Explore the Baltics: Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania

• Land at the airport and meet up with your Tour Director or EF representative and other travelers in your group.
• Transfer to your hotel to check into your room.
• Head out to grab dinner on your own and check out the charming Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, only steps from your hotel.

Traditional Estonian cuisine: Try verivorst, a blood sausage served with sauerkraut, or mulgipuder, a hearty pork and potato porridge. Many Old Town restaurants serve these classics, and a plate of them is the best way to taste Estonian comfort food.

Craft beer: Tallinn has a strong craft beer scene, with breweries like Põhjala leading the way.

Sunset at Linnahall: Watch the sun go down over Tallinn Bay from the concrete steps of this giant, semi-abandoned Soviet-era venue, built for 1980 Moscow Olympic sailing events.

Ask your Tour Director

• How to say simple phrases like “tere” (hello) and “aitäh” (thank you) in Estonian: Locals really appreciate the effort, and your Tour Director can teach you how to pronounce them so they land.
• Where to find the best coffee and kringel: From Old Town cafes to the spots locals line up for, your Tour Director knows where to get a proper strong black coffee with a braided pastry.
• Which Estonian comfort food to order: Verivorst (blood sausage) and mulgipuder (pork and potato porridge) are the classics, and your Tour Director can point you to the restaurants that do them best.
• Where to catch the best views: From Toompea Hill to the Linnahall steps, your Tour Director can tell you where to be when the light hits Tallinn’s rooftops and the bay.

• Join your local guide as you climb to the top of Toompea Hill in the middle of Tallinn’s Old Town. The castle of the same name has guarded the city since the 1300s. Its neoclassical main building today is home to the Estonian parliament, so you can see where the country’s laws are made.
• Stop to gaze at the gleaming onion domes and Orthodox design of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in 1894 under the Russian Empire. It’s named after Prince Alexander Nevsky, a medieval Russian hero, and it’s still an active place of worship, so visitors should dress respectfully.
• Admire the Dome Cathedral, Tallinn’s 13th-century church and one of its most historic landmarks. It’s a Lutheran church today, and its Gothic walls hold tombs of Baltic German noble families who once held real power here.
• See Old Town Hall, one of the few Gothic town halls still standing in Northern Europe. Built between 1371 and 1404, it’s seen trade, celebrations, and city life for centuries. Look up and find Old Thomas, the weathervane figure who has kept watch from the spire since the 1500s.

Maiasmokk Cafe: This Old Town cafe has been serving sweets since 1864 and is famous for its marzipan. Order a coffee and a slice of cake, then take a few marzipan treats home as a souvenir.

Hotel Olümpia and TV Tower: Built during the Soviet Olympic building push, these two structures feature the most striking 1970s–80s architecture in town. Take in the skyline from the tower, then compare it with the Olympic-era hotel.

Coffee culture: Caffeine in Estonia is serious business. Roasts are usually light to medium (aka rocket fuel) and are consumed black, without sugar, and served with a local pastry like a braided sweet bread called kringel or cinnamon rolls.

Kadriorg Palace & Park: Peter the Great commissioned this Baroque palace in 1718, and the leafy park around it is made for a slow afternoon. Stroll the gardens and ponds, then step inside to see the art museum’s collection.

Seaplane Harbor: The main branch of the Estonian Maritime Museum houses ships, a real submarine, and tons of hands-on exhibits in centuries-old seaplane hangars with views of the Tallinn Bay.

• Meet up with your Tour Director to tour the old industrial building and brick courtyards of Telliskivi Creative City, Estonia’s largest creative center. This vibrant district houses performance art spaces, studios, and galleries, plus boutiques, vintage shops, restaurants, and events like Tallinn Music Week.
• Grab a bite to eat and a coffee on your own before boarding your coach bus in the early afternoon to your next stop: Riga, Latvia.

Bastejkalns Park: Unwind at Riga’s leafy park just outside the Old Town, featuring manmade waterfalls, footbridges, and canalboats.

Art Nouveau Museum: Discover Riga’s early 1900s design obsession, from swirling floral details to ornate furniture and decorative interiors. Even the spiral staircase is a work of art.

