Boy do I agree with Jackie. Unless you are both hyperactive and just run a lot, then this may be the trip for you. By the time you get to a destination, you will already be working on the next leg of the trip. Please also remember that from SF to Finland, etc. you will experience a 10 hour time change, ego big time jet lag. IF you were doing this from the UK then at least that problem would not be in the mix. You are planning too much in two weeks and when you say 3 days in Finland you will not have 3 days or the one day in Tallinn. Cut the trip by 1/2. Save the trip to Poland and Lithuania for next year and do it in some normal pace. By the time you arrive and find a hotel, eat, etc. you have already lost at least 1/2 of the day, etc. Same with leaving for the next destination, etc.

My friends from next door did something like this a few years ago. They went from Chicago to Paris, got rail passes, and set a tour from Paris, around Germany, then into Swiss, and then Italy, all by train. When finally finding a "hotel" in Paris, he realized that he left his bridge teeth) in the plane WS. No teeth for the rest of the trip. Got totally lost in Germany, and got on a train in Germany to go someplace and got a $50 fine for not paying for a ticket, since that line did not accept the Rail Passes. Spent all of their time looking for cheap places to stay, and the hell about seeing the cities and towns, they had to rest. Finally got to Rome, found a cheap hotel, but upon arrival at the train station in Rome, one of their bags was already missing. Never got it back. They took a trip to Sorento on the way to Pompai. Took the wrong train, and got to Sorento at 6PM, when the last train to Rome leaves at 6:30PM. Did not ever make it to Pompai or saw Sorento. By that time it was a 30 minute look see at St. Peters, and back to the train for a return to Paris. They had a great vacation!!!!! Saw really nothing, spend all kinds of time on trains, lost his teeth, one bag, ran around like idiots looking for places to stay and trying to figure out the various RR schedules, which they kept getting wrong, standing on the wrong tracks, etc.

If you do this trip, please report how it went! Have a nice trip. Also, just to add, AF the last minute in Europe is devestation to your wallet!

Hi

I've now had a little think about your plans and my suggestions are

1. 3 days in Finland, if you mean just Helsinki then that's fine. Spend the first day getting over the jet lag if possible and two days wandering round Helsinki.

2. Last day in Helsinki take the ferry to Tallinn and sail through the archipeligo, one of the most beautiful sailings in the world.

3. Tallinn, spend three nights here, the first one just after you arrive from Helsinki, for hotel info post a question to Hotelstallinn telling him roughly your budget and what kind of place you want to stay in and I'm sure he'll have some ideas for you. Wander round the Old Town, it is delightful on day one, then try on the subsequent days to visit Kadriorg Park and the Open Air museum, and perhaps some of the other museums which are scattered round the town.

4. Get the bus to Riga, that way you'll see some of the landscape as well as having a nice leisurely journey. Two or three nights in Riga, again wandering round the Old Town is a must as is visiting the Occupation museum and perhaps a couple more museums. We loved the firefighters museum which is a little way out of town but we got a bus. Spend a few hours in the market which is massive. You can buy anything there from mobile phones to fruit and veg or maybe the odd bit of clothing or furniture. It is housed in several aircraft hangers and I guarantee you will have never seen anything like it before.

4. Then the bus again to Vilnius, which I think is one of the prettiest cities I have ever visited. We went hot air ballooning here as well as eating in some of the best and cheapest restaurants anywhere. It's a photographers dream this place. If you have time take a trip to Trakai whilst you are in vilnius.

I've lost count of the days now but if you have any left spend them in Vilnius it's lovely.

Even with this program I reckon you will be exhausted but add in Poland and you'll just plain expire.

Jackie

Thanks all...since posting and reading replies we have also come to the conclusion that the original trip was too much. We arrrive in Finland on Aug 30th and leave out of Heathrow September16th. So it's somewhat after the Summer rush.

Our new plan is Finland (3 days), Tallinn (1 day), Riga (3 days), Lithuania (3 days). We are not huge city people so we find city trips not particularly relaxing. We also like flexiblity so if a place is not that great you can just leave instead of suffering. That's the logistical problem with this trip.

We are still thinking about winging it on the transportation between cities and hoping that there will be less demand at that time of the year so we can just show up. One of the other posts said that he wished he had not booked ahead as he had to buy another ticket on the spot..this was going from Vilnius to Riga. Wonder if the same may be true going the other way?

We still have 6 days left over from the city portion of this trip. Are there any biking trips, something non-city like a beach town or even short flights to another country to change it up. Man this trip is hard!!

Hi

I honestly think you will regret cutting down on the Tallinn bit of your tour, it's much prettier than Riga and it's Old Town is the best preserved medieval city in Europe. It has to be seen to be believed, but in answer to your question about seaside towns, we got the bus from Tallinn to Parnu for a couple of nights one year and loved it. We stayed at the Scandic Ranna which is right on the white sandy beach and it was wonderful. I have done a review of the hotel and put in a few photos.

Saarrema (spelt that wrong sorry) is also supposed to be delightful, maybe someone else can tell you about that.

Trakai just outside Vilnius is fabulous, we booked a little summer house by the lake for three nights last July and had a wonderful time. If you need accommodation there it's best to contact the Trakai tourist office where a lovely English speaking lady called Lolita will help.

I hope this has given you some ideas

Jackie

Two years too late with this reply, but might help some others.

1. Staying 3 nights in Helsingfors is daft, spend 2 and go to Tallinn - less expensive.

2. To get out of the 'city' in Tallinn take a bus to the Outdoor Museum (Rocca al Mare), you can easily spend a day in the forest there. Or go out past Kadriorg, hire some bikes and the forests round TV Tower etc are great.

3. Take a bus from Tallinn to Riga and same from Riga to Vilnius. About 4 hours each & many more buses than you'll find on t'internet.

4. There is now an overnight bus service from Vilnius to Warsaw... leaves 21:00 arrives 06:30 - means you're in area of Vilnius Bus Station before 'getting beaten up time'

Sounds as though your friend needed to spend more time planning and booking ahead!

I will be arriving in Vilnius about 1400 at the airport. We will be staying at the Hotel Tilto on Tilto Street between Radvilu and Sventaragio Streets. We plan on taking the train from the airport. How far of a walk is it from the train station to the hotel? Thank you