Friday 18th April – Tallinn (Estonia)

• Arrive at your own leisure in Tallinn. The capital city of Estonia is well connected with many European countries. Self-transfer to our centrally located hotel.
• A pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 9:00 am to discuss the tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• Meet our local guide and start our city walking tour exploring Tallinn’s old town and UNESCO World Heritage. We’ll visit a small tavern that serves ale in clay cups. We’ll continue to the viewpoint overlooking the town, a perfect spot to capture some pictures.

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local tavern. We recommend trying solyanka, a delicious Eastern European soup served with rye bread.
• Once we’re ready, we’ll start making our way to the KGB museum. Here we’ll learn about how the Estonians lived under Soviet occupation and the tactics that were used to spy on its citizens.
• We’ll have some time to explore the capital at our own pace, an opportunity for those who would like to take pictures and purchase souvenirs.
• For dinner, we’ll head to a local brewery that serves delicious Estonian cuisine. We recommend trying the pigs ears alongside the porter.
• For those inclined for a few more drinks, we’ll head to Depeche Mode Bar. The bar is totally dedicated to 1980s bands, only playing their tracks!
• Overnight stay in Tallinn.

Saturday 19th April – Tallinn – Riga (Latvia)

• Early morning starts with breakfast at our hotel before we check out.
• We’ll take the scenic coastal route to Riga, the capital of Latvia. Along the way, we’ll explore many abandoned Soviet apartments. Unfortunately, many of these are slowly disappearing.

Afternoon

• Lunch along the scenic journey. If we see a fisherman’s stall, we’ll take the opportunity to try some smoked fish, a popular choice for locals.
• On arrival in Riga, we’ll check into our centrally located hotel, before we meet our local guide.
• You’ll get the chance to explore Riga’s old town and UNESCO World Heritage, seeing the House of Blackheads, and the controversial Rifleman monument. Only recently the Monument dedicated to the Soviet liberators was taken down, we’ll head there to see the remains of the huge memorial complex. We’ll continue exploring Riga heading toward Cathedral Square where we’ll see Latvijas Radio (Latvia Radio Station), which is always a great spot to have a beer.
• For dinner, we’ll head to a local restaurant that serves amazing Latvian cuisine with locally brewed beers. Here you can sample the traditional black pudding with sauerkraut accompanied by a refreshing beer. There are plenty of vegetarian dishes also. For those wishing to stay out, Cathedral Square has excellent choices for bars.
• Overnight stay in Riga.

Sunday 20th April – Riga – Vilnius (Lithuania)

• Early morning starts before we depart Riga and head towards the Lithuanian capital.
• We’ll visit the Hill of Crosses, a pilgrimage site since 1831. The site gained more purpose during the Soviet occupation as a symbol of independence resulting in it being destroyed a number of times. However, Lithuanians kept placing crosses on the hill to defy the Soviets. Today, there are over 100,000 crosses, with pilgrims coming from all over the world.

Afternoon

• Time for lunch in Kaunas old town, considered to be one of the most important and beautiful cities in Lithuania.
• Next, we’ll head to the Ninth Fort Memorial and Museum. This powerful memorial is dedicated to the 45,000 Jews massacred at this site during the Nazi occupation.
• On arrival to Vilnius, we’ll check into our hotel before heading straight for dinner at our favourite restaurant. We recommend trying the boiled pig’s ears with peas and zeppelin. There are plenty of vegetarian dishes also.
• As it’s our final night, we’ll head out for some drinks and enjoy the vibrant nightlife.
• Overnight stay in Vilnius.

Monday 21st April – Vilnius

• Breakfast at our hotel, we’ll be able to store our luggage in the storage room.
• We’ll head out to explore Vilnius’s communist-era architecture. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Lithuanians wanted to discard the reminders of their occupiers. However, there are a number of beautiful brutalist buildings located around the capital that you can appreciate.
• The walking tour will take us to the old town and micronation Užupis which means “beyond the river” in Lithuanian. The district declared itself an independent republic (The Republic of Užupis) in 1998. You can request for your passport to be stamped with the coat of arms of the republic here.

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local restaurant. You’ll have the opportunity to explore Vilnius at your own pace taking in the sites before meeting at a local bar.
• We’ll head out for dinner to a traditional restaurant, which serves delicious local cuisine. We recommend trying pierogi, a stuffed dumpling filled with meat or vegetables, or Kotlet Schabowy similar to the Vienna schnitzel.
• For those inclined, we’ll check out the beautiful Old Town, the oldest part of the city, and grab a few locally brewed beers and vodka.
• Overnight stay in Vilnius.

