Hello all,
In late May, early June I'm planning a trip up from Palanga in Lithuania to Tallinn in Estonia via the coast and then back dow n through parts of the east.
Does anyone have recent info on traffic weight on the main roads. I'm touring with panniers on a toughish cyclocross bike but don't want rough tracks.
A wee bit of insight would be much appreciated. Also interested in any info on what I understand is very poor train service as well as any recommendations for a bike shop near Palanga in case I struggle with bike rebuild after my flight.
All the best,
Alasdair
Baltic countries
Re: Baltic countries
One source of info is Journals of trips on[url] https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/
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Re: Baltic countries
I've been touring a lot in Baltics. (I'm from Finland, and I find it nice to go a bit south.)
As a rule of thumb: all roads are quite rideable and traffic is low in countryside. The only road with heavy traffic is the Via Baltica, the main road between Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. It should be avoided. Unless you can't, as there are stretches between Riga (LT) and Pärnu (EE) where it's the only option. It's not nice but allowed and rideable.
The roads in Lithuania are pretty good. Starting from Palanga, there is a separate bicycle lane along the coast, towards the Latvian border.
The roads in Latvia are worst of these three countries. Especially the gravels can be bad: soft sand, curly and bigger stones in between.
Estonia is the best of these three: they have signposted bicycle routes and good, quiet roads.
Eurovelo 10 and 13 run along the coast, nice and easy route. When going back through east, just use an ordinary map for planning the route along the paved roads and you'll be fine.
What comes to the trains, connections are limited. However, it's quite easy to bring a bike on a train. In Estonia, they have modern trains, no steps, just rool the bike in. From Vilnius to Klaipeda, there is a special car for bikes during summertime.
Bus is the only way to travel conveniently between the Baltic capitals. Some bus companies do take bikes, check in advance. But the common policy is that the driver can refuse if there's no room for bikes. This has happened to me few times, and it is annoying, but then I just change my ticket to the next one and wait.
Hope this helps and happy travels!
As a rule of thumb: all roads are quite rideable and traffic is low in countryside. The only road with heavy traffic is the Via Baltica, the main road between Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. It should be avoided. Unless you can't, as there are stretches between Riga (LT) and Pärnu (EE) where it's the only option. It's not nice but allowed and rideable.
The roads in Lithuania are pretty good. Starting from Palanga, there is a separate bicycle lane along the coast, towards the Latvian border.
The roads in Latvia are worst of these three countries. Especially the gravels can be bad: soft sand, curly and bigger stones in between.
Estonia is the best of these three: they have signposted bicycle routes and good, quiet roads.
Eurovelo 10 and 13 run along the coast, nice and easy route. When going back through east, just use an ordinary map for planning the route along the paved roads and you'll be fine.
What comes to the trains, connections are limited. However, it's quite easy to bring a bike on a train. In Estonia, they have modern trains, no steps, just rool the bike in. From Vilnius to Klaipeda, there is a special car for bikes during summertime.
Bus is the only way to travel conveniently between the Baltic capitals. Some bus companies do take bikes, check in advance. But the common policy is that the driver can refuse if there's no room for bikes. This has happened to me few times, and it is annoying, but then I just change my ticket to the next one and wait.
Hope this helps and happy travels!
-
AlasdairFraser
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 15 Dec 2011, 7:40pm
Re: Baltic countries
Thank you tim_f and Ullgren. This looks invaluable and will take time to digest! Appreciate you taking the time to help me.
Safe travels
Alasdair
Safe travels
Alasdair