{"id":1872,"date":"2023-04-17T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/?p=1872"},"modified":"2025-05-22T09:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:53:36","slug":"interrail-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/interrail-6\/","title":{"rendered":"My crazy Interrail journey – Chapter 6: Tallinn, Valga, Riga, Vilnius, Trakai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<< Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<< Chapter 5: Oslo, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-and-a-half-hour journey between Helsinki and Tallinn was in the evening and it was too dark to enjoy the scenery, I arrived in Estonia after 11 p.m.. The central position of the hostel in Tallinn might have been the only good thing about it, as it was crowded, with no lockers, and even lacking a power plug near the bed. The night was also bad, as one guy in the room kept snoring heavily for hours, so loudly that everyone kept complaining and it ended up being a sleepless night. Even though I was tired, I went out early in the morning just to leave the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started my tour of Tallinn from the medieval entrance to the old town, Viru Gate, and I walked around the area with the ancient city walls and picturesque narrow cobblestone roads. I quickly reached the lovely main square with its historic Gothic town hall, the oldest building of its kind in Northern Europe. Not far from there, I saw Freedom Square, a large plaza with a monument dedicated to the independence of Estonia. Then, I climbed the nearby Toompea hill and I stopped at the beautifully decorated Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Right in front of this church, I saw the Toompea Castle, now housing the Parliament of Estonia, and its iconic Tall Hermann tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, I visited Saint Mary\u2019s Cathedral, the oldest religious building in the city, and I stopped at a nearby panoramic point with a great view over the west side of Tallinn. Down the hill, I walked along the old city walls and I passed by Saint Olaf\u2019s Church, which has a very tall bell tower, and then I headed to Linnahall, a Soviet-era seaside venue now abandoned. I then went to Kalamaja park, a former ancient graveyard demolished during the Soviet occupation, and now a public garden. From there, I walked back to the town hall to have lunch in a tiny and peculiar medieval-style restaurant under the ancient building. With dim lights, wooden interiors, and the staff wearing traditional clothes and speaking in an old-fashioned way, it was a truly unique experience, and also a tasty meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon, I paid a visit to the Tallinn City Museum, and then I walked more around the city center before finally returning to the hostel. The old town of Tallinn was really pretty and truly felt like a medieval city, I had an amazing time walking around and exploring the area. As part of my dinner, I got to try some verivorst<\/em>, the delicious traditional Estonian blood sausage. Usually it is eaten around Christmas, but I managed to find it in a local supermarket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left Tallinn early the next morning to catch the train to the town of Valga, at the border between Estonia and Latvia. It\u2019s a small village with not much to see and I had four hours before my next train, so I just walked around a bit, rested in a park, and ate at a nice restaurant before going back to the station. At around 6 p.m. that afternoon, I was in Riga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Viru
<\/a>

Viru Gate<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Narrow
<\/a>

Narrow Medieval alley in Tallinn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Tallinn
<\/a>

Tallinn Town Hall<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"War
<\/a>

War of Independence Victory Column in Freedom Square<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Kiek
<\/a>

Kiek in de K\u00f6k, a Medieval tower<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Alexander
<\/a>

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of the old town of Tallinn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Medieval
<\/a>

Medieval city walls of Tallinn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Historic
<\/a>

Historic tower and city gate in Tallinn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Verivorst\"
<\/a>

Verivorst<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Monument
<\/a>

Monument in Valga<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My tour of the capital of Latvia began the next day from the tall Freedom Monument honoring the country\u2019s independence, and then I visited the decorated Nativity Cathedral and the National Museum of Art, which features a collection of works by Latvian artists. Afterwards, I walked around the streets adorned with many elaborate Art Noveau buildings. This part of Riga, built in the early twentieth century, actually features the largest concentration of Art Noveau architecture in the world. I then walked toward the old town, passing by medieval towers, historic buildings, and adorned churches on my way to the main square, which hosts the spectacular and richly decorated House of the Blackheads. Even though the original building was destroyed during World War II and the current one was built in the 1990s, it is nevertheless an impressive landmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While crossing the bridge on the Daugava river my legs started hurting again, surely because I walked over one hundred kilometers in the previous seven days. I kept going, although slowly, reaching the marvelous building of the National Library of Latvia, also called Castle of Light, before going back to the city center while enjoying some great views of Riga from the long bridge. I stopped at a restaurant near the main square where I had some shashlik<\/em>, a dish of skewered grilled meat common throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lunch, I visited the nearby Riga Cathedral and the iconic Three Brothers, a group of three adjacent fifteenth-century houses, and later the Cathedral of Saint James. The Riga Castle, residence of the President of Latvia was my next stop, and I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the old town and walking on the riverfront. I reached the imposing building of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and then the nearby Riga Central Market, which was built reusing former Zeppelin hangars, before finally heading back to the hostel. Much like Tallinn, Riga was also very nice, with a more modern feeling than the Estonian capital, but still with a modest and serene atmosphere, especially in the old town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Freedom
<\/a>

Freedom Monument<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Latvian
<\/a>

Latvian National Opera<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Saint
<\/a>

Saint Peter’s Church<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"House
<\/a>

House of the Blackheads<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The Castle of Light, hosting the National Library of Latvia<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of Riga from the Stone Bridge on the Daugava river<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"The
<\/a>

The Three Brothers<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Latvian
<\/a>