Tuesday 22nd April – Vilnius – Kaliningrad, Russia

Morning

• Early morning start with breakfast at our hotel before we meet our local guides and depart to the Russian exclave by private transportation. The scenic journey takes around 4 hours. Once we reach the border your guides will assist with the immigration process.
• On arrival to Kaliningrad, we’ll check into our hotel before we head out to discover the exclave. Kaliningrad derives from the original Germans city name of Königsberg – you’ll notice the rich German architectural heritage here. We’ll out for lunch before the tour begins.

Afternoon

• Your first stop will be the Nazi command bunker museum, technically called the Blindage Museum. It tells the harrowing history of the last days of the Second World War. These are the last days of Königsberg and inside you can see how the city fell to Soviet Forces on the rampage of vengeance towards Berlin. Built by slave labour, the bunker’s gate is made of thick steel wire and is covered in runic symbols supposedly meant to give supernatural defence to the German forces inside it.
• We will then visit fort 11, part of a series of Prussian forts that were a significant part of the unrelenting battle between the Soviets and the Nazis. Those forts are now museums and still littered with war damage, artillery pieces and Soviet monuments dedicated to WW2.
• You’ll then have the rare chance to roam around significant piece of Cold War history: an excellently maintained Foxtrot-class Soviet nuclear submarine.
• See an original Nazi Kreigsmarine ship. Vityaz is a research vessel that was built in 1939 and served with the Kriegsmarine during World War II until she was seized by the British in 1945.
• The House of Soviets nearby is worth a look. You’ll see why the locals often refer to it as the “buried robot”.
• See Victory Square with its hulking Soviet monument and The Brandenburg Gate which is one of seven surviving city gates from the former German city of Königsberg.
• After a busy day, we’ll head out for dinner at a local restaurant which serves Zeppelins – giant balls of mashed potato stuffed with various fillings and drenched in cheese sauce.
• For those inclined we’ll head for some drinks and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
• Overnight stay in Kaliningrad

Wednesday 23rd April – Baltiysk – Baltics Split – Kaliningrad

Morning

• Breakfast at our hotel before we explore Mother Russia’s westernmost edge!
• We’ll take the ferry to get to the mysterious wild Baltic Spit where your guide will tell you stories about Great Patriotic War.
• On the way, we’ll explore some destroyed and abandoned German era buildings and a typical soviet town called Svetliy.
• You’ll be visiting the Heart of the Baltic fleet in the city Baltiysk. It is a huge Russian navy base located on the Baltic Sea and has only been opened to foreigners since 1995 – this is dependent on the security situation.
• Lunch at a local café. There are very few tourists visiting this region so it’s a perfect opportunity to interact with the friendly locals.

Afternoon

• Back to the city, we’ll be taking in sights such as the pentagonal Pillau Citadel, founded by the Swedes in 1626, completed by the Prussians in 1670, renovated in 1870 and currently holding an impressive naval museum.
• We’ll visit the ruins of the 13th-century Lochstadt Castle; a maze of 19th-century naval fortifications; the Naval Cathedral of St. George the 32-metre Expressionist observation tower the Gothic Revival building of the Baltic Fleet Museum, and an elegant Lighthouse, dating from 1813. A stone cross, erected in 1830 to commemorate the supposed spot of St. Adalbert of Prague’s martyrdom, was destroyed by the Soviets and restored a millennium after the event, in 1997.
• Return back to Kaliningrad for dinner followed by drinks at a local bar.
• Overnight stay in Kaliningrad

Thursday 24th April – Curonian spit – Kaliningrad

Morning

• Breakfast at the hotel before we travel to the Curonian spit.
• It took several thousand years for the spit to shape out from the sands blown by the wind and dragged by the sea waves and to finally form a narrow sandy neck of land that separates the Curonian Gulf from the Baltic Sea and connects the Kaliningrad region with Lithuania. Its widest part is 3.8 km and the narrowest point is 400 meters.
• For lunch, we’ll head to a local restaurant overlooking the Spit. We recommend trying Königsberger meatballs alongside potatoes. There are also plenty of vegetarian options to choose from.

