Baltic States Panorama - Helsinki Cruise

Meeting in the morning at the airport, boarding our aircraft and direct flight to Riga. Arrival and departure to our hotel. Tidying up the rooms.

Breakfast and then departure for the city's Ethnographic Museum ( Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum ), which is one of the oldest and largest "open air" museums in Europe, outside Riga, as it represents the life of Latvians during the Middle Ages. We will then visit the Riga Motor Museum, which houses the largest and most diverse collection of antique vehicles in the Baltic countries and offers a truly interactive, fun and educational journey into the world of motors. The museum is considered as one of the most remarkable and modern museums in Latvia. We continue the tour with the beautiful areas, Art nouveau, Art deceau. In this area, the first art nouveau houses were built after the 19th-early 20th century and later in the interwar period in the art deceau trend, imitating the trends in Barcelona, decorated with sculptural masterpieces. While walking we will also admire wonderful creations in the new-classic area, created in the middle of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. Then we will visit the neo-classical Latvian National Opera located very close to the Freedom Monument, located between two semi-circular parks, the two ends of which end at the Daugava River, and when the city walls were demolished, the ditch with the water entering from the river. Parks were created on the banks of the canal that demarcate the various architectural neighborhoods! Before we reach the limits of the medieval zone, we will first get to know the Neo-Gothic neighborhood, then enter the medieval one with the Swedish Gate, the enormous cathedral of St. Mary's Dome, which dates back to 1211 and is the largest in the Baltics, where one of the largest church organs in Europe is located with 6,768 pipes! In the square of the Town Hall, the outstanding art, House of the Blackheads, the impressive church of Agios Petros with its bell tower and of Ag. Ioannis Prodromos. Then free time in the central market of new Riga to walk the picturesque streets of the old town with nice cafes and bars

Breakfast and departure for the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, with a stopover in the Ligatne area, on Latvian territory, where we will enter the hidden, Soviet-era Nuclear bunker. "The tour guide will be waiting for us to inform us about the facilities of the elite, of the Soviet era of the "Cold War"! . We will admire the communications and air purification systems, war rooms and maps of nuclear facilities and chemical protection masks. You can then buy souvenirs such as gas masks. We continue to Tallinn. Arrival and check-in at our hotel

Breakfast and free day. But we recommend an optional excursion to Helsinki, by cruise ship, a city that combines the past and the future of Finland! Transfer to the port and boarding our boat. Arrival in Helsinki after about 2.5 hours. In the capital of Finland we will see the massive station with the giants on the facade, on the hill of the square of the liberator Tsar Alexander, the imposing white-blue Cathedral, dominating the square with a view of the southern old port, the eastern port with the characteristic sailing ships and on the waterfront the mansions of another era, the old restaurants and pubs of the Sailors, the hill of Our Lady of Uspensky of the Orthodox, the closed traditional and outdoor market, Esplanade with the small shops and the Eira neighborhood with the neoclassical houses, the avenue with the department stores, the square with the fountain of the mermaid and sea creatures, the old tram, the Belle-Epoque cafe-patisserie-restaurant! And we will leave the old city, with the most modern tram, passing by the sophisticated modern buildings, squares and port facilities reminiscent of airports of the future, as well as the mooring of ships that is done with magnets and no longer with anchors! Transfer to the port and return to Tallinn

Breakfast and then we will start our tour of the capital of Estonia which is considered by many as the "queen" of the Baltic, which can easily turn our trip into a fairy tale. The medieval historical center enchants, with its cobbled streets, markets, traditional houses. With the aura of the 13th century, visitors feel like protagonists in a medieval fairy tale, inside well-preserved walls, with squares and towers. We climb to the impressive aristocratic district of Toompea, located on top of a hill that will offer us a unique panoramic view-top view of the city with its towers, tiled roofs and picturesque squares. Passing from the Upper to the Lower neighborhood, we will cross the narrowest alley of the area, where the drunks staggered as they fell from the thread that was placed along it as a trap. Passing the Church of the Holy Spirit and Saint Nicholas we will head to Northern Europe's only untouched Gothic town hall and walk through the medieval part of the lower town, a place untouched by time. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and European Capital of Culture in 2011, Tallinn strongly resembles a Scandinavian city, while the New Town with its skyscrapers, mainly home to IT companies, gives the area a dynamic dimension of a rapidly developing area. Crossing the passage of Agia Ekaterini, the most picturesque path of the city, time for a beer in some dark cellar or in a flowery courtyard, there you will feel that time has stopped. Then we will visit the Town Hall Square, which is the only Gothic style square in Northern Europe. In the Kiek in de Kök tower one can see walls, cannons and various exhibits related to crime and punishment, but also life in Tallinn a few centuries ago. The most important sights are the Toompea Castle which today houses the Parliament of Estonia and the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in 1900, the Kohtuotsa Hill with its panoramic view of the city, the Leg Gate and Freedom Square, a popular meeting point, on the edge of the Old Town. Then we suggest you visit outside the city Lauluväljaku and the baroque palace with the gardens of Kadriorg which was built in 1718 and today is an Art Museum, which is the largest in the whole country, with works of Estonia from the 18th century. Then departure to Tallinn airport for our internal flight to Vilnius. Arrival and check-in at our hotel.

Breakfast and departure for the neighboring city of Trakai, 29 kilometers west of Vilnius, the first capital of Lithuania, built on the shore of Lake Galve, with its magnificent wooden houses, built by the Crimean Jews. Upon arrival, we will visit the exemplary restored medieval castle of Duke Vytautas, 15th century, built on an island in the lake, which is undoubtedly one of the most important historical and architectural monuments of Lithuania. The museum is divided into various parts of the castle and includes one of the richest collections of pre- and post-Medieval times! Then we return to beautiful Vilnius. Built at the confluence of the rivers Villenelle and Neris, it seduces the visitor with its baroque architecture. The city has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it is also one of the greenest capitals in Europe. During our tour we will see, among other things, the panoramic view of the city, from the hill of the three Crosses, which symbolize the throwing of the first missionaries from the pagans, the open theater and going down the baroque church, of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the gate of the Dawn of 1500 and the impressive Orthodox churches of the city such as the "Black Virgin", a pilgrimage for Orthodox and Catholics, of the Holy Spirit, of Saint Teresa, with its rich baroque decoration, of St. Casimir, of St. Nikolaou, of Agia Anna in the old-Gothic style, a church from the oldest medieval ones, Archangel Michael with the unique Byzantine Ecclesiastical museum, Uzupis, the once "free neighborhood of hippies", with their own local currency! We continue in the famous narrow alley of the artists, with their particularly original works, on the walls! We will also visit the University of B. Kaptsoukas of 1579, with its bronze carved door with reference to the first printing press, the Bishops and kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, the Presidential Palace, the baroque St. Catherine's, to finally exit to the square of palace of the kings, and the Cathedral with its wonderful paintings, in the shadow of the castle, from where King Gediminas Avenue begins and ends at the bend of the Neris River. The boulevard is adorned with fine public buildings, shops and the Genocide museum of the Lithuanian people with many names written on the outer walls. Afternoon free in the city

Breakfast and departure for Riga with a stop at Rundale Palace in Latvia. Arrival at the magnificent palace and its magnificent garden, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful architectural masterpieces of the Baltic. The palace was built for Tsarina Anna by Rastrelli, the architect of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. We continue to Riga. Arrival and check-in at our hotel. In the afternoon free time always accompanied by our leader.

Breakfast and free time in town for our final shopping. Then departure to the airport for our return flight.