Was hoping for a review but no luck  -any hints or tips from previous travellers welcomed

Thanks

Sure, there are 19 people booked on in total. No one is flying from Birmingham but 4 people are flying from Manchester.

If there's anything you'd like to know in particular, please do ask and hopefully I can help 🙂

Thanks,

Vickie

I went on this holiday at the beginning of September, been home a fortnight ago now. I haven't written a review because Roger the Red did one after his trip last year (go into "Search", "Reviews", "Baltic States" to find it).

I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday although by the end I could only work out what I had seen when by looking at the itinerary! Our TM who had a steps app on her phone calculated that we had all done an average of 14,000 steps a day! The main roads were almost all good, resurfaced with EU money, but the minor roads and paths in the towns and villages are generally composed of cobblestones, some made with local clay but others just stones which the locals had to go out into the fields to find in Soviet times, so they are very uneven under foot and it is essential to have stout shoes or walking sandals, no summer sandals or flipflops. Besides all the walking there is a lot of sitting in the coach through flat countryside but we never went for more than an hour or so before pulling in for a comfort stop and, usually, time to get a snack at a petrol station.

When it comes to packing, I took just about everything including a woolly hat and gloves because the weather forecast over the 3 countries went between sun and 24 degrees in Vilnius to rain and 13 degrees in Tallinn. In the event, we had generally good weather (t shirts and sweaters) although it got cooler by the time we were in Estonia and we only had one day of heavy rain, in Tallinn, plus one tremendous thunderstorm overnight in Vilnius. As you will be there in mid Autumn I would suggest you take layers to cover every eventuality.

One final thought - you might want to take insect repellant with you. I don't know when the mozzies and sandflies die/go into hibernation but several of us got bitten by them in the National Park and needed to apply antihistamine wipes or sprays right up to the end of the holiday. Better to take them and not need them than to itch and scratch.

Have a lovely holiday.

Ann

PS You have a long wait in Frankfurt airport on the way home. Bottles of water cost at least 3 euros (including a deposit of 25c) but there is a water fountain in the Departures area so if you take an empty water bottle in your hand luggage you can fill up for free. We didn't have so had to pay and of course won't get the deposit back.

Hi can you tell me how many are flying from manchester and Birmingham next week as our flights are later than heathrow also what's final numbers of whole group

Was hoping for a review but no luck  -any hints or tips from previous travellers welcomed

Thanks

If you type in 'A Journey Through the Baltics 12.06.17' in the Reviews search panel it should bring up the review I wrote last year although I think the tour has changed a little.

You'll certainly enjoy it.

Regards,

Roger

City lass, I enjoyed a tour in both in 2015, not with JY.  Unbelievable is the sight of the colours of Red Square St Basils.     The famous GUM former dept store is adjacent.   There’s a brilliant Hard Rock Cafe in Moscow, near McDonalds (!) Also the metro/underground stations need to be seen.  U may not have time for that, but should in St. Petersburg.  One token per journey, which ends when you emerge from a station regardless of distance, costs about 50p so worth buying 2 to save queuing twice.    The Yusupov Palace of Rasputin infamy and Church of the Spilled blood are high on the bucket lists.   Both near canals.   Like most places best not to venture away from tourist areas esp at night.   Enjoy.   T.

Sorry, Travellite, but this holiday doesn't go anywhere near Moscow or St Petersburg - it is land-based rather than a cruise and goes from Vilnius in Lithuania, through to Riga in Latvia and ending up in Tallinn in Estonia.

Ann

I am Susan, the tour leader for a Journey through the Baltics.  

I had posted on the 'Meet your tour leader' page, looking for you, and here you are!

This is a fabulous tour, and the previous comments are accurate.  It will be getting chilly and prepare for possible rain. I'm pretty sure all the bugs will be gone for us. I would say, bring your 'eating clothes' as the food is gorgeous, and bring a small torch, or the one on your phone.  Good shoes are a must.  

Just a tip about Frankfurt airport.  You may have to go through security again, once there.  Make sure you have nothing in your hand luggage on you from the previous flight, in the way of liquids or any other things security looks for.  They are very serious about these things and could hold you up.  You will be flying with 3 others, so you can inform them about that too.  

Once you get to Vilnius, we have a welcome drink in the hotel bar at 19:30 and our dinner is at the hotel at 20:00.  

See you in Vilnius and prepare to be amazed!

Susan