A national capital devoid of tour groups. One of Europe’s prettiest palaces without the queues. Whole national parks and rural regions you haven’t even heard of – and nor has anyone else. If you’re hoping to find an alternative Europe without the crowds, look north.
The surrounds of the Baltic Sea do have a few pockets of tourist congestion, yet they attract relatively few visitors despite their significant attractions. Latvia gets fewer than two million annual tourists, and Sweden under seven million. Greece endures 40 million and Italy 65 million.
That’s changing. In 2024, visitor numbers to Poland’s Baltic region jumped by 30 per cent. Visitor numbers to Latvia and Lithuania have surged this year. Baltic cruises have hit an all-time high, and even winter tourism is growing.
Why? Well, holidaymakers are looking for fresh pastures; the Nordic way of life continues to trend internationally; Baltic states have become savvy on social media; and Mediterranean heatwaves and bushfires are making travellers reconsider. Suddenly, the Baltic is the cool place to holiday in more ways than one.
The only unfortunate news is that St Petersburg, undoubtedly the gem of the Baltic, is now off limits: Australian tourists are advised not to visit Russia. Yet that still leaves eight Baltic nations to enjoy: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
So where should you go, and what should you see? Here’s our round-up of the best of the Baltic shores.
The islands
The lowdown The Baltic’s largest island is Sweden’s Gotland, known for its walled medieval town Visby and its Viking history. Nearby Oland has a royal residence and hiking amid world heritage landscapes. Estonia’s Saaremaa has a notable castle, rural charm and time-warp villages. Finland’s autonomous Aland Islands and the thousands of skerries that lead to Stockholm make for scenic sailing.
Top pick Bornholm, Danish but much closer to Sweden, was a significant medieval naval and trade base. Cruise ships call at Ronne, with its cheerful half-timbered houses. The island’s cliffs, forests and white-sand beaches provide a pretty setting for fishing villages, herring smokehouses and remains of Bronze Age settlements.
Don’t miss Hammershus Castle, once the mightiest fortification in Scandinavia, is a magnificent cliff-perched ruin with stirring sea views, great for a scramble. Bring your easel and take advantage of the lovely Baltic light that attracts artists to Bornholm.
More Bornholm is a 35-minute flight from Copenhagen or a 90-minute ferry ride from Ystad in Sweden. Book accommodation ahead if visiting in July-August. See bornholm.info
The capitals
The lowdown Lively, outdoorsy, eco-friendly, wealthy, history-dense and stylish with Nordic flair: what’s not to like about the capitals that ring the Baltic? Copenhagen, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki and Stockholm are all worth visiting. Then there’s former Finnish capital Turku: cultured and historical, yet experimental and nightlife-lively.
Top pick Stockholm edges out Copenhagen for being grander and more watery. Does it have many world’s best sights and museums? Maybe not, but the whole is a fabulous sum of its parts, from medieval Gamla Stan and elegant 19th-century boulevards and waterfront promenades to indie district Sodermalm. The nightlife rocks, too.
Don’t miss Open-air museums don’t always hit the mark, but Skansen is an exception. It brings together more than 150 historical buildings from across Sweden, with costumed staff to tell their stories and showcase traditional crafts in a semi-rural (though downtown) setting.
More English speakers are ubiquitous, cash is increasingly not accepted, public transport is excellent. Beware: Stockholm’s several airports are far from the city, especially those used by budget airlines. See visitstockholm.com
The winter experiences
The lowdown Winter tourism in the Baltic is growing and, while most of the action (skiing, dogsledding, Santa Claus Village, the northern lights) takes place beyond the Baltic shoreline, snowy cities offer cross-country skiing, skating, snowshoeing, ice fishing and plenty of light-twinkled hygge (cosiness).
Top pick Helsinki glows with Christmas lighting in December and Lux Helsinki light festival in January; shop windows are marvellously decorated (Stockmann’s is best). The city’s many parks are great for snowy walks and offer 200 kilometres of cross-country ski trails. You can skate on rinks and frozen lakes.
