The Baltic coast, Riga to Tallinn

Day by day

The plan

1. Day 1

   Riga's old town

   • A loop of the old town: the Dome Cathedral, the House of the Blackheads, and the Cat House with its cats on the roof.
   • Coffee and cake in an old-town café, then the lift up St Peter's tower.
   • The Central Market in its old zeppelin hangars: smoked fish, rye bread, and in summer, berries by the cup.
   • Evening: a Black Balsam cocktail on a rooftop over the old town, then dinner of modern Latvian cooking.

2. Day 2

   Art nouveau, then the sea

   • Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela: faces, gods and dragons on every art nouveau façade.
   • Lunch in the wooden courtyards of the Kalnciema Quarter across the river (there's a market on Saturdays).
   • The train to Jūrmala, half an hour, and a walk along the endless beach at Majori.
   • Evening: sunset on the sand, dinner on Jomas iela, and the last train back.

3. Day 3

   Sigulda and the Gauja valley

   • Collect the car and drive an hour east to Sigulda.
   • The red-brick tower of Turaida Castle, and the grave of the Rose of Turaida, where couples leave flowers.
   • Gūtmanis Cave, its sandstone walls carved with centuries of names.
   • Evening: the cable car across the valley, then dinner on a terrace above the river.

4. Day 4

   Cēsis by lantern

   • A morning walk along the Gauja's sandstone cliffs, then forty minutes on to Cēsis.
   • The castle ruins by candle lantern, up the dark stairs of the west tower.
   • Coffee on the old town square, and the swans on the pond in the castle park.
   • Evening: dinner with a Latvian cider, then a walk round the castle walls as it gets dark, which in June is very late.

5. Day 5

   Up the coast to Pärnu

   • About two and a half hours north, over the border into Estonia; lunch by the sea at Salacgrīva.
   • The red sandstone cliffs at Veczemji on the Vidzeme coast, a short walk from the road.
   • Pärnu beach in the afternoon: wide, white, and shallow enough to wade out a long way.
   • Evening: dinner in the old town, then out along the river mole to the lighthouse at sunset.

6. Day 6

   Tallinn

   • Two hours to Tallinn. Leave the car at the hotel and walk into the old town.
   • Up to Toompea, to the viewing platforms over the red roofs and the harbour.
   • The wooden houses of Kalamaja, and lunch in the Telliskivi Creative City.
   • Evening: a candlelit dinner in the old town, and Town Hall Square at midnight, when it still isn't quite dark.

7. Day 7

   One more morning

   • Kadriorg Park and its pink palace, which Peter the Great built for his wife.
   • Coffee by the sea at Pirita, or a seafront sauna by the old harbour.
   • Drop the car at Tallinn airport, ten minutes from the centre. A one-way rental costs a little more; it's worth it.