Chasing Summer –

The tour I joined to get me from Riga to Vilnuis was for 7 people in a van, with a driver/tour guide who spoke English. The entire journey was over 8 hours and cost 118 CAD vs. 23 Euros for a bus that went straight from city to city in 4 hours. Was it worth it? Yes. I never would have visited these sites otherwise.

Bauskas Pils Muzejs (Bauskas Castle Museum)

About an hours drive out of Riga, in Latvia’s last town before Lithuania. There is a castle museum which consists of two sections. The oldest is only ruins of a 15th-century castle. Attached to the front of the ruins is the residential palace built in the later 1600s.

This was a bonus site to me because I booked the one-way trip from Riga to Vilinius purely because it stopped at the Hill of Crosses and I wanted to see that without wasting time with multiple buses and taxis to get there.

Each section has been restored in the palace with some period articles added to the spaces. It costs 9 euros to visit both sites, or you can pay just for the sections you want to see. My group was there for 1 hour and that really wasn’t long enough. Another 30 minutes would have been nice.

There are 4 sections to the palace, including apartments, kitchens and store rooms, and meeting areas for government.

The castle ruins are well ruined, but with one tower still standing, stairs and platforms have been added to safely climb up and have a look out.

Rundales Pils Muzejs (Rundale Palace Museum)

The summer palace was built in the 16th century. It is a 15-minute drive from Bauskas Castle to the Rundale Palace. Here, the palace has gone through many lives with different functions, including a school and infirmary. History – Rundāle Palace (rundale.net)

Here, I had multiple options for tickets as well. There is the palace alone, the french gardens only, a combo ticket, and a day pass. I bought the palace and gardens for 17 euros. Was it worth it? Palace, yes, gardens no.

The palace rooms have been restored gorgeously. The original designs are from the same Russian architect who designed the palace in St. Petersburg, and since I’ve been there, I can attest that there are some similarities.

The use of rich colors, fabric wall covering, painted ceilings, and ceramic chiminies in each room are visually stunning.

Hill of Crosses

The whole reason I went on this tour was to come here. I read several reviews, and it this was the place to visit, but on your way from Riga to Vilnius. The hill is in Lithuania, but it is 100km closer to Riga.

There are several ideas of why this place came to be. But the popular belief is that it is a protest of the Lithuanians under Soviet control. During the occupation, religion was forbidden, but almost every house and farm and business had crosses.

Destroying these symbols was abhorrent to the people, so they began bringing them and placing them on the hill, which was government property. As they were removed, more would find their way there.

It is now considered a pilgramage sight, and people are still adding crosses daily. It is free to visit.  Hill of Crosses (sacredsites.com)

Driving here was a bit like driving through Saskatchewan back in Canada. Pretty flat, lots of farm land growing grains, some treed parts. This means that although the hill isn’t that high, it is still easy to see from pretty far away.

Definitely the way to get from one city to the other if you do not have a car.