Don’t miss Go Finnish and have a swim in Allas Sea Pool, or take the ultimate winter dare and plunge through an ice hole that will leave you shrieking like a Munch painting. The reward is a sauna afterwards, such as at wood-fired Kotiharjun sauna or the contemporary wooden wonder of Loyly sauna on the harbour.
More Winter runs December-February. Expect sunrise at 9am and sunset at 4pm. The temperature hovers around minus five degrees. See myhelsinki.fi
The palaces
The lowdown Sweden and Denmark have the major royal residences. Stockholm’s Royal Palace is stuffy and dull, but summer palace Drottningholm is a baroque gem in a lake and parkland setting. Romantic Gripsholm Castle houses the National Portrait Collection. Copenhagen displays the crown jewels at Rosenborg Castle, and our Queen Mary lives in Amalienborg.
Top pick Rundale Palace in Latvia, former summer residence of the dukes of Courland, is a white and yellow wedding cake encrusted with baroque icing sugar, dimpled cherubs and heroic frescoes. The giant kitchen is an austere contrast to the gilt. With St Petersburg’s Winter Palace beyond tourist reach, this is the next best thing by the same Italian architect.
Don’t miss The palace is surrounded by magnificent gardens, including formal gardens inspired by Versailles with radiating avenues of trees and parterres of flowers, and lush rose gardens heady with scented historical varieties.
More Rundale is an hour south of Riga in Latvia by car or direct public bus. Open daily except Christmas and New Year, €17 ($30) or family ticket €38. See rundale.net
The travel routes
The lowdown Feeling fit? The 9100-kilometre Baltic Sea Cycle Route – or part thereof – through nine countries is for you. More manageable is the 135-kilometre hike along Sweden’s High Coast Trail through World Heritage post-glacial landscapes. Sedate scenery lovers can ride the train from Helsinki to Joensuu, or Sweden’s retro Kinnekulle line past Lake Vanern.
Top pick The Kiel Canal in Germany, the world’s busiest sea canal, which connects the Baltic to the North Sea. A cruise ship transit takes all day with agreeable outlooks over farmland, villages, canal-side beer gardens and church spires. Graceful curves give the canal a river-like feel.
Don’t miss Kiel, Germany’s wartime submarine base, is an ungracious modern city, but stop by Laboe Naval Memorial, where you can clamber through a World War II submarine (U-Boat). The Kunsthalle has a fine collection of modern art.
More The best way to experience the canal is by cruise ship. Azamara’s 14-night Northern Europe & Baltic cruise between London and Stockholm departs June 28, 2027. From $8109 a person twin share. See sh-tourismus.de
The cuisines
The lowdown Nordic cuisine gets all the international kudos, but Baltic cuisine generally is rich, varied and rustic. It celebrates pickling, fermenting, hunting, fishing and foraging. Herring cakes, beef stews, smoked fish, fat layered cakes, fresh berries: yum. Riga Central Market, Market Square in Helsinki and Lubeck’s Christmas market in Germany all showcase local food.
Top pick Poland’s unsung cuisine features hearty, home-style cooking such as delicious soups, pierogi sweet or savory dumplings, sausages, potato pancakes and paczki, a less greasy, lighter form of doughnut. In autumn, you’ll enjoy game, duck and mushrooms.
Don’t miss It isn’t all rustic. Gdansk region has 19 entries in the Michelin restaurant guide. In Gdansk itself in 2024, Eliksir bagged Poland’s first Green Star for sustainability and Arco by Paco Pérez got a regular star for its innovative, Spanish-influenced modern Polish menu.
More Poles eat lunch late and dinner earlyish; many restaurant kitchens close by 10pm. You’re expected to share tables in budget diners. Street snack foods (both Polish and international) are common. See poland.travel
The national parks
The lowdown Estonia’s Lahemaa (historic mansions, bears and lynx) and Matsalu (wetland birds, moose) and Latvia’s Kemeri (forest and bog) go almost overlooked. Nuuksio near Helsinki showcases Finnish lakes and forests. Something different? Sweden’s seal-busy Kosterhavet Marine National Park offers hiking, boating, kayaking and diving.
