7-Day Baltic Countries Road Trip 2016: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

2016 Baltic countries road trip itinerary: Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania

Helsinki-Tallinn-Pärnu-Klaipeda-Vilnius-Riga-Jurmala-Sangaste-Tallinn-Helsinki

Total distance: 1916km
Driving hours: 30h

Compilation video of the trip

28.8 Helsinki-Tallinn-Pärnu 214km, 5h 17min 

Helsinki-Tallinn ferry 87,5km, 3h 31min
Tallinn-Pärnu 128km, 1h 42min 

First phase of my trip was taking the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. In Tallinn I rented a car and drove to Pärnu. In Tallinn I was accompanied by an Estonian girl, who I had talked to on Couchsurfing. In Pärnu we stayed at Kaido's place, who was the friend of my couchsurfing friend. We had a lot of fun in Pärnu and Kaido was really friendly to let us both stay at his place.

The weather in Pärnu was not the best, because it was already late August and the summer had ended already. The best time to go there would be probably in June and July. 

Sandy beach of Pärnu in late August. 

29.8 Pärnu-Turaida-Klaipeda (Curonian Spit) 531km, 6h 31min 

Pärnu-Turaida 168km, 2h 4min 
Turaida-Klaipeda 364km, 4h 21min 

On the second day we drove first from Pärnu to Turaida Castle, which was quite close to Riga. The Castle of Turaida was built in the medieval time and it was really beautiful like you can see here. 

Gauja River near Turaida Castle in Gauja Valley in the Latvian region of Vidzeme. 

There were a lot of stone figures in the Turaida Museum Reserve. After visiting Turaida Castle we continued from Latvia to Lithuania. The main destination of my trip was Curonian Spit in Lithuania, which we reached in the evening. 

30.8 Klaipeda (Curonian Spit)

Curonian spit is a 98km long stretch with dunes, that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. 52km of the stretch belongs to Lithuania and the rest to Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast.







A path to the dunes in Curonian Spit. A lot of the areas are preservation areas and it's forbidden to go to these places in order to preserve the nature and the dunes as well as possible.





The end wasn't very long, maybe 1-2km long, but it was quite hard to walk in the sand. There was a viewpoint in the end, but it was hard to see anything there.



The end of the trail.







A bird flying in the sky after sunset.



Here you can get a good idea of how narrow the stretch is. The narrowest part is only 400 meters in the Russian side and the maximum width is 3,8km in the Lithuanian part north of Nida.

Here you can see the road along the Curonian Spit. Just remember that if you use a drone in Curonian Spit, don't do it too close to the Russian border.



The dunes looked really amazing and I had a great day in Curonian Spit. I arrived there by a ferry early in the morning and drove around the stretch the whole day taking photographs and walking.




31.8 Klaipeda (Curonian Spit)-Vilnius 308km, 3h 5min 

In the fourth day I drove to Vilnius in the morning. There I had a couchsurfing host, who showed us the Castle of Trakai and Kernave in the afternoon.

Trakai Island Castle was just the castle I had always wanted to see. The castle was alone on the island, which was connected to the land by a bridge. This castle was completed around 1409.  

Trakai was one of the main centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1236-1795) 

There were a lot of sailboats around the castle in the lake. 

The town of Kernave was the medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 2004 Kernave Archeological Site was included into UNESCO world heritage list.



I managed to film a bit in Kernave with my drone, but the quality of the footage wasn't the best, because it was already quite dark. It was still interesting to see the place and how the town is currently.


1.9 Vilnius-Hill of Crosses-Riga 347km, 4h 18min 

Vilnius-Hill of Crosses 220km, 2h 33min 
Hill of Crosses-Riga 127km, 1h 46min 

In the morning I visited some lake close to Vilnius and after that I started heading back towards Helsinki.

On the way back I finally found the Hill of Crosses. A location that I already tried to find on my way to Curonian Spit, but then I couldn't find it.




The Hill of Crosses was a bit spooky place. People have brought here crosses, crucifixes, Virgin Mary statues since the 1800s.









This place could be a great location to film a Satanistic movie or anything, it's so unique.

There were already over 100,000 crosses in 2006 at the Hill of Crosses and people bring all the time more crosses there.

After visiting Hill of Crosses I drove to Riga, where I stayed overnight. The distances in the Baltic countries are fortunately so short that you can drive through all the Baltic countries in one day if you want.

2.9 Riga-Jurmala 37km, 34min 

The sixth day I spent in Riga and Jurmala. The beginning of my trip was quite rushed, so now I had time to relax.



I filmed the TV Tower of Riga with my drone, which is actually the tallest tower in the European Union with a height of 368m. The tallest tower in Europe is the Ostankino Tower at 540m.

I visited Jurmala beach quite close to Riga. The weather was amazing, sunny and warm and the beach was so long. Jurmala beach has to be the best beach in the Baltic countries. Pärnu and Curonian Spit aren't bad either, but my favorite is Jurmala.






3.9 Riga-Sangaste-Saula-Tallinn-Helsinki 499km, 9h 3min 

Riga-Sangaste 186km, 2h 36min 
Sangaste-Saula 197km, 2h 21min 
Saula-Tallinn 30km, 27min 
Tallinn-Helsinki 87,5km, 3h 32min 

On the seventh day of my trip I drove from Riga to Sangaste Estonia early in the morning. I had to be in Tallinn at 13.00 to return my rental car so I had to rush in the morning my last two locations.

Sangaste Castle was my first destination of the day in southern Estonia. The castle was built in 1879-1883. 

National Geographic yellow window and Sangaste Castle. 

Sangaste Castle from air. 

After Sangaste Castle I drove the highway near Tallinn, where I visited the last destination of my trip, the Blue Springs of Saula, in Estonian "Saula Siniallikad". It was a bit tricky to find it, the parking place was close to the highway. I walked a forest path from the parking place about 2-3km before I found this place. 

The water was so clear and you could see the bottom of the small pond. After seeing this place I returned my car, took the taxi to the harbor and took a ferry back to Helsinki. My 7-day road trip in the Baltics had ended. 

Budget 670-700€

350€ Car rental  (could have been 180€, but I had some problems) 

100-120€ Food and drink 

100-110€ Gasoline 

80€Ferry tickets (Tallinn-Helsinki round trip and Klaipeda-Curonian Spit) 

40€  Accommodation (I paid only for 2 nights, 4 nights I stayed at Couchsurfing hosts or by friend's house)