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First train in Latvia. There are only 2 trains a week from Liepaja, to the capital Riga, between these two different worlds
I’m excited to be on the mythical Saturday morning train to Riga from Liepaja with Railway Dog. The only other train out of here is the Sunday evening one, except for a a daily service during a couple of high season months. It might be one of the largest towns, but only freight and seasonal…
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Travelling between Lithuania and Latvia for a pining train lover
Since 2020 there have been no trains running across the border between Latvia and Lithuania. Seat61 is the most likely place to update on this, but the situation may not change for years. For those of us travelling by Interrail or Eurail, or who simply prefer trains, this is a hurdle to get over. Travelling…
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Klaipeda and Nida, the sandy West coast of Lithuania
We arrived in Klaipeda close to midnight, thanks to the only train options there from Siauliai (or Vilnius or anywhere) being very early or very late. On the plus side, I didn’t get hassled for not having a reservation, there were no dog issues, and my Interrail pass went down okay. After a bit of…
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Siauliai, Lithuania, for longer than anticipated – Interrail hiccups
A quick overnight stop in Siauliai turned into 26 hours. Instead of a lunchtime train to Klaipeda, there wasn’t one till 20:47. Thus I discovered that in Lithuania the train times are not as in the Interrail Rail Planner app. There are likely to be fewer trains except in high season. So it’s best to…
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Into Lithuania
Only one train a day goes to Lithuania from Poland, the only Interrail country to the south. But that’s actually good for here. In 2020 it was one a week. During the pandemic and until May 2022 there were no border crossings by train at all! I want to head to Latvia and Estonia after,…
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Seeing an elk in Elk, Poland
At the centre of Elk lakeside you can hire all kinds of boats. For 55zl (about 11€) I hired a kayak for 4 hours of pootling a fair few km round the natural lake. Baspie jumped right in and we had one of the best days together. He even got quite soppy, snuggling up in…
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Wot no Warsaw? Crossing the North of Poland Eastwards to Elk
Interrailing can easily get dominated by cities, particularly capital cities. But it doesn’t have to be. Railway Dog much prefers greener locations, so we skipped Warsaw and headed to the Mazury Lakes region in North East Poland, as recommended by a Polish hitch hiker back in Romania. From the Gdansk, Tczew, Malbork train, we had…
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International historic boat collection at the National Maritime Museum branch at Tczew, near Gdansk
Where in the world has a top conservation lab for historic boats? Tczew (pronounced a bit like ‘chef’) is an easy train ride out from Gdansk on the main line to Malbork and Warsaw. There you will find the impressive lab which you can view from above as well as an excellent Polish and international…
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Gdansk and Gdynia, a happy time with Railway Dog; much rebuilding done, more ruins still
First stop in Gdansk was a delicious vegan restaurant, Avocado. In Poland many eateries do not allow dogs inside, but wherever I go the vegan places are nearly always dog friendly. Gdansk is beautiful and very pedestrian and cycle friendly (as with everywhere I went in Poland). The port city got hammered when it was…
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Krakow to Gdansk, via Warsaw
Poland feels so modern and clean after Hungary and Romania. This is true on this spanking clean train. The trains are actually used by many locals. This was my first commuter train in 6 weeks, an early morning intercity. Every seat was booked, you can see Basbie is initially a bit concerned by the squashing…