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Train trip from Tallinn to Riga

I and my girlfriend are thinking about a train trip from Tallinn to Riga some time in summer 2025 or summer 2026. I understand that there is no direct connection between the cities but we would have to switch trains in Valga. I have some questions.

How long would the trip take?
How often do the trains travel?
The ship Viking XPRS from Helsinki appears to arrive in Tallinn at 13:00 Estonian time. It would take us at least one hour to reach Balti jaam. Is this enough time to catch the train to Valga or do we have to stay overnight in Tallinn?
How much time do we have to switch trains in Valga? Does the train to Riga depart from the same place as the train from Tallinn arrives to or do we have to walk a long way?
Where do we buy tickets from? How much do they cost?
We have experience of Estonian trains from Tallinn to Tartu and found them quite nice, at least the modern orange trains. We haven't travelled on the old Soviet-era trains. Do these modern orange trains also travel to Valga? What are the Latvian trains like compared to these trains?
I understand some Estonian because of its close resemblance to my native Finnish. However I understand exactly zero Latvian. Can we manage with speaking English on the whole trip?

Asked by: JIP (talk) 20:52, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi

I haven't visited the Baltics by public transit, just Tallinn on foot and the rest by car, but have googled up some information just in case.

Firstly, as you may know, rail travel in the Baltic states isn't as efficient as in Central Europe, and in many cases intercity public transport means travel by bus. The Rail Baltica project is going to alleviate this, though. It's still possible to travel by rail, though, but one should think of it as a kind of rail adventure rather than the fastest way of getting from A to B.

Check Estonia#By_train_2 and Latvia#By_train_2 for basic information, as well as the websites of the Estonian and Latvian railways. You may need to take one train to Tartu, a second to Valga, and a third to Riga (from the same station in Valga) and may have to stay overnight on the way.

Having checked the schedules by the Latvian railways, there are just two departures from Valga, 5:12-7:47 and 14:52-17:47. With the XPRS arriving in Tallinn you could take the 15:22-17:51 to Tartu, apparently continuing 17:54-19:11 to Valga and stay overnight there. Nevertheless this would mean a really early wake up on the next day to catch the first train or spending much of the day exploring Valga to get on the afternoon departure.

It would be more efficient to take one of the overnight ferry trips that gets you to Tallinn at 23:30 but lets you sleep the night onboard until 6:00 or thereabouts (https://www.vikingline.fi/valitse-matka/risteilyt/helsinki-tallinna/paiva-tallinnassa-matkat/paiva-tallinnassa-matka/ has it for cruise passengers but should be possible for one way trips as well), then the 7:08-11:01 to Valga, with a couple of hours to spend there, and then the afternoon service to Riga. Again, the schedules could have changed by the time you will travel.

Tickets can apparently be bought online, or at ticket machines at stations (at least for the Estonian part).

You will get by in the Baltic states with English nowadays - not everyone will speak it but there is very likely someone around who does, and information boards and the like will likely be in English also. --Ypsilon (talk) 21:57, 30 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Are there any unvisited islands on the world?

Asked by: 41.114.138.136 18:56, 7 December 2024 (UTC) Bromley Qungathi[reply]

Canada has between 1.4 and 2 million lakes, many of them in remote areas, and many of them have islands, so it seems likely. There is no way of knowing, though, as the Indigenous peoples didn't keep records of all their travels before contact with Europeans. Ground Zero (talk) 21:04, 7 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]