Luxury Travel Advisor - November 2007 - (Page 12) STIKLIAI HOTEL is in the heart of Vilnius’s Old Town and features traditional décor (suite shown). eye-popping confections. Perhaps our favorite place in Latvia is the beautiful region of Sigulda, which, in contrast to Riga’s buzzing city streets and frenetic traffic—both vehicular and pedestrian—is characterized by bucolic fields, rolling hills and winding mountain roads. We particularly enjoyed the peaceful environs of Gutmana Cave and the English country-style gardens outside Sigulda New Castle (16 Pils Street), which was home of the USSR Health Ministry sanatorium after World War II and is now headquarters of the Sigulda Regional Council. Tip: Cap off the afternoon in Sigulda with lunch at the storybook Kungu Rija restaurant (Krimuldas pagasts; 371-797-1473), which overlooks a meticulously groomed lawn and pond. On the final leg of our tour, we said uz redzeshanas (“good bye”) to Latvia and made a stop at the world-famous Hill of Crosses near the Lithuanian city of Siauliai before checking into the Radisson SAS Klaipeda (www.klaipeda.radissonsas.com). Although they don’t offer the grandiose luxury that’s often found in Western European fivestars, Radisson SAS Klaipeda’s rooms are clean, comfortable and bright; be sure to request a Business Class room or one of four suites. In Nida, your VIPs will tour the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Curonian Spit, a 60mile-long sandy peninsula that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea, then cross the lagoon by ferry. We followed up a visit to the Thomas Mann Museum (www.muziejai.lt/ner inga/mano_muziejus.en.htm) —the author summered in Nida for years before building a summer home there in the early 1930s—with lunch at Lineja restaurant (Taikos str.18, Neringa; 370-469-52390). En route to their next stop, Kaunas, clients will tour Lithuania’s most famous summer resort, Palanga, including its Amber Museum and Botanical Garden (http://samogitia.mch.mii.lt/kul tura/palanga_museum_en.lt. htm), located in the former pal- ace of Count Feliks Tyszkievicz. After lunch at Kerpe (Vytautog 76; 370-460-52379), the tour continues on to Kaunas, where they’ll check in at Kaunas Hotel (www.kaunashotel.lt) on Laisves Avenue in the heart of downtown (request a room on one of the upper floors for views of Laisves Avenue and the Zaliakalnis area). Here, they’re sure to be impressed upon visiting Kaunas Castle and, in Rumsiskes, the Rumsiskes Open-Air Museum (www.muziejai.lt/kaisiadorys/ open-air_muziejus.en.htm). The final stop on our Baltics tour, Vilnius, is home to Relais & Châteaux’s Stikliai Hotel (www.stikliaihotel.lv), where we took up residence for our final day and night. Aim to book one of the hotel’s 11 suites; we found the floral-patterned furnishings, vaulted ceilings with exposed wooden beams and the soft color palette throughout refreshing. Highlights of our stay in Vilnius included visits to the Old Town, the campus of Vilnius University (www.vu.lt/en), Vilnius Cathedral and the KGB Museum (www.muziejai.lt/vil nius/genocido_auku_muziejus. en.htm). Tip: We say it’s best to opt for a Custom Journey because of the privacy your VIPs will enjoy, as well as the ability afforded to the company’s journey planners to coordinate special, personalized and often more meaningful activities that are difficult to arrange for an entire group. Note, however, that on our “Gems of the Baltics” Escorted Journey, travel director Harry Davis was able to arrange for one guest and her husband to make a private excursion to the tiny Lithuanian village from which her family came. Another guest, of Japanese descent, requested a visit to Sugihara House (www.geocities. jp/lithuaniasugihara house) in Kaunus. Clients can work with their travel director on-site to make arrangements; luxury travel advisors are asked to call Travcoa’s main journey consultant number (800-9922003), upon which they’ll be connected with their own expert travel planner. 12 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | November 2007 http://www.muziejai.lt/vilnius/genocido_auku_muziejus.en.htm http://www.muziejai.lt/vilnius/genocido_auku_muziejus.en.htm http://www.kaunashotel.lt http://www.muziejai.lt/kaisiadorys/open-air_muziejus.en.htm http://www.muziejai.lt/neringa/mano_muziejus.en.htm http://www.muziejai.lt/neringa/mano_muziejus.en.htm http://www.stikliaihotel.lv http://www.geocities.jp/lithuaniasugiharahouse http://www.geocities.jp/lithuaniasugiharahouse http://www.geocities.jp/lithuaniasugiharahouse http://samogitia.mch.mii.lt/kultura/palanga_museum_en.lt.htm http://www.vu.lt/en http://www.klaipeda.radissonsas.com http://samogitia.mch.mii.lt/kultura/palanga_museum_en.lt.htm
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