Top pick Curonian Spit in Lithuania is a 50-kilometre stretch of sumptuous sand dunes, reed-filled bays and pine trees inhabited by 300 bird species as well as otters, moose and foxes. On a good day, its double coastlines shimmer. Follow the Curonian Lagoon walkway from Nida for a scenic, invigoratingly windy hike.
Don’t miss The Hill of Witches features an entertaining coven of more than 100 wood-carved sculptures depicting figures from folk art and mythology in a forest setting. The kids will love the ugly-faced witches, devils and pagan spirits.
More Car ferries link Curonian Spit to port town Kalipeda. National park fees are €10-€50 ($18-90) depending on vehicle type and time of year. The southern spit, part of Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave, is off limits. See lithuania.travel
The museums
The lowdown You’ll find everything from Riga Motor Museum to Tallinn’s KGB prison cells and ABBA The Museum in Stockholm. Gdansk’s Maritime Culture Centre covers the Hanseatic history that influenced the whole Baltic. Helsinki’s Design Museum looks at chic Nordic influences on everything from chairs to bottles. The best art galleries might be Moderna in Stockholm and New Carlsberg Glypotek in Copenhagen.
Top pick Recently revamped Vasa Museum in Stockholm, which preserves the world’s oldest complete ship, is fascinating. The state-of-the-art warship sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and has been salvaged down to its cannons, gilded mermaids and the goods and belongings found on board.
Don’t miss Displays about the sailors who lost their lives bring a touching human dimension to the Vasa. Details of their background are accompanied by their seaman’s chests, coins, silver-buttoned jackets and woollen stockings.
More Vasa Museum in Djurgarden is easily accessible by tram, bus or ferry. Open daily, SEK 230 ($37), free for under-18s. You can download a good audio guide. See vasamuseet.se
The old towns
The lowdown The Baltic has many gorgeous old towns without crushing crowds or too much souvenir kitsch, many enriched under the powerful medieval Hanseatic League. Lubeck in Germany, Tallinn in Estonia and Visby in Sweden are terrific ensembles of towers, turrets, churches and fortifications. German ports such as Rostock and Wismar retain plenty of local life.
Top pick Gdansk in Poland has an outstanding old town crammed with warehouses, merchants’ houses and Gothic churches in Germanic and Scandinavian styles. Long Street and cobblestoned St Mary’s Street are the centrepieces; the town hall is glorious. Redbrick St Mary’s Church has beautiful artworks and a 15th-century astronomical clock.
Don’t miss Get beyond the gingerbread houses and update your history at the European Solidarity Centre and Monument to Fallen Shipyard Workers, which charts Poland’s 1980s uprising against Soviet dominance.
More Gdansk is easily seen on foot, and the Solidarity sights are a 15-minute walk away. Consider the Gdansk Tourist Card if you’re intent on visiting several museums and churches. See visitgdansk.com
The lakes
The lowdown Water, water everywhere, with plenty of opportunity to birdwatch, fish, kayak and riverboat. Lake Malaren outside Stockholm is graced with Skokloster Castle, little historic hamlet Viby and Viking-age Sigtuna, Sweden’s first capital. Lake Vattern might be the country’s most beautiful lake. Lake Peipsi in Estonia is famed for winter ice fishing.
Top pick The Finnish Lakeland is a surrealist splatter of thousands of lakes and islands where Finns come to relax in red cottages. You’ll find national parks, island castles, pretty towns and understated scenery of water and shimmering birch forest that has inspired many Finnish painters.
Don’t miss The Lakeland is all about nature, but stop by Tampere, Finland’s second-largest city, to see how Finns make even an industrial town attractive thanks to parks, museums, sustainability, chic shopping and sauna life.
