Baltic States: Tour or Independent?

westgrand2648 wrote:
I am thinking of going to the Baltic States next summer from the U.S.
I am not sure whether I should try to find a tour company or try to do
it independently. Has anyone gone independently and traveled among
the three capitals? Are there tour companies you would recommend (I am
interested in history and like tours that sometimes go off the beaten
path)? Any heritage tours available? How are the bus/train/air
connections? What would you recommend?

These countries are very easy to travel in on your own. English is spoken by
many people (especially college-age) and everyone's friendly.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

just have a look at

www.rigathisweek.lv

you can easily travel by bus with
www.eurolines.com and trains for local visits.

you will easily find apartments for about 50.00/eur night
in the centres of each main town.

take euro with you
as these countries are using them now better than dollars.

the three main towns are small. but there are interesting things to see in
the countryside.
english is widely spoken. but everybody speaks russian.
there are russians in the three baltic states
from over 50% in Latvia to about 30% in Estonia
"westgrand2648" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
I am thinking of going to the Baltic States next summer from the U.S.
I am not sure whether I should try to find a tour company or try to do
it independently. Has anyone gone independently and traveled among
the three capitals? Are there tour companies you would recommend (I am
interested in history and like tours that sometimes go off the beaten
path)? Any heritage tours available? How are the bus/train/air
connections? What would you recommend?

Other than flying in directly, is it better to take the ferry from
Helsinki or the train from Berlin/Poland? Any advice you can provide
would be appreciated.

Gene

tile wrote:

take euro with you
as these countries are using them now better than dollars.

None of the Baltic states has converted to euro yet (the shift will not
happen until 2007 at the earliest), and it is just as easy to exchange
EUR as USD, so there is no reason to exchange USD for EUR before the
trip. Also, credit cards are widely accepted and there are plenty of ATMs.

Mårten

yes they have not converted
but estonia is pegged to the euro
and people take euro very easily..
before they did not take it at all.
of course they will take credit cards and of course there are ATM
but there are exchange offices at every corner
but with a huge difference between buying and selling rates.
so...
better use ATM
better use credit cards
then use eur without changing them.
people will take them for sure..
the same does not apply to dollars.
if you want to have a look at rates
try
www.rigathisweek.lv in english
and you will see how much more value has an euro towards a dollar.
"Mårten Trolin" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
tile wrote:

take euro with you
as these countries are using them now better than dollars.

None of the Baltic states has converted to euro yet (the shift will not
happen until 2007 at the earliest), and it is just as easy to exchange
EUR as USD, so there is no reason to exchange USD for EUR before the
trip. Also, credit cards are widely accepted and there are plenty of ATMs.

Mårten

"tile" kirjoitti viestissä
...
then use eur without changing them.
people will take them for sure..

Vendors in non Euro countries typically do not accept euros as payment. In
Estonia one pays by Estonian money.

"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
...

"tile" kirjoitti viestissä
...
then use eur without changing them.
people will take them for sure..

Vendors in non Euro countries typically do not accept euros as payment. In
Estonia one pays by Estonian money.


Not true actally.

Montenegro, strictly speaking, is a non-Euro country - how can it be if it's
not even in the EU (unlike Afghanistan which is shortly to join) - yet
Monty's OFFICIAL currency is the Euro.
Has the world (Europe) gone mad?

Gerry

"Gerald Oliver Swift" kirjoitti viestissä
...

"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
...

"tile" kirjoitti viestissä
...
then use eur without changing them.
people will take them for sure..

Vendors in non Euro countries typically do not accept euros as payment.
In
Estonia one pays by Estonian money.


Not true actally.

Yes, it actually is quite true. Flawless.

Gerald Oliver Swift wrote:

Montenegro, strictly speaking, is a non-Euro country - how can it be if it's
not even in the EU (unlike Afghanistan which is shortly to join) - yet
Monty's OFFICIAL currency is the Euro.
Has the world (Europe) gone mad?

And Montenegro is not the only example of a non-EU country using euro as
the official currency. So do the Vatican, San Marino, Andorra and Monaco.

Mårten

"Mårten Trolin" wrote in message
...
Gerald Oliver Swift wrote:

Montenegro, strictly speaking, is a non-Euro country - how can it be if
it's not even in the EU (unlike Afghanistan which is shortly to join) -
yet Monty's OFFICIAL currency is the Euro.
Has the world (Europe) gone mad?

And Montenegro is not the only example of a non-EU country using euro as
the official currency. So do the Vatican, San Marino, Andorra and Monaco.

Mårten


Absolutlely correct.
But the above 4 mentioned do so for obvious reasons - location, location,
location!

Monty did it because all their German tourists now tout Teuros!

Gerry

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 20:06:13 +0100, "Gerald Oliver Swift"
wrote:


"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
...

"tile" kirjoitti viestissä
...
then use eur without changing them.
people will take them for sure..

Vendors in non Euro countries typically do not accept euros as payment. In
Estonia one pays by Estonian money.

Not true actally.

Montenegro, strictly speaking, is a non-Euro country - how can it be if it's
not even in the EU (unlike Afghanistan which is shortly to join) - yet
Monty's OFFICIAL currency is the Euro.
Has the world (Europe) gone mad?

I'm dying to know haw Montenegro's estanblishment of the euro
means that Estonia accepts the euro as its currency.

Or did you mean it's not true that vendors in non-euro companies
do not *typically* accept euros as payment? And isn't Montegro in
fact, then, not a non-euro country?

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