Latvia is tucked between Estonia and Lithuania,  
these three countries are known as the Baltic states.

In order to reach Riga our ship had to sail down the Daugava River,
dominated by lowlands and small sandy beaches.
We docked at a small lumber yard and shuttle bused into town.

Scandinavia has always been high on my travel wish list, but the task of planning such a trip seemed overwhelming, not to mention expensive! After scanning the latest cruise offers I found two cruise itineraries that caught my eye: the Baltic Capitals and the Norwegian Fjords. Ultimately I decided that the Baltics would provide more variety and 'pins on the map' than the fjords of Norway.
If you still can't decide, then visit BOTH on a back-to-back cruise!

​​Our vacation time was limited to two weeks,  so I was thrilled to find a 7 Day Baltic Capitals cruise that began and ended in Stockholm. It gave us a few extra days to explore Stockholm, which many Copenhagen cruisers had later wished for. We also planned a quick stopover in Norway to take the famous Norway in a Nutshell tour before heading home. 

​Most Baltic cruises begin out of Copenhagen (Denmark) or Stockholm (Sweden) making a loop around the Baltic Sea and visiting ports such as:

• Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Frederica, Denmark
• Stockholm , Sweden
• Helsinki , Finland
• St. Petersburg. Russia
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Riga, Latvia
• Klaipeda, Lithuania
• Gdansk, Poland
• Kiel, Rostock, or Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany