The Baltic Capitals & Highlights of Scandinavia

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Belgium for an overnight stay.

This morning we travel across the border to Germany and continue through the states of Lower Saxony and later Brandenburg to our hotel on the outskirts of Berlin for an overnight stay. This evening why not join our optional Berlin by Night tour? During the 'cold war' period the city was divided between east and west but is once again the flourishing capital of the unified Germany. Our guide will explain about the changes that have taken place since the unification of the city as well as pointing out and explaining the interesting stories behind many of the buildings. We see the sights of former West Berlin including the famous street of the Kurfurstendamm with its cafés, theatres, cinemas and art galleries and amongst others the newly refurbished Reichstag building, the home of the German Parliament. We pass by the Brandenburg Gate and continue into former East Berlin where we see the cathedral, Humboldt University on the famous Unter den Linden Street.

We depart our hotel early this morning as we make our way east towards Poland, and the capital city of Warsaw. During our journey we will pass the city of Poznan, where the first Polish state was created over a thousand years ago. We reach Warsaw this evening for a two-night stay.

This morning we travel to the centre of Warsaw where we have an optional sightseeing tour, which will introduce you to this beautiful capital. You will see the 'Royal Route with its aristocratic residences, statues and historic churches before visiting the Old Town, the Castle Square the Barbican and such historical sites as the Ghetto Memorial, the Chopin Monument and the Belvedere Palace. Our local guide will provide an informative commentary, and reveal many of the stories behind the buildings and personalities that have shaped the often-tragic history of this fascinating city. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

We depart our hotel early this morning as we continue our journey east through the beautiful Polish countryside and cross the border to Lithuania. Owing much to the rich cultural currents of central Europe, Lithuania once shared an empire with neighbouring Poland that stretched from the Baltic Sea almost to the Black Sea. We reach Vilnius this evening and our hotel where we stay for the next two nights.

Today you will have the full day to discover the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. This morning we have an included walking tour through this cosmopolitan city, which lately has been praised as the ‘New Prague’. The Baroque Old Town area is one of the largest in Europe and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. The buildings and monuments have been built over many centuries and there are examples of architecture from various styles and eras. This afternoon you will have the opportunity to join our optional visit to Trakai Castle. Accompanied by a local guide, we travel to the old Lithuanian capital of Trakai and its picture postcard Island Castle, one of the most visited historical-architectural monuments in Lithuania. The painstaking restored redbrick gothic castle is perched atop an island on Lake Galve. It is believed to date from around 1400, when Vytautas, Lithuania’s Grand Duke of the time, needed stronger defences than the nearby peninsula castle afforded. A footbridge links it to the shore and a moat separates the triangular outer courtyard moat from the main tower with its cavernous central court and a range of galleries, halls and rooms. Some house the Trakai History Museum which charts the history of the castle.

We depart our hotel early this morning as we travel north to the Latvian coastal capital of Riga, famed for its bewitching skyline of castle turrets and church steeples. We reach Riga late this afternoon for an overnight stay.

We spend time in the beautiful city of Riga. A bustling centre of the arts and the largest city in the Baltics, our optional guided walking tour will reveal many of the sights of Riga, including the Melngalvju house or Blackheads house, as it is more commonly known. We also see Riga Castle originally built in 1330 and now the residence of the Latvian President. Once known as ‘small Paris’, the city of Riga is a delightful mixture of medieval ambience and a modern cosmopolitan metropolis. This afternoon we continue our journey north to Estonia. The most northerly of the three former Soviet Baltic republics, it is a country of great scenic beauty with many forests, lakes and islands. We reach Tallinn this evening for a two-night stay.

Spend today exploring Tallinn located on the north-eastern extremity of Europe on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Tallinn’s Old Town is exceedingly pretty, with a jumble of medieval walls and turrets, needling spires and winding cobbled streets. This morning our included walking tour will introduce you to many of the sights, including the eye-catching medieval and baroque architecture, the Town Hall, one of the oldest in Europe, St Nicholas Church, Toompea Palace and the old city walls. This afternoon is at leisure to explore the sights independently.

We have an early start this morning as we leave Tallinn and travel by ferry to the Finnish capital of Helsinki, the ‘White City of the North’. Centred around the harbour and market square, you will have free time to explore Helsinki, a lively city full of vivid colours, exciting smells and beautiful buildings or why not join our optional Guided Sightseeing tour. We join the overnight ferry to Stockholm where our accommodation will be in two berth cabins. It may be worth packing an overnight bag for this evening.

We disembark in Stockholm this morning after breakfast on board the ferry. We spend the day in the Swedish capital which is built on 14 islands and enjoys a stunning location by the Baltic Sea. Beautiful buildings, a picturesque Old Town (Gamla Stan) and endless greenery and parkland, together with the magnificent views across the sea. Enjoy free time to explore at your leisure or join our optional Guided Sightseeing tour before we continue to our hotel in the Stockholm area for an overnight stay.

We leave our hotel and continue past Sodertalje and through the wooded hills of Kolmarden, once notorious in Sweden for its bandits and highwaymen. We cross the Gota Canal and eventually reach Lake Vattern, the second largest lake in Sweden. Driving south alongside the lake we pass through Granna and Jonkoping at the southern end of the lake. From here our journey takes us past Varnamo and Ljungby and into the port of Helsingborg. Here we board the ferry for the short crossing to Denmark and the port of Helsingor, one of the country’s oldest towns and the setting for Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’ (the ferry time will be advised by your coach crew). Rejoining the coach we drive the short distance to the Copenhagen area for a two-night stay.

After breakfast why not enjoy our included sightseeing tour of Copenhagen. Denmark is the oldest Kingdom of the world, and as the capital, Copenhagen has many fascinating landmarks and beautiful architectural masterpieces, which are largely connected to the Danish throne and the royal family. Right in the centre of the city there are four Royal Palaces of which Amalienborg is the residence of Queen Margrethe ll. We will also see ‘Den Lille Havfrue’ or ‘Little Mermaid’, sculptured by Edvard Eriksen; the statue is famous for being the inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen’s beautiful fairy tale.

After a morning at leisure we leave Copenhagen and travel to Rodbyhavn. Here we board the ferry for the one-hour crossing to Puttgarden in Germany. We continue to our hotel in northern Germany for an overnight stay.

We commence our journey through Germany passing Bremen and the university town of Osnabruck, which was the birthplace of the novelist Erich Remarque, famous for the novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. We continue into Belgium where we stay overnight.

Return home.