Afternoon

• Your next stop will be Raul’s battery route, a fortification built on the Curonian Spit on the eve of the Second World War.
• This place has no rivals in the world. Try to cross the spit from gulf to sea and you will notice how the landscape changes from a bare desert to a pine forest. The size of the Curonian spit is astonishing, it has no analogies in the world; its majestic scenery and the lavishness of the flora and fauna is simply amazing, varying from the taiga-like plants, mountain pines, and alder-trees to the tumbleweeds rolling in the deserts of the sand dunes rising to 70 meters high.
• Return to Kaliningrad city for our last dinner in the enclave and celebrate our time here with a few drinks.
• Overnight stay in Kaliningrad.

Friday 25th April – Kaliningrad – Vilnius, Lithuania

• Breakfast at our hotel before we depart Kaliningrad and head towards Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania.
• Including the border crossing, we’ll arrive in the early afternoon at the earliest.
• On arrival we’ll check into our hotel and have some time to relax and freshen up.
• The group will head out to dinner in Vilnius to our favourite restaurant, which serves traditional cuisine. We recommend trying the boiled pigs’ ears with peas and zeppelin. There are plenty of vegetarian dishes also.
• Those inclined can have an evening walk of the historical old town followed by drinks at a local bar.
• Overnight stay in Vilnius.

Saturday 26th April – Vilnius – Minsk, Belarus

Morning

• Early morning start with breakfast, before we head to Belarus, which translate to “White Russia”.
• We’ll begin our journey to the Belarusian border, which will take about 45 minutes depending on traffic. We’ll make a stop along the way to purchase supplies for the road trip.
• On arrival to the border, your YPT guide and local partner will assist you with the immigration process. The time needed for these formalities unpredictable due to the queues between Lithuania and Belarus border.
• After clearing Belarusian customs and immigration we’ll continue our drive to Minsk, which will take roughly two hours. Along the journey you’ll see the beautiful Belarusian scenery. You’ll notice Soviet relics such as signage and monuments.

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local restaurant, you may want to try the most popular potato dish, draniki – a type of potato pancake.
• On arrival, check-in into our recently refurbished Soviet-era hotel.
• Depending on our time of arrival, we’ll go and explore Minsk which is dominated by beautiful Soviet architecture. This is also a good time to take care of currency exchange and the purchase a SIM card.
• Dinner at one of YPT’s favourite restaurants serving traditional Belarussian cuisine alongside some local beer.
• Overnight stay in Minsk

Sunday 27th April – Minsk

Morning

• Breakfast at our Soviet Hotel.
• You’ll meet our local guide and set about exploring Minsk and learning about its historical and cultural influences the capital has to offer. To make the most of your time here, you’ll explore the capital city by foot and car.
• First, you’ll head to the workshop of Ozgur. One of the most esteemed sculptors of the USSR, his workshop is full to the brim of monuments to Lenin, Soviet War heroes, and statues of other important communist figures from Kim II Sung to Fidel Castro.
• You’ll see the house of the Soviets, the still-functioning KGB building, Lee Harvey Oswald’s apartment, the island of tears dedicated to the Soviet-Afghan war, and much more.

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local restaurant, we recommend trying schavel borscht, an essential dish amongst Belarusians.
• Then you’ll have the chance to go to what is arguably one of the best WW2 museums on earth: the museum of the Great Patriotic War, which details the horrific advancement of the Third Reich and its devastating impact of the on Belarusians – 1 in 4 of the population was killed.
• Your tour continues, exploring the city, looking for Soviet architecture, brutalist buildings and monuments.
• The group will grab dinner at Tovarisch, which translate to “comrade” which is a nostalgic restaurant designed to glorify the days of the Soviet Union. It is very much a place for nostalgic locals and not tourists. The waiters dress as Young Pioneers and the food is very good! For those inclined, we’ll head out to YPT favourite bars.
• Overnight stay in Minsk.

Monday 28th April – Minsk – Brest

Morning

• Early morning start with breakfast at our hotel before we check out and explore Brest – one the oldest cities in Belarus.
• You’ll get to experience the Belarusian train system as we catch the afternoon train to Brest which will take us right next to the Polish border. The scenic journey takes around 3 hours, it’s also a great way to interact with friendly locals; in recent times very few foreigners visit Belarus.

