Visiting Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia in September.

My comments are limited to Lithuania since we’ve been there three times. Tallinn sugggestions you can find in the RS Scandinavia guidebook and I wouldn’t have anything to add. And though we'd love to spend time in Riga, we’ve only visited the bus station and airport.

The cathedral at the lower end of old town in Vilnius and several other churches (St. Anne’s, St. Peter and Paul’s, Bernadine Church) are wonderful places to visit. The cathedral square is the location of the stebuklas, the end of the human chain formed in 1980. There is a small KGB museum and a couple of Jewish museums. Knowing the history, the television tower that was attacked by the Soviets in January 1991 is an interesting visit. Soutwest of Vilnius is Trakai and its restored castle. There is much more in Vilnius and in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second city.

Since you are driving, an easy stop between Riga and Vilnius is the Hill of Crosses (off of highway A12) just north of Šiauliai in northern Lithuania.

The In Your Pocket guides (www.inyourpocket.com) are free or inexpensive guides to cities in the the three Baltic countries.

Have a great trip.

My visit to Vilnius was 10 years ago, so who knows how much or how little things have changed...

But I had a really good meal at a place called Forto Dvaras, which is close to the national cathedral. Those zeppelin-shaped dumplings were amazing! I can only hope also that Lithuanian brewing techniques have improved, because at the time, I would have rated the country's beer among the worst in Europe. Every Lithuanian beer I tried tasted like it was brewed in a rusty drain pipe.

So in summary... excellent food, awful beer.

Galen, Tom thank you. We appreciate any comments and evaluations and "take them to heart." We are also intrigued by the Curonian Spit out from Klaipeda, Lithuania. Any comments anyone?

On Klaipeda...yes, be sure to see that strip since it was the location of the former East Prussian town of Memel, (present day Klaipeda), the town farthest to the northeast in Germany prior to WW1. The hinterland of Memel was called Memelland. That would be a destination upon arriving in Lithuania

Each time we were in Lithuania we spent about a month in Klaipeda and visited the Curonian Spit a couple of times. The Curonian Spit is an easy ferry ride from Klaipeda. Near the village of Juodkrante is a park in the forest that is populated with carvings of folk tale creatures. A printed English guide describing each creature is helpful. Also on the spit is the delightful town of Nida. Go far enough south and you can see Russia!

We did a six day tour of the three baltic countries in early September of 2011 after a river cruise in Russia. We spent two days in each country and enjoyed it very much. In all three countries the people reminded us of how proud they are to have their freedom from Soviet oppression.

After visiting Russia, the baltic countries are far more prosperous in relation to Russia.

The weather was very nice in September. Our tour included almost all our meals, but prices seemed lower than what you find in places like Germany, France or the UK.

Tallinn and Riga are very interesting medieval cities. Vilnius is not as quaint, but still worth a stop.

Thank you so much for the comments. Keep 'em coming. Departure date is arriving quickly.

About food--two typical items that are on the "must try" list. Cepelinai is a Lithuanian specialty and is grated potatoes formed into a zeppelin shape (hence the name), usually stuffed with ground meat and served with a sour cream sauce or gravy. One has to develop a taste for this. The other is Lithuanian borscht (šaltibarščiai). It's a beet based soup served cold with boiled potatoes on the side. Delicious. Enjoy your trip.