Baltic States 8 Day Itinerary: Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn

Set aside 30 minutes and go in the morning: this is the only survivor among Vilnius's original ten town gates, and the chapel above the arch holds a Marian icon that both Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims still climb the stairs to see up close. Entry is free and it sits a short walk from the train station.

Outside, stop on the sidewalk and look up: that is where the most-shared photo of the Old Town's main street gets taken, with the arch framing the rest of Vilnius.

Climb the bell tower, not just the cathedral: 57 meters and 270 steps up a narrow staircase, but the platform at the top shows the square and Old Town rooftops from an angle no street photo captures. The tower ticket costs about 6 euros, separate from the cathedral, which is free.

Inside, the Chapel of St. Casimir holds baroque silverwork that survived three fires and the Soviet occupation, when the building spent four decades as an art gallery.

Enter through the Sarbievijaus courtyard, the most photogenic of the university's thirteen inner courtyards, and walk to St. John's Church to see the ceiling fresco without paying any museum ticket. It is a 20 to 30 minute stop on the way to Castle Hill, no queue and no booking needed.

Walk up in 10 minutes or take the funicular for about 2 euros; either way delivers the same view over the three rivers around Vilnius. The museum inside the tower costs about 5 euros and covers the city's founding by Grand Duke Gediminas in the 14th century.

Set aside at least an hour: the climb, the loop around the tower and the walk back down past the Old Arsenal take longer than they look from below.

A 15-minute stop, from the outside only: the red-brick Gothic facade is the reason to come, not the small and simple interior. It sits right on the walk between Castle Hill and Užupis, so it needs no detour.

Cross the bridge over the Vilnia river and find the sign with the 41-article constitution, translated across mirrored panels along Paupio Street; article 12 says every dog has the right to be a dog. Set aside 1.5 to 2 hours to wander the art galleries and studios inside former industrial buildings.

It is a real neighborhood with people living there, not a gated attraction: afternoons work best, when the galleries are open, and Sunday mornings are the one time to avoid, since most stay closed.

Take the train from Vilnius to Trakai, 30 minutes and under 2 euros, and start with the street, not the castle: the three-windowed wooden houses belong to the Karaite community, brought from Crimea in the 14th century by Grand Duke Vytautas to serve as his personal guard. Stop for a kibinas, the thin-pastry pie filled with lamb that is the local specialty, at any of the houses marked as a restaurant.

The middle window of each house faces the street by tradition, left for God to watch passersby; the other two look onto the family courtyard.

Buy the ticket on site (12 euros April to September, 10 euros the rest of the year) and set aside 1.5 to 2 hours: the fortress sits on an island linked by two wooden bridges, and the museum inside covers medieval weapons and coins from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Arrive early or late afternoon to avoid the tour groups that crowd the bridges at midday.

On the last Sunday of the month entry is free for both the grounds and the museum, but the line grows accordingly.

The building in front of you is a 1999 reconstruction, built from old photographs: the 1334 original was bombed in 1941 and what remained was demolished by the Soviets in 1948. It is worth stopping in the square for the astronomical clock on the facade and the coats of arms of the Hanseatic cities, even without paying for the small inside museum (6 euros).

Enter from Doma laukums and listen for organ practice: the instrument, with more than six thousand pipes and installed in 1884, was once the largest in the world and still hosts free weekly recitals, usually Thursdays at noon. Cathedral entry costs about 5 euros outside recital hours.

The square around it is Riga's most-cited meeting point, ringed by buildings ranging from Gothic to Art Nouveau within 200 meters.

Go hungry and unhurried: the five pavilions, built on the steel frames of former German zeppelin hangars from World War I, hold smoked Baltic fish, cheese stalls and the LIDO kiosk, serving fixed-price Latvian dishes for around 8 euros. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, it is Europe's largest market by number of stalls.

Entry is free (donations welcome) and about 45 minutes cover the essentials: a replica gulag barrack, deportee letters and the timeline of the Soviet, Nazi and Soviet occupations between 1940 and 1991. Captions run in English and Latvian.

It is heavy, but it helps explain why the Freedom Monument and the flag raised on it carry the symbolic weight they do for people living in Riga today.

A 15-minute stop: stand on the Old Town side, where the Milda statue appears raising the three stars representing Courland, Vidzeme and Latgale. The honor guard changes every hour, from 9am to 6pm.

Focus on Alberta Street, numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 and 13: these carry the most elaborate facades, mostly designed by Mikhail Eisenstein (father of filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein) between 1901 and 1908, with masks, sphinxes and colors restored after decades dulled by Soviet-era pollution. Set aside 90 minutes walking slowly and looking up.

It is a 20-minute walk from the Freedom Monument, no transport needed, but outside the Old Town's more obvious loop.

Take the train from Riga to Sigulda, about 1 hour and under 3 euros, and start with the medieval castle ruins, free entry and open all day: built in 1207 by the Livonian Order, today it is exposed stone with no roof, atop the Gauja river valley. It is also the spot from which Turaida Castle comes into view across the valley, useful for planning the rest of the day.

A 20-minute walk along the park trail, free entry: this is the largest cave in the Baltics, seven meters high, its walls carved with inscriptions dating back to the 17th century, including visitor initials from more than 300 years ago. It is also the setting for the legend of the Rose of Turaida, told again at the castle across the valley.

The 9-euro ticket covers the reconstructed red-brick castle, the 38-meter tower (with views over the whole Gauja valley) and the surrounding park, dotted with sculptures from Latvian folk tales. Set aside 90 minutes: the churchyard where the legendary Rose of Turaida, killed in 1620, is buried sits on the walk back to the parking lot.

The heart of the Old Town since the 11th century: the 1404 Gothic town hall is the oldest in Northern Europe still standing on its original site, today a small museum inside (5 euros). In summer the square fills with restaurant terraces; in winter, a Christmas market. Start the walk here, it is the reference point for every street around it.

Climb via Pikk jalg (Long Leg Street) to Toompea Hill: the castle has housed the Estonian parliament since 1922 and is not open inside, but the outer courtyard, with the pastel-pink Pikk Hermann tower flying the Estonian and EU flags, is free and open all day.

A 20-minute stop: the onion-domed Orthodox cathedral, completed in 1900 by the Russian Empire directly facing the Estonian parliament, is seen by many Estonians as a symbol of Russification and was once considered for demolition in the 1920s. Entry is free, but photos are not allowed inside.

The platform is a 5-minute walk from Toompea Castle and free to visit: go in late afternoon, when the low sun lights up Old Town's red rooftops and the sea appears in the background. It is Tallinn's most repeated photo, for good reason.

Peter the Great commissioned the baroque palace in 1718 as a gift for his wife Catherine I; today it houses the foreign art museum (ticket about 8 euros), but the surrounding park, with a formal garden, swan lake and the Kumu contemporary art museum nearby, is free. Set aside 90 minutes for just the park, more if you go inside the palace.

Ten minutes on foot from the central station, the former Soviet-era railway and factory complex now holds craft breweries, local design shops and food trucks; there is no ticket, it is an open neighborhood. Set aside an hour to 75 minutes to wander between the warehouses and stop for coffee, a good break after two full days of museums and churches.

Ticket costs about 16 euros; set aside 1.5 to 2 hours: the 1917 concrete hangar, with no internal columns holding up its vaulted roof, houses the 1936 submarine Lembit, still afloat inside the building, and a full-size replica of the Short 184 seaplane used in World War I. It is a 20-minute walk from Telliskivi, right on the waterfront.