It is a balmy 22°C in Estonia. Far from feeling Baltic, the shade of tall pine trees lining the pebble beaches of Lahemaa National Park – a 45-minute drive east of the capital, Tallinn – is most welcome.
Little-trod by Britons, Estonia has 3,794km of coastline (including islands), while neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania offer 750km of sandy beaches to the south.
With anti-tourism protests sweeping across holiday hot spots such as the Spanish island of Mallorca, if you are willing to trade paella for pickled herrings, a quiet coastline and temperate climes make Baltic beaches a refreshing alternative to the sun-baked Med.
I am visiting the Baltics with group tour operator Exodus Adventure Travels. After parts of the Med recorded temperatures above 40°C last summer, there has been an uptick in interest in milder weather breaks – and Exodus reports a 33.6 per cent rise in bookings for Baltic trips for January–June this year compared to 2023.
Our first stop is Käsmu, a centuries-old fishing village in Lahemaa National Park, where green picket fences surround red-roofed summer houses on the Gulf of Helsinki.
“This is the Estonian fairy tale,” says tour guide Andrius Mazrimas, as we look across the Baltic Sea towards Finland. “Imagine how this was in Soviet times. People here could see Western civilisation in the distance.”
Mazrimas, who grew up during the late Communist era, explains that Laheema was the first national park established in the Soviet Union.
“Käsmu was an incredibly popular Soviet holiday destination, but the beaches would be closed at night to stop people from swimming to Finland or sailing to freedom,” says Triin Saks, the curator of Käsmu Maritime Museum, where Viking swords and traditional Estonian fishing gear are displayed in a former Russian border post.
Russian tourists have been replaced by Finns (who pop over for the cheaper drinks), Germans, Poles – and even a few Britons. The British typically arrive in the summer on tours run by companies such as Exodus, which restricts its trips to no more than 16 people. Tours are run by people from the area and there is plenty of free time in the evenings to do your own thing. With transport and accommodation taken care of, it is an easy way to visit three Baltic countries on a single trip.
Käsmu is peaceful. Mazrimas explains how Estonians prefer the sandy shores of Pärnu, a two-hour drive south, to the pebbles in the north. We head south ourselves later that day, not to Pärnu, but over the border into Latvia, where the seaside resort of Jurmala – which became a health retreat in the 18th century – await on the Gulf of Riga.
Jurmala’s 33km of sandy shores are lined with Brutalist resorts, modern hotels and wooden Art Nouveau homes. Walking along a glorious peninsula separated from the mainland by a lagoon, I bask in 25°C warmth (as hot as it gets in the Baltics) on the seafront.
Cyclists weave along beachside trails and beach bars serve a steady stream of customers.
“Jurmala caters to a local, Baltic market. I bring my family here on weekends,” says Marius Mauragas, a Lithuanian tour operator who accompanies us on the trip.
It’s only a 30-minute train ride from Jurmala to Riga, the Latvian Art Nouveau capital, where we spend an afternoon eating and drinking our way around one of Europe’s largest indoor markets to escape rain.
Sheltered beneath the monstrous covers of old Zeppelin hangars, Mazrimas introduces me to pickled herring and dill cucumbers. Prices are more than reasonable, with a plate of Pelmeni (Russian-style dumplings) costing just €5 (£4.25) and a litre of “craft” beer around €1-2 (85p-£1.70).
The next day we are back on the road to Gauja National Park, a 90-minute drive inland. Protecting 900 sq km of pine forests, caves and valleys along the Gauja River, the area is known as the Little Switzerland of Latvia. The highest hill in Latvia stands at just 312m, but, with long, winding river walks through untouched scenery, the park is a worthy outdoor destination.
Later, we cross the border into Lithuania, where a whistle-stop tour takes us to the extraordinary Hill of Crosses, Trakai Castle, and the Iron Age hill forts of the Kernave Unesco World Heritage Site before my Baltic journey ends in the capital of Vilnius.
Mazrimas assures me there are also excellent beaches in Lithuania (his home country), including sand dunes on the Curonian Spit. But are the Baltics really a serious alternative to the Mediterranean?
As Baltic prices shoot up, Mazrimas tells me, many locals opt for guaranteed sunshine and package holidays in Spain (although doubles at the five-star Baltic Beach Hotel and Spa in Jurmala start from a reasonable £179 per night, for example). But, if you prefer cooler temperatures, quieter beaches and Soviet relics, the Baltics are the place to be this summer.
How to get there and around
Exodus’s 11-day Discover the Baltics trip starts at £1,979pp, including flights, accommodation with breakfast, transport, activities and a tour leader, exodus.co.uk
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