Heritage Tours
The New Baltics
Join us on this unique heritage tour to the Baltics. Visit Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Witness the rebirth of three unique Baltic nations all of which received independence just over 15 years ago.
Castles, windmills, cobbled lanes and a wonderful mix of architecture and history. You'll find all of this and so much more in the Baltic Countries.
We’ll take you to the medieval villages and former Hanseatic League trading centres with grand merchant houses and central squares made for pedestrians. Learn of the Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading guilds that held a monopoly over trade in the Baltic region during the 13th to 17th centuries and the Teutonic Order which was a rival trading group that also thrived in this region from the early 13th century. Today, these Baltic nations are thriving with a lifestyle and level of confidence reminiscent to that of more southerly countries.
Explore the Curonian Spit, a string of sandy dunes sporting many artist communities and holiday resorts in a region once known as East Prussia. Half of the spit is in Lithuania with the other half in Kaliningrad, a part of Russia and once known as Königsberg.
Be amongst the first visitors to explore the Baltic countries and marvel at the uniqueness that each possesses.
Market Square, Tallinn, Estonia
Finland
We start our journey of exploration in the modern capital city of Helsinki. The picturesque "city by the sea" is on the Gulf of Finland - an arm of the Baltic Sea.
Russia
The "mother" of eastern Europe. We visit Saint Petersburg in one corner of this massive country. Explore the city with a population of over 4 million almost the same as the entire country of Finland! A UNESCO World Heritage site, it is laced with canals, historical monuments and buildings. We will bring you to the Hermitage Museum in the Winter Palace and to Peter the Great's summer palace at Petrodvorets is also known as the "Russian Versailles". Learn of its tumultuous past with many revolutions, uprisings, and assassinations. This colourful city will keep even the most well-travelled person intrigued. Kaliningrad, named after one of the original former Bolshevics, Mikhail Kalinin, in 1946. Strategically important to the former USSR, it was the base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet in the only ice-free Baltic sea port. As such, the city was closed to foreigners until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. Kaliningrad is also the centre of Baltic amber. Visiting the amber museum allows us to appreciate this unique gem-stone.
Estonia
With its flat and lush landscape, Estonia shares many attributes with neighbouring Finland including a similar language. Estonia, with a population of almost 1.4 million today, was annexed to the Soviet Union in 1940 and then regained independence in 1991 and joined the European Community in 2004. For a brief 4-year period, Estonia was liberated by Nazi-Germany. Estonians are very culturally rich in song, music and the arts.
Latvia
A present day population of 2.3 million people, Latvia has a very colourful historic past. The capital city of Riga maintained close cultural contacts with western Europe.
Like Estonia, Latvia gained independence in 1991 and joined the European Community in 2004. Latvia today has one of the highest economic growth rates in Europe. Historically, Latvians had adopted Germanic cultural activities. However, in the mid-nineteenth century, there was a movement towards renewing and promoting Latvian culture.
Lithuania
With a population of 3.4 million people, Lithuania's history stretches back to the eleventh century. It has special appeal to those who have done a fair amount of travelling and are looking for somewhere unique. A culturally rich nation, Lithuania has preserved many of its unique customs and is considered to have the most friendly and outgoing and even the most open of all the Baltic people. The countryside is generally flat with rolling hills, it has a most spectacular stretch of Baltic coastline with beaches and forests. The capital city, Vilnius, is a beautiful and visitor-friendly city with ornate churches, university buildings, and government buildings. Vilnius will be the European Cultural Capital of 2009.
