One of Europe’s less-discovered areas is the Baltic States. These countries are full of beauty and history, which, as we will show you, can be discovered in 10 perfect days.
In this Baltic States itinerary you will experience history, nature, encounter what we deem to be the most beautiful city in Europe, and even fit in a quick visit to Finland! – all at very affordable cost. Have we got your attention yet?!
Although our Baltic States trip was 13 days, our mission was to be “on the ground” to trial and test what would be the perfect amount of time to explore these countries on a budget.
From this “hands-on” approach, we’ve curated what we believe is the perfect 10-day Baltic States itinerary just for you. Aren’t we just wonderful?!
Baltic States Itinerary: Where Exactly are we Going?
You will be visiting all of the Baltic States Capitals in a 10-day Baltic States itinerary. Of course, there are other cities and attractions to visit in these 3 small countries, but if time is a factor we would recommend just sticking to the capitals.
But don’t fret as daytrips from the capitals are included!
Your trip starts in Vilnius – Lithuania where you will spend 3 glorious days exploring the city and even throw in a Vilnius day trip to an enchanting castle.
Next up, you will move onto Latvia’s capital Riga for a further 3 days including a day trip to the beach and to visit the Baltic Sea.
Finally, your last stop is Tallinn. We would recommend 4 days in Tallinn, this will also include a day trip to Helsinki – Finland.
That doesn’t sound like a bad 10 days spent does it?!
We also advise you to travel in this order during your Baltic States itinerary to save the best for last.
Just to summarize and make it EVEN easier for you guys. Make sure to click on the links below for a detailed outline of how to best spend your time in each city.
- Vilnius x 3 days (day trip to Trakai Castle)
- Riga x 3 days (day trip to Jurmala Beach)
- Tallinn x 4 days (day trip to Helsinki – Finland)
Getting To the Baltic States and Getting Around
All three of the capitals have airports that can be accessed by most airports in Europe. To score a cheap flight check out Skyscanner.
The easiest way of traveling between states is by bus. Tickets are cheap and the buses are luxurious and timely. We found the cheapest prices on Flixbus and 12Go.
Pretty straightforward so far right?!
Baltic States Itinerary – How Much Did It Cost?
So finally the question you may be waiting for, the juicy bit!!…..and we hope you didn’t skip to this part?! How much did a our Baltic States itinerary cost us??
Keep in mind the breakdown below refers to a 13-day Baltic States itinerary. As well as this, the category “restaurants” includes our food shopping.
Baltic States Itinerary: Food
We are the type of “wanderers” who book accommodation with cooking facilities whenever possible.
Read our easy tips on how we eat cheap around the world. We are traveling full-time so this is a necessity for us to make our money go as far as it can!
We also did not drink much alcohol (I know this may be shocking seeing as we are from Ireland!) Between both of us, we had 12 drinks over the 13 days.
Oh how times have changed, we’d be finished up our travels long ago if we were drinking as if on “holidays”.
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The Baltic States surprised us by being a bit more expensive than we had expected. Food and drink in bars/restaurants were a small bit cheaper if not similar to the prices we would be paying at home in Ireland. Two drinks would cost around 10 Euro.
Baltic States Itinerary: Baltic States Accommodation
With this in mind (looking for apartments rather than hostels/hotel rooms) we were fortunate that although the cost of food/drink was more than expected, accommodation was extremely reasonable.
We secured wonderful apartment-type lodgings for the majority of our Baltic states itinerary. The nightly costs ranged from 25-35 Euro – averaging our trip at 31 Euro/night.
All the accommodation below was secured through Booking.com. For a small amount of time and effort, you can come across some pretty good deals.
Baltic States Itinerary: Baltic States Transport
Next up is transport which was also reasonably priced. If you don’t plan to travel between cities and opt to choose for a weekend stay it is EVEN cheaper, so don’t forget to take this spending out of the budget.
The cost of public transport in and around the cities or to/from bus stations is very affordable – we are talking 1 euro per person!!
We always try (though not always possible or ideal) to book accommodation close to a bus stop/metro stop so we can walk there with our bags to avoid higher taxi fees.
Also, when we explore new cities we walk as much as we can – is there a better way to explore?! (we did name ourselves Happy Irish WANDERERS….so, you know…..)
Lastly, if you decide not to visit Helsinki – Finland for a day trip from Tallinn on your Baltic States itinerary then this is another cost to subtract from the overall cost.
This day trip to Helsinki set us back approximately 100 Euros for the day, including ferry tickets.
Baltic States Itinerary: Budgeting App
Honestly, we don’t know much about budgeting apps and did not do much research into the matter.
We randomly came across and continue to use TravelSpend App and it does what it says on the tin! This app breaks down our spending into categories and keeps track of our daily/overall spending.
You can insert the length of the trip as well as your intended trip budget and currency used.
Baltic States Itinerary: What Do You Think?
Given that we did not feel it was as cheap as expected, we think we did quite alright in our spending during our Baltic States trip.
Just to recap – for less than 1000 Euro we visited 4 countries over 13 days with our daily spending being 76 Euro including accommodation!
So what is your opinion – Are you surprised by how much or little we spent? Did you think it would have been cheaper or more expensive? Do you use a budgeting app on your travels?
Are you contemplating a Baltic States itinerary of your own? We would love to hear from you.
If you have any questions then leave us a comment below, and don’t forget to check out our socials for our latest adventures.
Slán go fóil
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For 1000 EU I would assume it is a bargain. Even for just the experience alone. I love following both of your adventures and look forward to seeing you again in the future. Kathrina has been back In Ireland for the best part of the year and if you get back there you should visit her family pub. She would love to see you both.
Hey Stu, great hearing from you!Ah pity we didn’t know Katharina was home while we were there,it would have been great to see her this side of the world! Next time we’ll definitely check it thank you so much for your kind words, means alot. Lots more to come