More The region is well-connected on domestic flights and by train, and around the region by ferry, although a rental car allows you to roam. Savonlinna, surrounded by water, is a superbly scenic base. See visitlakelandfinland.com
The good vibes
The lowdown The Baltic’s inhabitants are confident, progressive and masterful at blending tradition and modernity. Their cities feel wonderfully old yet contemporary, and they are at the forefront of liveability and sustainability. Stockholm and Copenhagen have it all in spades, Riga is a work in impressive progress, Helsinki wins for designer eye candy in everything from household appliances to buildings.
Top pick Tallinn in Estonia has the requisite turreted old town, repurposed industrial district, top-class art museum (KUMU) and a reputation as the next foodie destination. Estonians are tech-savvy, innovative and eco-minded, and they are proud of the progress they’ve made since independence in 1991. You can feel the good vibrations.
Don’t miss Old brick warehouses and oddly angled new buildings of steel and glass mix in the entirely pedestrianised Rotermann Quarter. Its quirky shops, eateries and bars are the places to hang out with trendy young Estonians.
More Estonia conveniently uses the euro. Tallinn is well-connected by air, and by ferries from Helsinki and Stockholm. Rental bikes and e-scooters are an easy way to get around. See visittallinn.ee
The architecture
The lowdown From Helsinki’s art nouveau to the red-brick wonder of Poland’s Malbork Castle, the Gothic glory of Tallinn to the breezy modernity of Malmo and its Twisted Torso skyscraper, you’ll discover 2000 years of brilliant architecture. The best recent addition: Helsinki’s superb Oodi public library.
Top pick Riga in Latvia has Europe’s best ensemble of art nouveau architecture. Walk Alberta, Elizabetes and Strelnieku streets for particularly ostentatious examples loaded with statues, friezes, and plaster flowers and masks. Art Nouveau Museum is a 1903 private house, Jugendstil from its staircase to its sofas.
Don’t miss Riga gets UNESCO listing for its old town, too. The House of the Blackheads, once used to house unmarried medieval merchants, is an extravaganza of orange brick, blue trim, gilding, statuary and heraldry. It’s possibly the most extraordinary medieval building you’ll ever see.
More Riga has a cheap tram network, supplemented by buses: the airport bus costs just €1.81 ($3.20). The tourist office has downloadable guides to sightseeing routes, including through the art nouveau district. See liveriga.com
Five classic Baltic cultural experiences
Sauna All Baltic nations indulge in this heat-penetrating relaxation, combined with leaps into frigid water or snow for added skin-tingling and heart-thumping effect. Sauna originated in Finland, the champion of the art. There are excellent public saunas in every city. Tampere is considered the sauna capital of the world. See visitfinland.com
Hygge This concept of coziness and social connection is a cross-border one, called mys in Sweden, gemutlichkeit in Germany or dziveszina in Latvia, but the Danish word is now known the world over. Think rustic simplicity, warmth on dark nights, hearty traditional meals and enjoyable company, perhaps best appreciated in winter. See visitdenmark.com
Midsummer Everyone around Baltic shores is an enthusiastic celebrator of midsummer. Festivals involve bonfires, singing, dancing and get-togethers over traditional meals. Nobody does it better than the Swedes, however. Get ready for silly games, endless toasts and picnicking in parks. Restaurants offer up celebratory smorgasbords of summery treats. See visitsweden.com
Folk music There aren’t just national but regional variations in folk music, with singers accompanied by instruments such as the dulcimer, fiddle, accordion and harmonica. You’ll hear folk music in pubs and beer gardens, on special occasions and during festivals. Lithuania has a UNESCO-recognised national song and dance festival every few years. See lithuania.travel
Christmas markets You’ll find hygge galore in the Christmas markets in many Baltic cities throughout December. Tallinn’s market, although only revived since independence, is one of the best, with a magical medieval old-town setting, a huge Christmas tree, traditional handicrafts and lively performances by musicians and carollers. See visitestonia.com
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
