Booked an impromptu trip to the above with a few days in each city planned.

Wondering if anyone has good suggestions of things to do / places to go, etc in either city?

Also any recommended pubs?

Went to Riga for a couple of days a couple of years ago.

I can recommend going shooting in one of the converted nuclear bunkers. Was pretty cool getting yelled at by a scary bloke who you just knew had killed whilst holding an AK47, pump action shotgun, glock pistol and a few other guns 🙂

doosuk – that sounds nuts! And pretty cool – was it easy to arrange?

I’ve been to Tallin on a day trip. It was fantastic. Just wander around, be in a brilliant fairytale city with old walls, exotic churches, the works; go to a nice restaurant, order the whole works and pay very little; check out soviet junk aka memorabilia in the junk shops, and boggle at the spivs trying to sell you dodgy stuff from the inside of a jacket, including soviet passports from dead soliders.

When I went there from Helsinki in 2004 you could get a cake in a really nice coffee shop for less than the price of the same cake in a supermarket in Helsinki.

Yep, dead easy. We arranged via the hostel we stayed in.

Can’t remember the exact one we went in/with but something like this link:
http://www.toprigatours.com/riga_ak47_tour/

Edit – Infact looking through their photos and mine it’s the same bunker.

Tallinn is nice, I have spent lots of time there over the last few years (My girlfriend is Estonian).

Also in Tallinn you have one of Europe’s best equipped shooting range (http://www.tacticalshooting.ee) – also very cheap! I shoot a bit there as pictured below me with an M4 carbine.

AK47 is a bit lame, try and get an AR-15 or something a bit more modern.

I went to Tallinn, and its beautiful. I also managed to do it without shooting any automatic weapons.
Agree on the wandering round thing, go and see all the towers etc, Fat Margaret tower.
Very lovely city.

Also Tallinn is full of beautiful ladies.. be sure to ask one or two of them how you say “twelve months” in Estonian 😆

Tallinn is lovely I highly recommend it

Ha!, i thought a mate from Parnu was on a wind up when she told me that, i refused to believe her till she showed me the many vids on you-tube.

I’ve been to Riga a few times to visit the wife’s family. It’s a small city but plenty to do. A nice bar for some good beer and cheap good food is “Alus Seta”.

If you get a chance you can get a train to Jurmala which is the beaches on the Baltic. Some nice walks along the beach and the woods.

Tallinn is a very nice city, well worth strolling around and trying the find the highly entertaining sign post for “kikidekok” or whatever it is.

Riga less so, however the night club Studio69 left an impression on me.

Tallinn is a very nice city, well worth strolling around and trying the find the highly entertaining sign post for “kikidekok” or whatever it is.

You mean this?…

Yeah that’s the one, something “in the kitchen” I’d guess

Riga is lovely. Been twice, once in winter and once in summer. It’s a beautiful place with lots to do. Museum of the Occupation is fascinating and harrowing. Get a city tour from one of the guides near the museum. They’ll take you on a walking tour around the centre and then on the trams to outer districts.

Go here to the sky bar for a brilliant view of the city: http://www.alberthotel.lv/

Awesome beers and food here: http://www.belgianbeercafe.com/bars/bonvivant/profile?legal&destination=bars/bonvivant/profile

Go Planet had go-karting, laser quest and other fun stuff: http://www.goplanet.lv/lat/go_planet

This is one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been to anywhere in the world: http://nexusidejas.lv/en/domini_canes

Riga is lovely. Been twice, once in winter and once in summer. It’s a beautiful place with lots to do. Museum of the Occupation is fascinating and harrowing.

Yep, I thought the museum was fascinating. Lots of nice old buildings, churches, cafes & bars to mooch round. The old city in Tallinn is gorgeous, too.

Riga is a lovely city, try to see as much as possible – the art deco/neuvo building are stunning although if you want to go inside a tour was the only option but worth it.
As above – Jurnama is worth a visit, as is the car museum just outside the city. Lots of rare and exotica to us but plenty of iron curtain oddities ….

boardinbob – cheers for all the links, some superb looking stuff.

Cheers to everyone else as well, given me a bit of a plan!

I saw swan lake at the opera house in Riga, not normally my sort of thing, but it was brilliant (and very cheap). Sipping champagne (50p per glass) on the balcony overlooking the city at night during the interval was awe inspiring.

We also took a trip to the nearby bobsleigh run (built for one of the winter olympics) and had a couple of runs – incredible experience.