Poland > Kaliningrad > Tallinn
 

Has anybody here recently ridden from Poland, through Kaliningrad and the Baltic States to Tallinn for the ferry crossing to Helsinki?

Visas are here and we plan to be camping.

Any comments / tips would be appreciated, please.

Thanks

Went through Poland and the Baltic states last year and caught a ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm - didn't go through the Russian island.

Poland
Gdansk was interesting - there is a very good campsite in Sopot (called ‘Kamienny Potok’) five minutes walk from the station with trains every fifteen minutes to Gdansk. It is also possible to walk along the beach from the campsite to the pier in Sopot centre and catch a boat to Hel or Gdansk. You may need to book a day ahead, or get there early, to guarantee a place.
The Solidarity museum was fantastic.
Malbork was a stronghold of the Teutonic Knights and the castle is well worth a visit.
Wilczy Szaniec (Hitlers Wolf’s Lair) was incredible. There is a hotel in a converted bunker at the Lair itself as well as a basic campsite.
Lithuania
The statue park (Gruto Parkas) is well worth a visit and there is a campsite in nearby Druskininkai.
The Hill of Crosses was fantastic. We stayed in a reasonable hotel in Siauliai - I didn't see any place to camp around there.

All three Baltic capitals are worth seeing. Unfortunately my husband got food poisoning in Riga so that prevented us doing much of what we planned .... hence the recommendations running out!

I rode from Russia through Narva (Estonia), through Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad and Poland last summer.

Estonia was stunningly beautiful for its 'old world' farming and forest scenery. Great tarmac roads, superbly maintained and marked. Miles of smooth gravel tracks in forests.

Latvia provided my cheapest accomodation - about GB£8 for an en-suite room, TV (with BBC & sex channels!) and breakfast. Cheaper than camping?

The Coronian Spit and nature reserves are well worth a look. The Lithuanian section (15 minute ferry from Kalipeda) is better 'managed' than the Russian part which has a more wild feel - except for the DPS radar speed traps! The border here was fast and efficient.

Search for 'Klipeda' 'Kaliningrad' or 'Corunian' for my previous posts.

Tony P,

Can you remember where the cheap b&b was in Latvia ?

Im doing the same route but in reverse

UK - Holland - Germany - Sweden - Finland

Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Poland - Germany - Holland -UK

Cheers
Will

Sorry Will, I can't remember the exact town/village. It had been a long day's ride from St Petersberg including the usual longwinded RUS/EST border crossing at Narva!

It had a 'Motel' sign outside. Had a bar attached which closed at 10 :( as had the village mini-supermarket. Both on the 'old' road, a few metres north of the main road which now by-passes the village.

This was the A9 between Riga and Liepaja (on the west coast) somewhere around Skrunda. Probably 'Marijasmuiza' or 'Mazilmaja'.

Thank you, all, for your helpful comments.

We can "exchange notes" in SF, Will.

Im sure we will exchange notes over a few beers :thumbup1:

We (Centre 4) did our annual Scotland trip over the bank holiday, I used it as a good excuse to practise packing all my kit (plus trying out some new toys I have bought over the winter months).

Im now looking at maps and planning a rough route with the things I would like to see (time permitting)

Cheers
Will