Latvian Academy of Sciences<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As weird as it may sound, there are no train connections between Latvia and Lithuania, so to get from Riga to Vilnius I took a bus and, thanks to the Interrail pass, I had a discount on the already cheap ticket. I arrived in Vilnius in the early afternoon and, after settling down in the hostel, I immediately went out to explore. The first stop was the large Neoclassical cathedral, with its iconic bell tower and richly ornate interiors, and then the National Museum of Lithuania, which hosts a varied and interesting collection on the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then climbed on top of the nearby hill to get to the Gediminas Tower that overlooks the city and, as I went down toward the city center, it started raining a lot. I paid a visit to the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania which, among a large collection of coins and banknotes from all over the world, also hosts a peculiar pyramid made of over one million one cent coins. Enduring the heavy rain, I went on to the palace hosting the Seimas<\/em>, the Parliament of Lithuania, before returning to the hostel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vilnius
<\/a>

Vilnius Cathedral<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Bell
<\/a>

Bell tower of the Vilnius Cathedral<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Gediminas
<\/a>

Gediminas Tower<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of Vilnius from the Gediminas Tower<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Palace
<\/a>

Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania from the Gediminas Tower<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Seimas
<\/a>

Seimas Palace<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The next day I went to Trakai, a charming tiny town on a lake hosting a lovely castle on a small island, immersed in a stunnigly gorgeous environment. The medieval Trakai Castle was once one of the most important sites of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and it is now among the main tourist attractions in the country. I wandered around the entire village, which features a lot of green spaces and old houses. Trakai has historically been inhabited by the Karaim community, a small minority of Turkic-speaking followers of a Jewish religious movement, and for lunch I went to a restaurant serving their traditional food. I tried the most popular Karaim food, the meat-filled pastries known as kibinai<\/em>. I got three of those, different versions with chicken, beef, and lamb, and all of them were absolutely delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trakai
<\/a>

Trakai Island Castle<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Inside
<\/a>

Inside the Trakai Island Castle<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of the lake surrounding Trakai<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Kibinai\"
<\/a>

Kibinai<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"View
<\/a>

View of the lake surrounding Trakai<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I returned to Vilnius in the afternoon and I continued my visit to the Lithuanian capital. After passing through the iconic Gate of Dawn, I walked around the old town, seeing some of its most famous landmarks such as the Vilnius Town Hall, the Presidential Palace, and a few beautiful historic churches. I then passed by the Orthodox Cathedral of Theokotos, and I crossed the bridge on the Vilnia river to the neighborhood of U\u017eupis. This unique area declared itself the \u201cRepublic of U\u017eupis\u201d, and has a free-spirited atmosphere that could be compared to Christiania in Copenhagen. The peculiar Constitution of U\u017eupis is displayed along one of the streets of the neighborhood in many different languages, and includes articles such as \u201cEveryone has the right to be happy\u201d and \u201cEveryone has the right to be unhappy\u201d, and some less serious ones like \u201cA dog has the right to be a dog\u201d. The last stop of my tour of Vilnius was the elaborate Gothic Church of Saint Anne with the adjacent Church of Saint Francis and Saint Bernard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent the next morning taking some time to rest, for the first time since I was in Switzerland, as I was growing more and more tired in the previous days. I had lunch in a restaurant in the old town of Vilnius, enjoying some cepelinai<\/em>, traditional potato dumplings stuffed with meat. This is considered the national dish of Lithuania and curiously takes its name from its resemblance to the Zeppelin airships. I also tried the local version of chocolate salami and I drank kvass<\/em>, a cereal-based beverage popular across all of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Even though I liked the other Baltic capitals more, Vilnius was still really enjoyable and a place I would recommend visiting, especially the charming old town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gate
<\/a>

Gate of Dawn<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Vilnius
<\/a>

Vilnius Town Hall<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Church
<\/a>

Church of Saint Anne and Church of Saint Francis and Saint Bernard<\/h4><\/div><\/div>
\"Cepelinai
<\/a>

Cepelinai and kvass<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 7: Warsaw and Bratislava<\/a> >><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two-and-a-half-hour journey between Helsinki and Tallinn was in the evening and it was too dark to enjoy the scenery, I arrived in Estonia after 11 p.m.. The central position of the hostel in Tallinn might have been the only good thing about it, as it was crowded, with no lockers, and even lacking a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":5,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-300x100.jpg","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-scaled.jpg",2560,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-300x100.jpg",300,100,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-768x256.jpg",640,213,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-1024x341.jpg",640,213,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-1536x512.jpg",1536,512,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-2048x683.jpg",2048,683,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-18x6.jpg",18,6,true],"xs-thumb":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-64x64.jpg",64,64,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-300x100.jpg",300,100,true],"minimalistblogger-grid":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-350x230.jpg",350,230,true],"minimalistblogger-slider":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-850x283.jpg",850,283,true],"minimalistblogger-small":["https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Interrail_6_cover-300x180.jpg",300,180,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Stefano Cammisa","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/author\/stefano-cammisa\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The two-and-a-half-hour journey between Helsinki and Tallinn was in the evening and it was too dark to enjoy the scenery, I arrived in Estonia after 11 p.m.. The central position of the hostel in Tallinn might have been the only good thing about it, as it was crowded, with no lockers, and even lacking a...","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Travel<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Travel<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 17, 2023","modified":"Updated on May 22, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 17, 2023 3:00 pm","modified":"Updated on May 22, 2025 9:53 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1872"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12284,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872\/revisions\/12284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cosmundus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}