dome Cathedral. The tour ends in Town Hall Square with a view of the Town Hall, a Gothic masterpiece of the 13^th - 14^th centuries.

An afternoon visit to the Rocca-al-Mare Ethnographic Museum. Located in a picturesque 84 - hectare forest park, the museum has assembled a fine collection of 17^th - 19^th century rural architecture from all over Estonia. Farmhouses, country pubs, windmills, and chapels will be on display and furnished in harmony with period styles.

Day 9: Today the drive via Narva brings you to the Estonian border where you cross into Russia and continue on to St Petersburg.

Day 10: In the morning, a general tour of St Petersburg includes visiting the outstanding architectural collections such as the Palace Square and Alexander’s Column, the Senate Square, Mariinsky Palace, the Spit (Strelka) of the Basil Island with Rostral Columns, the numerous bridges and granite-clad embankments criss-crossing the city in many directions. The tour continues along the fantastic Nevsky Prospect, the main thoroughfare of the city, lined with countless historical buildings, palaces and cathedrals.

Afternoon we visit St Isaac’s Cathedral filled with hundreds of paintings, sculptures and mosaics by 19^th century masters, and Peter and Paul Fortress, the historical centre of the city on the Neva river as well as one of the most interesting and beautiful architectural landmarks.

Day 11: A morning visit to the Hermitage housing a tremendous collection of Western European art, including such masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

Evening transfer to the railway station for the night train to Helsinki.

Afternoon free for independent activities.

Day 13: Departure.