Afternoon

• On arrival, we’ll grab lunch at a local restaurant, we recommend trying machanka consisting of pork sausages, beer, onion and sour cream served alongside with crepes.
• We’ll go to and explore Brest, which will include the legendary Brest Fortress, locally known as the Hero Fortress. A 19th Century Russian Fortress, this spectacular example of Soviet architecture is now a war memorial commemorating the first battles of WWII featuring two of the most amazing Soviet era monuments.
• The complex features an array of tanks and WW2 museums inside which you’ll have time to explore and learn about how the heroic Soviet soldiers led by Pyotr Gavrilov fought the Third Reich to the very end according to Soviet propaganda. The fort was also visited by Hitler and Mussolini during their visit to the Eastern front.
• You’ll have the option to meet our friend who supplies local film directors with uniforms and weapons of the Second World War. He will provide you with the uniform of a Red Army General and be able to take some fairly epic photos in the surrounding area.
• A quick stop at the open-air train museum to see some enormous Soviet trains, the collection includes Steam engines, Snowplough SDPM and Retro passenger cabs.
• The day will continue with a walk through downtown Brest taking in the Millennium monument and the unique feel of this quaint, very European old town. Among others, you’ll see a monument to Lenin outside of the local functioning KGB headquarters.
• Check into our nearby hotel on arrival and head out for dinner and a few drinks. If you’re a vodka connoisseur, you may want to taste the locally infamous horseradish variant.
• Overnight stay in Brest

Tuesday 29th April – Brest – Stalin Line – Minsk

Morning

• Breakfast at our hotel before we check out of our hotel.
• Train back to Minsk, which will again take about three hours. This is another good opportunity to interact with locals and enjoy the views of the Belarusian countryside.

Afternoon

• For lunch, we recommend trying vereshchaka, roasted juicy meat, and home-cooked sausages alongside potatoes. There are also vegetarian options available.
• A genuine tour highlight, you’ll get to experience ‘Soviet Disneyland’ known as the Stalin Line. A series of Soviet Bunkers from WW2 and a mass of Cold War-era weaponry.
• After exploring the bunker complexes you’ll be able to ride a Soviet tank around a mock battlefield. There are options for an additional fee to fire various Soviet guns including machine guns, and drive a tank!
• After a busy, you’ll head back to Minsk, check in to our hotel before heading out for dinner.
• Overnight stay in Minsk

Wednesday 30th April – Minsk – Belarus Exclusion Zone – Minsk

Morning

• Early morning start with our drive to the Belarus Exclusion Zone, which will take around 4 hours. We have a packed breakfast for the journey and will make rest stops along the way.
• After arriving in Gomel, we will transfer to the Belorussian Exclusion Zone and after clearing the checkpoints with our permits we will enter the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve. There, you will see the scientists research centre and learn about the real consequences of the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. You will be amazed by nature diversity caused by the absence of human intervention and will be able to examine the radiation background with an accompanying expert guide.
• The main objective of our trip is to get acquainted with the activities of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, to learn about radiation contamination issues with the scientific staff of the reserve, as well as to monitor the flora and fauna of the territories where human activity was almost completely terminated.
• You will be surprised how quickly nature has recovered after over 35 years of human absence, the reserve’s territory was inhabited by the Przhevalsky horse, and the number of bison here is one of the highest in Belarus. Thanks to the ban on hunting in the exclusion zone, the number of wolves and other wild animals has also recovered.
• We’ll have a picnic lunch, where we can enjoy in a dedicated area.

Afternoon

• Our route is built due to the lowest dosimeter indicators, which makes our stay at the territory of the reserve safe. You will visit the villages inhabited by those brave enough to return to the Exclusion Zone and live full time, the Pripyat River, whose shores are still littered with abandoned boats, Soviet relics, eerie abandoned cemeteries and Soviet industrial buildings.
• You’ll visit former Soviet political propaganda centres full of Soviet relics and posters visit many of the 96 abandoned Belorussian villages in the zone. Before the disaster, over 22,000 people lived throughout these settlements.
• We’ll have the chance to climb a Soviet watchtower and get a bird’s eye view of the exclusion zone. On a clear day from here you can see Pripyat and the new dome over Reactor 4 inside the territory of Ukraine.
• After exploring the zone and clearing radiation control, we’ll transfer back to Minsk.
• Dinner along the journey back to Minsk.
• Overnight stay in Minsk.

Thursday 1st May – Minsk – Vilnius, Lithuania

• Leisurely morning start with breakfast at our Soviet hotel before we depart Belarus and head back towards the Lithuanian border.
• Including the border crossing, we’ll arrive in the early afternoon at the earliest.
• Tour concludes, on the arrival to Vilnius – YPT can arrange additional nights in Vilnius and airport drop off for a fee. We are more than happy to provide advice for ongoing flights.

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