A Parent-Child Self-Guided Trip to the Baltic Three Little Countries & Finland: Sharing My Experience Staying at 8 Hotels

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was our first stop after a grueling 32-hour journey of layovers. Instead of staying in the Old Town, I booked the “Comfort Hotel LT,” located just 600 meters from the bus station on the other side of the city. The area where the hotel is situated isn’t a bustling district (the contrast with the Old Town is quite stark), and since no Chinese blogs had mentioned staying here, it felt like a real adventure. But this hotel ended up being our favorite and the best value-for-money accommodation during our entire fairy-tale adventure!!!

As soon as we walked in, the bright, clean, and modern lobby was very welcoming (there’s even a welcome rabbit by the front desk!). The rooms are designed in a business hotel style—very clean and fresh (though there was a giant concert photo hanging above the bed XD). Another highlight is their breakfast, which is incredibly rich and varied!!! They offer sweet, savory, hot, and cold options without skimping—it’s basically a hotel brunch buffet. Oh, and right across the street is a large supermarket, making restocking super convenient. Although the hotel is about 1.1 km from the Old Town’s Aušros Vartai (Gates of Dawn), I still highly recommend the “Comfort Hotel LT”!

Kaunas-LITiNTERP Kaunas Guest House

The second stop, Kaunas, was mainly an overnight transit point on our way west, so we only stayed one night here. We chose “LITiNTERP Kaunas Guest House” simply because it was cheap and had a decent location. Otherwise, I had considered booking the ibis near the Kaunas bus station, but with tax and breakfast, it would’ve cost 225 LT + 59 LT for an extra bed = 284 LT (about NT$2870). Since we were only staying one night before moving on, I figured NT$1500 for the night was more practical, and we could use the savings for a nice meal XDD

“LITiNTERP Kaunas Guest House” is located just behind the starting point of the famous Laisvės alėja shopping street, right behind St. Michael the Archangel Church. The rooms are simple and clean, but my husband said he heard the sound of speeding cars at night (Ryan and I slept too soundly to notice). So I only gave it two stars. Also, while writing this post, I checked the LITiNTERP website and found out that the Kaunas branch is no longer in operation. But I’ll still keep this review posted.

Klaipeda-LITiNTERP Klaipeda Guest House

One of the key highlights in Lithuania was the city of Klaipėda, located at the country’s westernmost edge. Since we planned to spend a full day in Nida, we scheduled two nights in Klaipėda to take things slow and enjoy the flexibility ^^

And I was pretty lazy when booking accommodations in Klaipėda. After booking in Kaunas, I discovered the same chain had a location here, so I just emailed them to book the same series, “LITiNTERP Klaipeda Guest House,” to save trouble. At the time, Google Maps had the wrong location marked, but I managed to find the correct spot using Street View during my pre-trip research. As of writing this post, the location is now correctly marked on Google Maps!!!

“LITiNTERP Klaipeda Guest House” is about 1.2 km from Klaipėda Railway Station and around 600 meters to the Old Town. There’s a large supermarket, IKI, just 450 meters away. When we arrived, the check-in desk was locked, and we had to wait a bit until a staff member returned carrying an IKI bag. Among the LITiNTERP properties, I’d personally recommend the Klaipėda one—the double suite is on the ground floor at the back of the building, spacious and clean, with a wardrobe, storage closet, and a desk I really liked for eating or working.

Riga-Riga Hostel

I still remember the day we traveled from Lithuania to Latvia’s capital, Riga—it was probably the most hectic and nerve-wracking day of our entire trip!!! Aside from flights, we bought all other transportation tickets locally (looking back, I really had guts XD). When trying to get from Šiauliai to Riga, we almost couldn’t catch a bus, but luckily an extra shuttle bus was added, and we made it to Riga safely.

Still shaken from the ordeal, we arrived in Riga wearing slippers, carrying wet clothes, and dragging our luggage as we slowly made our way to the “Riga Hostel.” It’s about 550 meters from the bus station, but you have to go through an underpass—and we didn’t notice there was an elevator, so we had to carry everything up ourselves @@. The “Riga Hostel” is located above the McDonald’s in front of Riga Railway Station. Taking the train instead of the bus would’ve been more convenient if there were no buses available. Also, there’s a shopping mall next to the station, with a supermarket on the first floor—great for groceries.

