Riga, Latvia?

Lovely city, charming old town and many things to see and do, and reasonable climate. Also not as overcrowded as e.g. Prague, Krakow or Amsterdam. Can easily be combined with Tallinn or Vilnius.

Riga has been on my bucket list for years and when I retire, I’m going. I have friends who went who keep telling me I would love it.

Pros? Too numerous to list here.

Cons? Your friends will think you're crazy, or will just require an explanation of where exactly you're talking about (then they'll wonder why on earth you would even think of going there).

A wonderful city and surprisingly delightful country/region. Vastly underappreciated and definitely not over-touristed.

I have lots of photos and detailed write-ups from a previous visit there; if you're interested, send a PM for a link.

Beautiful neighborhood with building after building of Art Nouveau Architecture. And a tiny Art Nouveau Museum, which you can visit in under an hour.

We spent 3 nights in Riga last year. It's a gorgeous city. There's a lot of Art Nouveau architecture and a beautiful park for strolling. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is extremely well-done if you're up for one museum.

Restaurant quality and prices are good, too.

Fantastic city and definitely worth a visit. I can't think of any cons.

I would also be inclined to incorporate visits to Vilnius and Tallinn.

We did a tour that included two days in each of the Baltic Countries. It was great. All three countries are doing well economically and Riga is a beautiful city with much history. Do Estonia and Lithuania as well.

Thanks for your responses, everybody! I think we'll try to see if we can make it work. Happy travels!

If you wish to visit all three capitals, you can go by bus or now by train. You won't find the route on Deutsche Bahn. I found out about it from the Man in Seat 61.

Lithuanian train from Vilnius to Riga. An Old Soviet era Latvian train from Riga to Valga on the Estonian border and then switch to an Estonian train to Tallinn.

I'll be doing this route in May.

I think the conclusion is clear that these three Baktic countries are great destinations. I wonder if I could hijack the thread just a tiny bit to ask how you would fit these destinations into a larger trip. I think there’s a one hour ferry to Estonia from Helsinki. And I think it’s possible to go to Poland although it’s really really long train ride. There’s also flying in or flying out into the heart of Europe.

Dear RailRider, please start a new thread since your question isn't that related to Bob's original question. If you do that I'll try to answer your questions.

I'm visiting all three Baltic countries this Spring. It's not difficult.

I'm taking the train from London to Brussels to Cologne to Berlin to Krakow and Warsaw. Numerous nights in each city that will act as a base.

After Warsaw, I head to Vilnius, Lithuania. The train is a little over eight hours or a flight is a little over an hour. I'm leaning towards a flight although the train goes through Bialystock and I wanted a photo next to the sign. (Mel Brooks fans will understand.)

From Vilnius, I head to Riga by train.

From Riga, I head to Tallinn by bus. There is a train, but it is indirect, involves a long change at the border, and arrives in the evening. The bus is direct.

You could also fly between these cities. Internally, there are train and bus networks.

You won't find train information on the major train sites. I found out about them from the Man in Seat 61.

In most cases, there is only one train per day between the major cities.

After Tallin, it's ferry to Helsinki and some Scandinavian/Nordic adventures.

I did the 3 Baltic capitals in spring of 2019, starting with a return to Tallinn, Ecolines bus to Riga and then to Vilnius. The bus was a surprisingly good & cheap experience--clean, comfortable, took just under 4 hrs and bonus points for seeing oodles of storks in the fields we passed. I had 3 full days in Riga and stayed at the Radisson Hotel Old Town with a lovely view of the park across the street, walked there easily from the bus depot. I was there over May 1 which is their reclamation of independence day holiday so there was a parade and plenty of things to explore in the old town area, which I enjoyed walking every day, venturing further to the Art Deco district nearby and further down to the area near the depot with a huge market hall. I am a museum person, but there's enough to explore in 3 days even if you're not so inclined. The 2 restaurants I loved were Uncle Vanya, Russian cuisine, and I ate dinner twice at Petergaillis.