Ballad of the Baltics: Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

04:00 Meet at Suvarnabhumi Airport and check in with Finnair. 07:05 depart on AY142, a flight of about 12 hours 20 minutes, arriving in Helsinki at 15:25.

Transfer into Helsinki (about 30 minutes), founded in 1550 by King Gustav I of Sweden and made capital of Finland after 1809 under the Russian tsar.

• Helsinki Central Station: opened in 1919 and named by the BBC in 2013 one of the ten most beautiful railway stations in the world.
• Helsinki Central Library Oodi: a free public library symbolising the Finnish welfare state.

• Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral (built 1830–1852): neoclassical landmarks designed by Carl Ludwig Engel in the era of Russian rule.
• Ferry from Kauppatori harbour (about 30 minutes) to the sea fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO site since 1991, built by Sweden in 1748 across six islands and surrendered to Russia in 1808–1809.
• Old Market Hall: the country's oldest indoor market, opened in 1889.
• Esplanadi Park, opened in 1818, with a monument to the poet Runeberg, author of the Finnish national anthem.

Go to Katajanokka harbour and board a cruise ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn Terminal A, about 2 hours 30 minutes. The sea was the Vikings' gateway to Russia and was also crossed by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) on his journey to Europe.

• Tallinn Old Town: a UNESCO site since 1997.
• Alexander Nevsky Cathedral: an Orthodox cathedral built in 1894–1900 under Russian rule.
• Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats), ringed by colourful old buildings.
• Kohtuotsa and Bishop's Garden viewing platforms on Toompea Hill.

• Kadriorg Park and its palace, built by Tsar Peter the Great as a gift of love for his wife Catherine I; Kadriorg means Catherine's Valley.
• Drive about 2 hours 30 minutes to Pärnu, Estonia's seaside resort on the Baltic.
• St. Elizabeth's Church, a Baroque church built in 1741, and Tallinn Gate, a 17th-century town gate.

Then continue to Riga, Latvia.

Riga Old Town, a UNESCO site since 1997 and the Pearl of the Baltic.

• Dome Square and the Cat House, a 1909 Art Nouveau building (seen from outside).
• Riga Cathedral: built in 1211, the largest church in the Baltic states.
• House of the Black Heads: the late-14th-century hall of a guild of unmarried German merchants.
• Museum of the Occupation of Latvia: founded in 1993, on the Soviet and Nazi German occupations.
• Riga Art Nouveau Center Museum.

• Riga Central Market: one of Europe's largest markets, housed in the steel frames of former German WWI Zeppelin hangars and part of the Riga Old Town World Heritage site.
• Jelgava Castle: a Baroque palace by Rastrelli, who also designed the Winter Palace in St Petersburg (photo stop).
• St. Simeon and St. Ann Orthodox Cathedral, built in 1890–1892.

Cross into Lithuania (about 1 hour) and visit the Hill of Crosses, a symbol of Lithuanian patriotic spirit where crosses were replanted each time the Soviets tried to destroy them; Pope John Paul II visited on 7 September 1993.

Arrive in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, and spend about 3 hours in Vilnius Old Town, a UNESCO site since 1994.

• Bell Tower of Vilnius Cathedral, dating back to the 13th century, and the cathedral itself (seen from outside).
• Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: built in the 15th century, rebuilt and open to visitors since 2009.
• Gediminas Castle Tower (seen from a distance): by legend founded after Grand Duke Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf howling on a hilltop.
• King Mindaugas Monument: the first and only officially crowned king of Lithuania, crowned in 1253.
• St. Anne's Church: the jewel of flamboyant Gothic architecture, a red-brick church whose exterior has hardly changed since the 15th century.

06:00 Leave the hotel for Vilnius Airport (VNO), about 30 minutes.

• 09:40 depart for Helsinki on Finnair AY1102, arriving 11:25, with a layover of about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• 14:50 depart for Bangkok on AY141, a flight of about 15 hours 40 minutes.

Arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 05:30.