The “Riga Hostel” only has dorm rooms, with shared toilets and showers in common areas. There’s also a living room, kitchen, and a large fridge for guests to use. The living room has a TV and board games. The rooms don’t have air conditioning, but you can borrow a fan from the front desk. Hairdryers, soap, and shower gel are also available. The best part is the breakfast service, especially on Sundays when it’s particularly abundant, with fresh fruits and vegetables. We only paid €32.5 for the night, which is an amazing deal!!! It’s a well-located and functional hostel—I highly recommend it!!!

Parnu-Louna Hostel

We stayed one night in Pärnu, another transit point like Kaunas. Since I’d stubbornly included the lesser-known Saaremaa Island in our itinerary, I chose the “Louna Hostel” based on location and price. We booked a double hotel suite for €45 (or a double dorm for €35). Maybe it’s really off the beaten path, because when we walked into the lobby, it was still pretty dim!!! But after checking in and opening the door to our room, we found out we’d been upgraded to a triple suite!! There’s also a lobby area near the entrance to leave luggage or hang clothes—it’s a really comfortable room.

Saaremaa-Karluti Hostel

For the three nights on Saaremaa Island, I didn’t do any research at all and directly booked the “Karluti Hostel,” which has a stellar rating of 9.2 on Booking.com. This was also the only one of the eight hotels across four countries that I booked via email without providing a credit card number.

It’s a 350-meter walk from the Kuressaare bus station (on your right), with the famous windmill tavern Trahter Veski and Kousun supermarket nearby for groceries. The hostel is a two-story wooden house with a well-maintained courtyard that allows camping (4 tents) or parking. We parked our rental car here for two days. There are only three rooms and one bathroom (the owner lives upstairs): a single room, a double room, and a triple room. We stayed in the double room with an extra bed. After checking in, the owner, Tiia, warmly took us by the hand and pointed to the photos on the lobby wall, sharing stories about how she and her family bought the place and built the hostel after the Soviet era.

Even more surprising, the next day when we returned from renting a car to explore, we saw a Taiwanese flag laid out on the dining table. It was clearly printed on paper since they couldn’t find a fabric flag, then framed in a large photo frame—it was incredibly touching!!! Everyone—if you stay here, please bring a flag for them!!!

Tallinn-OldHouse Hostel

Our second-to-last stay was in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. There were plenty of accommodation options, but I chose the “OldHouse Hostel,” located near the port in the Old Town, as our base for four nights. From the bus station, you can take a tram to the Linnahall stop, then walk 450 meters into the Old Town. It’s also a great choice if your next stop is taking a ferry to Helsinki (which we did!).

“OldHouse Hostel” is actually part of the OldHouse series—they also offer apartments, guesthouses, and packages. I booked a guesthouse at 26 Uus Street, which has a 24-hour front desk, a full kitchen, and you can borrow a hairdryer from the desk. There’s also a nearby Rimi supermarket, which was super convenient. We even brought back cake from the food court in the department store in the New Town. It’s a great budget-friendly and convenient option.

Helsinki-Eurohostel

The last stop of this fairy-tale adventure was Helsinki, Finland, where we’d catch a flight back to Taiwan. We only stayed one night, prioritizing convenience, cleanliness, and affordability, plus there’s a free morning sauna from 06:30–09:30. So we chose the “Eurohostel”! It turned out we accidentally booked the closest ferry to the “Eurohostel”—when we arrived in Helsinki, we only had to walk 300 meters with our luggage (I bought the Tallinn–Helsinki ferry ticket in Tallinn, and different ferry companies dock at different piers, some quite far apart, so be aware).

“Eurohostel” is a standard hostel—clean lobby and dining area (breakfast for an extra €8.8), shared bathrooms and showers in dorm rooms, and a shared kitchen on each floor. One unique thing is that using the fridge costs extra (it’s divided into locked compartments). The next morning, while the guys were still asleep, I went up to the 7th floor to try out the sauna. It’s pretty similar to Taiwan’s hot springs, but having a clean room and a free sauna made the price totally worth it.

[European Parent-Child Self-Guided Trip: Baltic Three Little Countries & Finland Accommodation Summary] This trip focused on a 22-day parent-child self-guided fairy-tale adventure through the Baltic Three Little Countries. We stayed at a total of eight hotels across four countries—Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland!!! B| B| B| Speaking of accommodation costs in the Baltic Three Little Countries and...

Click here for the full series → A Complete 22-Day Self-Guided Trip to the Baltic Three + Finland

The Happy Life of Three Small Countries and Two Birds%QCamping. Europe. Family Self-Guided Travel