Latvia, Estonia, Finland bike trip suggestions?

[Michael Morrissey]

Hi everyone,

I’m planning a trip to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland in a few weeks. I’ve never been to that neighborhood of the world, so I have decided to buy a bicycle once I’m there and ride from Riga, Tallinn, to Helsinki.

Have any of you folks been there, and can you give me any pointers?

I looked up bike shops in Riga, and it looks like there are quite a few. I’ll be leaving my Rivendell at home, and I’m tentatively thinking of buying the bottom-of-the-line Bianchi city bike and riding that. Though, if I luck out, I can perhaps find something cooler like a Koga-Miyata. =I’m going to bring a Riv/Nitto big back rack and Ortlieb bags, but otherwise this will be a credit card tour. I'm going to sell the bike once I get to Helsinki. After a few big trips, I think going very light is the way to go.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Michael

[Adam in Indiana]

I've been to Tallinn and Helsinki, but didn't ride a bike in either. If I recall correctly, vehicles are prohibited inside the Old Town section of Tallinn (a beautiful preserved/restored medieval city, with cobblestone streets, castles, towers, the whole bit) but I did see some bike tours going through there.

Helsinki is a beautiful city, but in a different way than Tallinn. I walked a good portion of the downtown, and found it very pedestrian-friendly, and I assume that would extend to bikes as well.

Other than the hill that Tallinn Old Town is built on, both cities are pretty flat... I also visited Haapsalu on the Estonian coast south of Tallinn (with another awesome medieval castle!), and don't really recall anything but mostly flatland between the two... So in that regard, it'd be an easy ride.

But regardless, this sounds like am awesome trip; I'd love to revisit the area by bike!

[Sean Kline]

Hi Michael,

 

Your trip to Latvia, Estonia and Finland sounds great.

 

My wife and I took our Sam and Cheviot to Helsinki two summers ago to attend the Flow Music Festival and then bike + ferry to Stockholm before ferry-ing back to Helsinki. Our modest credit card cylcotour loop was Helsinki, Degerby, Fiskers, Tammisaari, Teijo, Salo, Turku, Stockholm, Helsinki. I'm happy to share our detailed itinerary. Salo was nothing special, but the other towns were very cool.

 

Most of Finland is very flat and, for the most part, easy to bicycle. We were a little disappointed it wasn't warmer (60s) and that it rained some, but we had a fun time. Finland has a pretty short tourist season from the beginning of June through mid-August. So, some things start to close or slow down around August 16th. Most of the major & minor roads are tarmac, however there are quite a few that are gravel, which were fine (fun!) for our 38 and 42 CM tires. I recommend cycling the Archipelago if you can:

 

https://www.visitfinland.com/article/cycling-the-archipelago-trail/

 

Two worthy bike shops in Helsinki:

• Pelago bicycles: https://www.pelagobicycles.com/kauppa
• Classic Bike; Mechelininkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

 

Sean

El Cerrito, CA

[David Podboy]

Hi Michael,

I just got back from a trip to Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. We mostly visited the capital cities in each country. Unfortunately, I didn't do any cycling, but if I can share any other information, let me know.

I will say that we saw lots of people cycling in all of the cities and even a few people that were touring.

Please post when you get back from your trip!

David

Vancouver, WA

On Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 4:33:50 PM UTC-7, Michael Morrissey wrote: