Driving in the Baltics

I have no specific advice for you on those countries, but in general, two concerns would be parking in the cities, for that, try contacting potential hotels and ask about parking, whether they have private lots, public lots nearby, etc. If parking really seems to be a shortage, that might indicate that a car may be a burden. The other concern is that you will be crossing borders, try talking to a rental agency and ask about any restrictions or additional cost to take the car where you want to go. If the plan was to rent "one way" ask about drop off charges. By assessing these two things, the picture will be much clearer. If there are difficulties, another option is always to take public transport between major cities, and rent a car for a day or two to tour the countryside.

Paul, the Baltic countries cities are all small or medium-sized. No big city over there to fret about. You need to check with the rental car office about any restrictions of driving your car abroad. Incidentally, I checked the location info for Hertz in TAllin ===================== Hertz vehicles may be driven to Norway* but must be returned to Estonia. Please refer also to "One-Way Rentals" in Rental Qualifications & Requirements. If you wish to drive outside Estonia (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland or Sweden), you will have to obtain a stamped authorisation from the Hertz counter at time of rental. In addition, an extra fee of EUR 7.93 (including tax) per day with a maximum of EUR 55.52 (including tax) per rental will be added to the rental charges. If you restitute the rented vehicle in another country, please remember that the above fee is already included in drop-off fees. ------------- Hertz vehicles rented in Estonia can be dropped off in Latvia (Riga only), Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda), Finland (Helsinki), Sweden (Stockholm), Poland (Warzaw). ------------- * If the national driver's licence has been issued by following countries a valid IDP is mandatory: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda and United States.
The IDP alone is not accepted as driver's licence unless it is accompanied by a valid national driver's license.

Thanks for your helpful advice. I hadn't thought about getting an IDP. We are also wondering about what the best type of car to get would be. We drove all around Sicily and a very small car worked best, but I wasn't sure if 4wheel drive might be helpful for the country roads.