The fortunes of this estuary island are linked to the tides
21.07.2023 - 08:11 / roughguides.com / Art Nouveau
Medieval yet modern, the intriguing national capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania make some of the best small-city breaks in Europe. United by geography and a common history, yet proudly unique, they combine tightly packed, picturesque old towns with first-class museums, hip neighbourhoods, stylish bars and a burgeoning food scene. As all three countries celebrate 100 years of independence in 2018, here is our first-timer's guide to the highlights of Tallinn, Rīga and Vilnius.
Tallinn’s picturesque Old Town, the densest of all the Baltic State capitals and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is crammed with churches, towers and Hanseatic houses. But it is the onion-domed Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral that is one of the most interesting landmarks of Estonia. Over the-top ornate, its dark interior thick with incense, Nevsky is a functioning reminder of the city’s turbulent time in the Soviet Union.
The most dominant building in Vilnius is its muscular block of a cathedral, but this is a city defined by Baroque. On the outskirts of the Old Town, another World Heritage site, the Church of St Peter and St Paul is the most famous example of the local style of “Vilnian Baroque”. Its starkly white walls and ceiling are awash with some 2000 stucco symbols, from sunflowers and saints to cherubs and centaurs.
Rīga’s Old Town is equally church-laden, but you’ll need to head to Centrs for its most emblematic architecture. The streets here serve as a showcase for Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau, an elaborate floral style that reached its zenith in Rīga in the apartment at Elizabetes iela 10b. This richly decorated building is instantly recognisable thanks to the two huge sculpted faces that top its facade.
Riga © Lana B/Shutterstock
The Art Nouveau movement influenced the design of around a third of Rīga’s buildings, but only one still retains its interior of the times. The ground-floor apartment at Alberta iela 12 – the former home of Latvian architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns, the man who designed the building itself – now serves as the Art Nouveau Museum.
It is beautifully kitted out with period features such as original stained-glass windows, stucco ceiling decorations and an incredible spiral staircase, as well as renovated ornamental friezes and antique furniture.
Part of the appeal of Tallinn’s striking art museum, KUMU, is the equally eye-catching building it occupies, a starkly modern curving block of limestone set on a bluff in Kadriorg Park. Four floors of exhibits trace the history of Estonian art from the 18th century to 1991, with surrealism and pop art gaining a stronger hold as the country approached independence.
Far more sombre, but most vital of all, is the deeply moving Museum of Genocide Victims in
The fortunes of this estuary island are linked to the tides
The first thing that strikes me about Kalma Saun is that there is nowhere to hide. Brilliant white tiles stretch from floor to ceiling and buffed steel faucets reflect the glare from fluorescent lights—as if I am standing in an interrogation room rather than Tallinn’s oldest public sauna.
Best for: learning about textiles
It's getting dark at the end of the world, and the snow is falling fast. It's too dark to see the sea below—for all I know, krakens are churning the water white. The cliff top I'm standing on is Norway's North Cape, the northernmost point on continental Europe (71°10′21,″ to be exact). To reach it, my group steered Ski-Doos over frozen lakes and drove through a blizzard on fat-tired quad bikes, our headlamps turning the snow into brazier sparks. As we return to our cruise ship, we pass wind-carved formations as the northern lights appear and swirl across the night sky.
With their chic cities, dramatic landscapes and high quality of life, the countries of Scandinavia remain objects of worldwide fascination. Yet if you’re looking to dip your toe into Nordic waters, where do you begin?
Looking to plan a trip around a weekend festival or worldly event in 2018? Then check out this list of festivals and events for every month this year.
Every four years, soccer fans from across the globe flock to the FIFA World Cup. Most recently the games have drawn hordes to Brazil, South Africa, and Germany—which, as all destinations do, saw their fair share of travel warnings and safety advisories ahead of the games.
When the very first Helsinki Biennial launched in 2021, it was a pretty local affair as the world was just emerging from the Covid 19 pandemic. So this year’s biennial, that runs until the fall, is in effect the first one to attract the world’s art lovers. And it’s free, in part to promote Helsinki’s visual art scene at home and abroad. While Helsinki has a long history of design and architecture, contemporary Finnish art is not as well known. The biennial aims to redress this and it has done so by transforming the Finnish capital into a vibrant hub of creativity. From awe-inspiring sculptures to mind-bending installations and captivating performances, this new biennial embraces both established and emerging artists in a mesmerizing showcase of artistic excellence.
Most people come to Swakopmund, a Bavarian-style town surreally out of place on the edge of the Namib Desert, to explore the vast dunes. Few who visit know that the sandy Atlantic shallows of nearby Walvis Bay are also home to 2500 cape fur seals – one of the country’s last remaining colonies – as well as a resident population of diminutive benguela dolphins.
Central and Eastern Europe are among the culturally diverse parts of the world, preserving a plethora of deep-rooted traditions. What’s more, large tracts of the area remain off the mass-tourism radar, ensuring that there is still a great deal to explore. The following ten suggestions will ensure you get the best out of this huge, compelling and endlessly surprising region.
Introduced in 2003 as an initiative to support local businesses, “Keep Portland Weird” has fast become Portland’s unofficial motto. Anyone who’s been to the city or watched cult TV show Portlandia will know that the phrase has been taken to heart, and Portland is proud to be, well, a little bit quirky. Here’s why we think it’s one of America’s strangest but greatest cities.
We’ve all heard of the big hitters, such as Ibiza, Corsica and Sicily, but what about Europe’s lesser known islands? Have you ever dreamt of mixing it up with a windswept, heart-pumping hike on the remote hills of Foula? Or kicking through the sweeps of sand that pass for roads on La Graciosa?