Whether you prefer bustling city breaks or calm coastal retreats when jetting off, being able to take in as much of the scenery as possible before heading home is part of the fun when it comes to travelling.
And you can now get to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in just one day, because a new train route connecting three major European cities has officially launched.
Euronews has reported that as of this month, those who find themselves in Europe’s Baltic region can get between the capital cities of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn in a single day with only one ticket required for the trip.
Travelling from Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, to Riga in the neighbouring country of Latvia was made simple with the Vilinus-Riga train route that was launched in December 2023.
The train route has now been extended to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city which sits at the shore of the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea.
Coordinating timetables between LTG Link, Vivi and Elron, three Baltic rail operations, means travellers can now seamlessly get between the cities, leaving less time worrying about transfers and more time to take in the scenery.
Before this, travellers were dependent on taking a bus to get between the two Baltic capitals, with multiple stops and long wait times to be expected along the way.
The launch of the new train route will be the first time that same-day travel by train has been possible between Vilnius and Tallinn, with a single train ticket purchased via the Lithuanian Railways website taking passengers all the way from Vilnius to Tallinn for a reasonable €39 in a second class seat.
Daily journeys from the Lithuanian capital will depart from Vilnius at 7:05am, reaching Riga by 11:04am before arriving in Tallinn at 5:34pm. If travelling in the other direction, the train will depart from Estonia’s capital Tallinn at 10:25am and reach Vilnius by 9:03pm.
The journey will also pass through the Estonian border town of Valga, where passengers travelling to Tallinn transfer over to an Estonian train for the final leg of the journey.
If travelling with an Interrail or Eurail pass, passengers will have to make a reservation for the Vilnius-Riga leg of the journey, but can board the Riga-Valga and Valga-Tallinn trains freely.
Reservations are available to book 30 days in advance and tickets can be shown on mobile phones, or printed out. If travelling with bikes, you’ll have to pay a small fee to bring them on board.
Larger pets also require a booking, but small pets can travel in carriers free of charge.
