The Baltic States

There was a time when sturdy walls and turreted towers enclosed most of Europe’s cities, but wartime bombing and the advent of the car put paid to most of them. Tallinn’s Old Town is a magical window into that bygone world, inducing visions of knights and ladies, merchants and peasants – not least due to the locals’ proclivity for period dress. Rambling lanes lined with medieval dwellings open onto squares once covered in the filth of everyday commerce – now lined with cafes and altogether less gory markets selling souvenirs and handicrafts.

Although church affiliations are widespread, ancient pagan rituals are still deeply woven into the fabric of all three countries. Storks are revered, even-numbered bouquets of flowers are superstitiously rebuffed and the summer solstice is held in the highest regard. Though the spiritual element of Midsummer’s Eve has largely disappeared, family and friends continue to gather in the countryside for a bright night of beer and bonfires. While every town and village has a celebration, one great place to see in the solstice is Lithuania's Lake Plateliai.

A quick glance at a map reveals the Baltics' key position along the ancient trade routes between Western Europe and Russia. Crumbling castle ruins abound throughout the pine-peppered terrain, each a testament to a forgotten kingdom. For centuries, the region was divided into feudal puzzle pieces, and thus you’ll find dozens of manor houses dotting the landscape. Spending the night at one of these elegantly restored mansions, such as those in Latvia's Gauja Valley, is a truly unforgettable experience.

There’s something elemental – even slightly old-fashioned – about Lithuania’s loveliest seaside retreat: a long, thin strip of rare and majestic sand dunes that lines the southeastern corner of the Baltic Sea. Maybe it’s the pine scent or the sea breezes, or the relative isolation that so vividly recalls German writer Thomas Mann’s sojourns here in the early 1930s. Come to Curonian Spit to recharge your batteries and renew your faith in the redemptive powers of wind, water, earth and sky.

Tempting hideaways, inviting courtyards, baroque churches and terrace bars serving beer – the Lithuanian capital's Old Town is one of the best places to get lost in throughout the Baltics. Old and new seem to coexist seamlessly here: whether you’re looking for that thrift-shop boutique, an organic bakery, a cosy little bookshop or just a quiet spot to have a coffee, they’re all likely to be standing side-by-side down some as-yet-unexplored cobblestone alleyway.

There’s something about heading out to an island that lifts a trip out of the ordinary, and while Saaremaa in Estonia is no tropical paradise, the languid pace of this forested place weaves a magic all its own. The highlight is Kuressaare Castle, the Baltics' best-preserved medieval fortress, looming proudly behind its moat by the harbour. Yet it’s the island’s windmills, particularly the photogenic quintet at Angla, that provide the iconic Saaremaa image that you’ll see on bottles of beer, vodka and water throughout Estonia.

If you ask any Rīgan where to find the city’s world-famous art nouveau architecture, you will always get the same answer: ‘Look up!’ More than 750 buildings in Latvia’s capital – more than any other city in Europe – boast this flamboyant and haunting style of decor. Spend a breezy afternoon snapping your camera at the imaginative facades in the city’s Quiet Centre district to find an ethereal (and almost eerie) melange of screaming demons, enraptured deities, overgrown flora and bizarre geometrical patterns.

Tartu is to Estonia what Oxford and Cambridge are to England. Like those towns, it’s the presence of an esteemed ancient university and its attendant student population (with associated high japes and insobriety) that gives it its special character. There’s a museum on nearly every corner of Tartu’s elegant streets and, it seems, a grungy bar in every other cellar. When the sun shines, the hill in the centre of town is the place to best observe those eternal clichés of undergraduate life: earnest prattling, hopeless romancing and enthusiastic drinking.

Although the Finns, Turks and Russians may be more famous for their saunas, the Baltic folk love to hop into their birthday suits for a good soak and steam as well. There are plenty of spa centres around the Baltics – such as the wonderful Aqva in Rakvere – where you can purr like a kitten while being pummelled by experts, but most here prefer to go native (so to speak) and indulge in a traditional sauna experience: getting whipped by dried birch branches while sweating it out in temperatures beyond 60°C. Sounds relaxing…

Cast away your preconceived notions about potatoes and pork tongue – the Baltic table no longer feels like a Soviet cafeteria. The locavore movement isn’t just up-and-coming: it has arrived with much ado, and its mascot is the mushroom. Mushrooming isn’t simply a pastime in these parts, it’s a regional obsession. The damp climate makes places like Dzûkija National Park a wonderful spot for finding all sorts of scrumptious fungi. But if you want to indulge in some foraging of your own, it's safer to wait until berry season.

Dotted with sweet little towns and dramatic fortifications, Latvia's Gauja National Park entrances all who visit. The tower of Turaida Castle rises majestically over the huddling pines, a glorious reminder of the fairy-tale kingdoms that once ruled the land. And after you’ve had your history lesson, it’s time to spice things up with a bevy of adrenalin-inducing sports, such as bungee jumping from a cable car or careering down a frozen bobsled track.

Your first thought as you traverse the flat Lithuanian landscape in search of this landmark is likely to be something along the lines of, ‘Where did they ever find a hill?’ And then you glimpse it in the distance – more a mound than a mountain – covered in crosses by the tens of thousands. The hill takes on even more significance when you realise that the crosses planted here represent not just religious faith but an affirmation of the country’s very identity.

Jūrmala was once the most fashionable spa centre and beach resort in all of the former Russian Empire. And while the sanatorium craze has come and gone, it’s still an uberpopular place to pamper oneself silly, with unending menus of bizarre services (chocolate massages?). Even if you’re not particularly keen to swim at the shallow beach, it’s well worth the day trip from the Latvian capital to check out the wonderful old wooden mansions and witness the ostentatious presentations of the nouveau riche.

While Lithuanians relish dune-riddled Curonian Spit and Estonians embrace island life on Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, Latvia’s Kurzeme coastline in between is a rather desolate place, with but a small constellation of towns betwixt haunting sea stacks and crumbling Soviet watchtowers. There’s punky Liepāja in the south and the cream-coloured beaches of Ventspils further along, but things come to a crashing climax in the north at Kolka, where the Baltic Sea meets the Gulf of Riga in a most dramatic fashion.

Chances are you’re not visiting the Baltic with images of endless sandy beaches hovering before your eyes, but Pärnu offers exactly that. When the quirky notion of sea-bathing became fashionable at the dawn of the 20th century, Pärnu became Estonia’s most popular seaside resort – and it’s hardly less so today. Architectural gems of that period combine with relics of the Hanseatic past to create very pleasant streets to explore, with interesting eateries and bars lurking within them.

It’s been just over 20 years since the Baltic states ripped the iron curtain to shreds – and while these newborn nations soar towards globalisation with alacrity, there are still plenty of dour tenements and crumbling coastal watchtowers that remind us of harder times. Many of the other Soviet relics, however, allow visitors to explore the past à la James Bond. One-time secret facilities, such as the Pension bunker in Latvia's Gauja National Park, offer mirth, melancholy and wonderment for even the slightest of history buffs.

Providing a one-stop shop of all of Estonia’s major habitats – coast, forests, plains, peat bogs, lakes and rivers – within a very convenient 80km of the capital, Lahemaa is the slice of rural Estonia that travellers on a tight schedule really shouldn’t miss. On top of the natural attractions, there are graceful baroque manors to peruse, pocket-sized villages to visit and country taverns to take refuge in whenever the weather turns and the stomach growls.