Tartu has been a revered seat of learning since the mid-17th century, when the country’s oldest university opened its doors. To this day, an erudite air sweeps over Estonia’s second city, a place of classicist-style mansions and leafy hilltop parks. At the National Museum of Estonia, exhibits recount the country’s checkered past, while artists, poets and thinkers still mull over life’s biggest questions from the old town’s charming terraces.  

King of the Baltic capitals, Riga is a dreamy sonata of European architecture: from Albert Street’s swirling art nouveau facades to the ornate, medieval spires of the House of the Blackheads. Trendy bars and innovative restaurants keep things current, but Riga Market is timeless: the largest in Europe, a mammoth temple of local specialities from smoked fish to bottles of fermented, sweet-sour kvass.  

Gilt-domed cathedrals, cozy cafes and a pumping live music scene make Liepaja an intriguing cultural jewel in Latvia’s crown, tucked well off most tourists’ trail on the western coast. There are hip bars and elegant architecture, but Latvians love it best for its spectacular beaches where, on long summer days, the rolling golden sands and thrilling watersports upend the Baltic’s chilly connotations.  

The Lithuanian capital is a curious cocktail, shaken from the ingredients of a rich and storied past: wander the stone lanes of the old town, where houses painted in artist-palette shades drip with baroque beauty; uncover the past in haunting museums charting the struggle for liberation; or cross the Vilnia River and step into the self-proclaimed ‘republic’ of Uzupis, a counter-cultural, graffiti-drenched maze of hip cafes and offbeat arts venues.