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Historic Baltic RepublicsHistoric Baltic Republics
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A two week tour of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with Explore Travel. Unfortunately, Helen was unable to come at the last minute, so this trip was done by me alone 😔. Read more
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  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    2
    Day 1

    ESTONIA Tallinn 1; Telliskivi

    June 1, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    I flew to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, via Helsinki, arriving early in the afternoon.

    Tallinn is UNESCO listed and one of Europe's most complete walled cities. It was originally settled by Finno Ugric people in 2,500 BC; Estonia is apparently still similar to Finland to this day, people and character wise. Tallinn was invaded by the Danes in 1219, who built a castle on Toompea, a small hill here.

    Tallinn joined the Hanseatic League in 1285 for trade and eventually became part of the Russian Empire in 1870, after it was surrendered to Peter the Great in 1710. By WWII, Tallinn had many shipyards and was capital of the brief Estonian Republic from 1920-1940; it suffered badly in WWII and became a main grain handling port for Moscow with much subsequent urban development. It has been transformed since 1991, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is now part of the EU.

    After settling into the hotel (L'Ermitage), I walked close to the western edge of the Danish Castle walls, along Snell Pond in Dome Park; the pond was once part of the preserved moat around the castle. There were tantalising views of the Old Town as I walked to the Kalamaja District of West Tallinn.

    I walked through the interesting Balti Jaam Market, a renovated hall with stalls on 3 levels and into Telliskivi. This is an area of the former industrial complex of Tallinn, including the electrochemical plant, but the old buildings now comprise of many shops, bars, and restaurants, with modern street art decorations on many walls; Telliskivi is known now as the Creative City and is the area to go for reasonably priced food and drink - which the Explore Group did, later on!    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 2

    Tallinn 2; Old Town - Upper (Toompea)

    June 2, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We start the day with a guided tour of Tallinn Old Town. We start by walking up towards Toompea Castle; originally built in the 9th century. It was overtaken by Danish crusaders in the 13th century; when Estonia became part of the Russian Empire, there were Baroque modifications. We are led through the Upper Old Town and see any of the sites (see photo captions), including lovely views down onto the Lower Old Town.

    I revisited later alone to spend more time in the Danish King's Garden, going up to the accessible walls and museum there, as well as visiting the Kiek in die Kok Tower; this means "peek into the kitchen" in the German dialect of the time, but is amusing when spoken in English!    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 2

    Tallinn 3; Old Town - Lower

    June 2, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The guided tour continues down to the Lower Old Town and ends in the Town Hall Square. The Old Town is very beautiful, colourful, and reminiscent of Prague.

    After revisiting the Danish King's Garden (see previous post), I carry on exploring the Lower Town, heading north from Viru Gate towards the sea (see captions on pictures) to see Linnahall and have a walk by the sea front of Tallinn (see next post),

    After that, it's back to the hotel, walking near to the castle walls.    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 2–4

    Tallinn 4; Linnahall / Walk by the sea

    June 2, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    From the Old Town, I walk past the Energy Discovery Centre and up to Linnahall. Linnahall is a relic of Estonia's Soviet occupation and was built for the 1980 Olympics for the sailing event; it was originally called the V. I. Lenin Palave of Culture and Sports, and is built in the brutalist architecture of the time - it is still used as a heliport.

    From there, I walk around the harbour area and join the path at Kalaranna in the Kalamaja District of Tallinn. The path passes by Patarei; this was originally built as a sea fortres to provide defence against the Russians, but was then used as a prison. The path goes through the Seaplane Harbour, a maritime museum, and on to the Noblessner sea front quarter; this was originally a submarine shipyard, but it is now a nicely developed area. I walk back through Kalamaja to the walls and towers of the Old Town.    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 3

    En route to Kuressaare

    June 3, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We leave at 9:30 am and drive towards the Gulf of Riga; the roads are very good, and there are lots of trees en route to Virtsu where we take the ferry to Kaivastu on Muhu Island.

    From here, we drive to the small village and port of Koguva, where the Muhu Open Air Ethnographic Museum of Koguva is situated; the museum reflects Estonian peasant architecture and life - there are separate farm and textile museums, as well as the original school house. The museum has been established on the farm where the Estonian poet and writer Junan Smuul was born; he had associations with Stalin.

    After lunch nearby in Liiva, we drive across the 2.5 km causeway to Saaremaa Island. We visit Karja Church; this church contains the richest medieval stone sculptures in the Baltic States, but boes not open until 15th June (doh!). It is built from dolomite sandstone and is very large, but Karja village could not prosper because of the nature of the rising ground in the area.

    From here, we visit the Angla Windmill Hill site, which comprises four typical trestle windmills characteristic of the island, one Dutch-style windmill, and a heritage museum on local folk culture and engineering - it is very interesting.

    We then stop off at the Kaali Meteotite Crater; we see the largest of the 9 craters that are here. The impact could have been up to 7,500 years ago; the Crater is 100m wide and almost circular.