Ask your Tour Director

• How to say simple phrases like “sveiki” (hello) and “paldies” (thank you) in Latvian. Locals really appreciate the effort, and your Tour Director can help you get the pronunciation right.
• Where to find the best rye bread and smoked fish: From the Central Market food halls to the spots locals line up for, your Tour Director knows where to get the good stuff.
• Which Latvian drinks to try: Riga Black Balsam and kvass are local favorites, and your Tour Director can tell you where to sip them like a Rīgan.
• About saunas and sauna etiquette: Saunas are a big part of daily life in Latvia; deeply spiritual and multi-sensory, not just a fun thing to do, and there are social rules around how to use them.
• The deal with Art Nouveau: Riga has one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, and Your Tour Direct can tell you where to look.

• Join your local guide on a tour of Riga’s Old Town, stopping to visit St. Peter’s Church, a Gothic landmark whose towering spire has watched over Riga for centuries.
• Pass through the Swedish Gate, the only surviving gate from Riga’s old city walls, built in the 17th century.
• Spot the Powder Tower, a former defensive tower that once protected Riga from invaders, and admire the Three Brothers, a trio of historic houses showcasing Riga’s architectural evolution from the 15th century onward.
• End at the Central Market, massive former Zeppelin hangars turned bustling food halls. You’ll try local Latvian specialties including meat, fish and cheese snacks, plus two kinds of Riga Black Balsam, a traditional Latvian herbal liqueur.
• Enjoy an entirely free afternoon or opt into a private sauna sesh complete with a cold plunge (totally optional but you’ll feel tingly and alive after you do it).

Museum of the Occupation of Latvia: Learn more about the history of Latvia under Soviet and Nazi occupation over the course of half of century.

Kvass: Try this tangy, lightly fizzy, and low-ABV drink traditionally brewed from rye bread. It’s a refreshing sip on a warm day and a true taste of everyday Latvian life.

The Cat House: Riga’s iconic Old Town building is famous for its black cat statues perched on the roof with arched backs and raised tails. Legend says they were placed there to spite the city’s powerful merchants.

Miera iela: Stroll this laid-back street in Riga lined with cafes, bars and little shops. Grab a coffee, sit outside if the weather is nice, and watch the city go by.

• Board your private coach bus in the morning, bound for Lithuania.
• Stop at the sacred Hill of Crosses, where generations have left crosses as symbols of faith, remembrance, and hope. Even after Soviet authorities repeatedly cleared the site, people continued returning to place new crosses, creating the remarkable hillside covered in thousands you see today.
• Arrive in Vilnius, drop off your bags at the hotel and grab lunch on your own, then join a local guide on a walking tour of the city.
• Climb Gediminas Hill to see Castle Tower and sweeping views, learn more about the Republic of Užepis, essentially a self-declared bohemian mini country within the city, take a spin around UNESCO World Heritage Old Town, and snap pics of the Vilnius Cathedral.

Cepelinai: Lithuania’s go-to comfort food, these potato dumplings stuffed with meat or cheese and topped with sour cream are named after Zeppelins airships, and yes, they’re as heavy (and delicious) as they sound.

Nightlife Triangle: Experience Vilnius after dark at the intersection of Vilniaus, Islandijos, and Vokiečių Streets, the city’s party center with packed bars and clubs.

Hill of Three Crosses: Get rewarded with an illuminated monument and lit-up Vilnius at the end of this short hike up into Kalnai Park.

Ask your Tour Director

• About the Lithuanian language: Why Lithuanian is one of the oldest living Indo-European languages, and how to say “ačiū” (thank you) and “labas” (hello) before you arrive.
• About Vilnius’s iron wolf lore: The story of how Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf and founded the city, and how to find the tower that still stands on the hill above it.
• Where to find the best cepelinai: These comforting potato dumplings are named after giant Zeppelin airships and are a must-try as Lithuania’s national dish.
• The Hill of Crosses story: Why Soviet authorities bulldozed the site several times, why people kept returning with new crosses, and how many are on the hill today.

• Head to Trakai in the morning and step inside its iconic island castle.
• Return to Vilnius for a free afternoon to check off anything else on your list, whether that’s souvenir shopping, coffee sipping, or aimless wandering.
• Join your group for the last dinner of the trip. Raise a glass, maybe cry a little, and start planning your next adventure.