    Then it's on to Kuressaare, the main town on Saaremaa Island; it is on the south of the island, facing the Gulf of Riga.    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 4

    Kuressaare

    June 4, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Kuressaare has a population of 12,000, over third of that of Saaremaa Island; the town was established by the Vikings in the 7th century. It became a spa town in the 19th century, when reserves of healing mud were found nearby; there are still many spa hotels here.

    We have a guided tour of the attractions around the town on our tour bus before being dropped off at the triangular shaped town centre for a walking tour, being dropped off at Kuressaare Castle to do our own thing (see captions on photos).

    Kuressaare Castle, aka Kuressaare Episcopal Castle or the Bishop's Castle, is the best preserved in the Baltic; it is Gothic in style, with a square building around a central courtyard. It was founded in 1260, but what we see today is from the 14th century and made from Dolomite sandstone; the bastions were added in the 16th and 17th centuries. It contains the Saaremaa Museum, dedicated to the nature and history of the island. It was an interesting visit.

    After that, I walk around the bastions outside and up to the harbour area, taking many pictures, Then it's back across the beach to the very conveniently located hotel. I go back for a swim in Kuressaare Bay, the Baltic Sea, later on; it was lovely - not cold and not salt! A great day.    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 5

    En route to Tartu 1; Parnu

    June 5, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We set off at 9am for Tartu on the mainland of Estonia, and retrace our route to Kuressaare (causeway to Muhu and ferry to mainland) before heading south to Parnu; there is a lot of forest en route.

    Parnu became a Hanseatic Sea Port in the 14th century (i.e., Germanic) and, like the rest of Estonia, has been ruled by several parties since then. It is now the Summer Capital of Estonia and is very popular with Finns, Swedes, and Germans due to the clean air, mud baths, and beach; we visit the Old Town, which is sourh of the River Parnu (the beach resort area is north of the river.

    We have a walk round with Dzuigas, our tour guide, and I then visit various other places alone (instead of having lunch); see captions on the photos - it is a nice place. We then set off for Vijlandi.    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 5

    En route to Tartu 2; Vijlandi

    June 5, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Vijlandi is a pretty town overlooking a picturesque valley with a lake at the centre; the main attraction is the castle, but the town is interesting as well.

    We start at Vijlandi Teutonic Order Castle; there was originally a hill fort built in the 9th century on part of the site, but the German Crusaders (the Knights of the Sword or the Livonian Order), built stone fortifications on a series of three small hills; the main castle was a convent building protected by three outer baileys. It fell into disrepair after the Polish-Swedish wars in the 17th century; now, only parts of the wall and foundations remain. We continue with a short tour of the Old Town (see captions on photos).

    We drive on to Tartu for two nights; most of us walk along the river and via the Town Hall Square to Pussirohukelder, formerly a gunpowder cellar, but now a beer restaurant; I have an Estonian mashed potato dish with smoked meat and sour cream, served in a bread roll, as well as some the excellent house beer!    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 6

    Tartu

    June 6, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Tartu was established when the Livonian Order (the German Crusaders) built on a hill here (Toomemagi); the town was originally known as Dorpat. Tartu University was established during the Swedish reign in the 17th century. Peter the Great took the town for Russia, but it was mostly wrecked; the rest was destroyed by fire in 1775. After some rebuilding, it was destroyed again in WWII; the Post Soviet period has seen a lot of rebuilding and growth. Tartu is now the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn; it is the premier university town and is the European Capital of Culture for 2024.

    We have a guided tour of the Old Town and Toome Hill (Toomemagi), and then I did some more exploring on my own; see captions on photos for details about the city.

    In the evening, we walk via the Father and Son statue to the Vilde ja Vine restaurant for dinner; outside is a statue of Oscar Wilde and the Estonian Writer Eduardo Vilde (they never actually met).    Read more

  • TravelerHistoric Baltic Republics
    Day 7

    LATVIA Gauja NP 1; Cesis and Sigulda

    June 7, 2024 in Latvia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We set off at 9 am, heading south to Latvia and Riga; we will drive through the Gauja National Park.

    Latvia has been invaded by every regional power; it has a population of less than 2 million, and the language spoken is a Baltic language similar to Lithuanian - 40% of the population are Russian speaking, however. Half of the country is covered by forest, and timber is a big part of the economy; other main exports are fish and canned fish. There are lots of folk songs, and it is a very "singing" oriented country. The women are the tallest in Europe, on average.

    The Gauja National Park was established in 1973; it is only an hour or so outside Riga - and very popular for day trips from here. We stop off at Cesis, a small town on the Gauja River, noted for its 13th-century castle, which was sacked by Ivan the Terrible in 1577. We walk around the castle grounds and see some of the town; see picture captions for details.

    We stop off at Sigulda, regarded as the gateway to Gauja National Park, for lunch, and visit the nearby cable car for the view over the Gauja River. It is then a short drive to the other side of the river and our next destination, the Turaida Museum Reserve.    Read more

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