Journey time is roughly the same as going via Stockholm, although eastbound, if you use the London-Vilnius 1-night option shown on the London to Lithuania page, you can cut this to 3 days.  The more relaxed 2-night London-Vilnius journey is shown below, with connections to Riga by bus or (with another overnight stop) train.

London ► Riga

• Days 1 & 2, travel from London to Warsaw by train, using any of the options shown on the London to Poland page.

  The fastest option is to go London to Brussels in the evening of day 1, stay overnight, then go from Brussels to Warsaw on day 2.

• Stay overnight in Warsaw.  The Polonia Palace Hotel is excellent, historic, relatively inexpensive for such a good hotel, and it's just across the road from the station.  For something much cheaper, but still with great reviews and near the station, try the Hotel Metropol next door to the Polonia Palace or the nearby Novotel Warsaw Centrum.  See the Warsaw Centralna station & city information.

• Day 3, travel from Warsaw to Vilnius by train, leaving Warsaw Centralna at 07:35, change at Mockava, arriving Vilnius 17:34.

  A Polish restaurant car runs as far as Mockava.  For details see the Warsaw to Vilnius page.

• Stay overnight in Vilnius.  Try the City Gate Hotel, 750m from the station towards the old town with great reviews.

• Day 4, travel from Vilnius to Riga.

  A comfortable air-conditioned train links Vilnius with Riga every day, for details see the Vilnius to Riga page.

  Or there are buses run by Lux Express (www.luxexpress.eu) & Ecolines (ecolines.net), check times at Omio.com.

Riga ► London

• Day 1, travel from Riga to Vilnius by train.

  A comfortable air-conditioned train links Vilnius with Riga every day, see the Riga to Vilnius page.

  Or there are buses run by Lux Express (www.luxexpress.eu) & Ecolines (ecolines.net), check times at Omio.com.

• Stay overnight in Vilnius.  Try the City Gate Hotel, 750m from the station towards the old town with great reviews.

• Day 2, travel from Vilnius to Warsaw by train, leaving Vilnius 12:10, change at Mockava, arriving Warsaw Centralna 20:14.

  For details see the Vilnius to Warsaw page.  A Polish restaurant car runs between Mockava & Warsaw, treat yourself to dinner and a beer.

• Stay overnight in Warsaw.  The Polonia Palace Hotel is excellent, it's relatively inexpensive for such a good hotel and it's just across the road from the station.  For something much cheaper, but still with great reviews and near the station, try the Hotel Metropol next door to the Polonia Palace or the nearby Novotel Warsaw Centrum.  Also see the Warsaw Centralna station & city information.

• Days 3 & 4, travel from Warsaw to London using any of the options shown on the London to Poland page.

  You can travel from Warsaw to Brussels on day 3, stay overnight in Brussels, then take a morning Eurostar to London on day 4.

How much does it cost?

• London to Brussels by Eurostar starts at £52 one-way or £78 return in Standard, £97 one-way, £140 return in Plus (1st class).

• Brussels to Warsaw starts at €46.99 each way 2nd class, €79.99 each way 1st class.

  Fares vary like air fares, so book ahead.

• Warsaw to Vilnius costs €25, see the Warsaw to Vilnius page.

• Vilnius to Riga costs around €24, see the Vilnius to Riga by train page.

How to buy tickets

• Step 1, buy tickets from London to Warsaw as shown on the London to Poland page.

• Step 2, book the train from Warsaw to Vilnius as shown on the Warsaw to Vilnius page. 

• Step 3, book the train from Vilnius to Riga at ltglink.lt/en.

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Train travel within Latvia

• See the Trains & ferries from Riga page

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Moving on from Latvia

• See the Trains & ferries from Riga page for travel from Riga to Tallinn, Vilnius, St Petersburg, Moscow, Helsinki, Stockholm.

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European Rail Timetable & maps

The European Rail Timetable (formerly the Thomas Cook European Timetable) has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency & climate information.  It is essential for regular European train travellers and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  Published since 1873, it had just celebrated 140 years of publication when Thomas Cook decided to pull the plug on their entire publishing department, but the dedicated ex-Thomas Cook team set up a private venture and resumed publication of the famous European Rail Timetable in March 2014.  You can buy it online at www.amazon.co.uk (UK addresses) or www.europeanrailtimetable.eu (shipping worldwide).  More information on what the European Rail Timetable contains.

Rail Map Europe is the map I recommend, covering all of Europe from Portugal in the west to Moscow & Istanbul in the east, Finland in the north to Sicily & Athens in the south.  Scenic routes & high-speed lines are highlighted.  See an extract from the map.  Buy online at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu (shipping worldwide) or at www.amazon.co.uk (UK addresses).

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Make sure you take a good guidebook.  For the independent traveller, this means either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide.  I personally prefer the layout of the Lonely Planets, others prefer the Rough Guides.  Both books provide a similarly excellent level of interesting background and practical information.  You won't regret buying one of these!  My own book, an essential handbook for train or ferry travel to Europe based on this website called "The Man in Seat 61", was published in June 2008, and is available from Amazon.co.uk with shipping worldwide.

Click the images to buy online at Amazon.co.uk

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Hotels in Riga & Latvia

Backpacker hostels

www.hostelworld.com:  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in most cities at rock-bottom prices.

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Travel insurance & other tips

Always take out travel insurance

You should take out travel insurance with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover from a reliable insurer.  It should cover trip cancellation and loss of cash & belongings up to a reasonable limit.  These days, check you're covered for covid-19-related issues, and use an insurer whose cover isn't invalidated by well-meant but excessive Foreign Office travel advice against non-essential travel. An annual policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, see the advice on missed connections here.  Here are some suggested insurers, I get a little commission if you buy through these links, feedback always welcome.

  www.staysure.co.uk offers enhanced Covid-19 protection and gets 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

  www.columbusdirect.com is also a well-know brand.

  If you live in the USA try Travel Guard USA.

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a European mobile data package and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list.  There's no need to buy a physical SIM card!  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data.

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month as I write this.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.  And you can get a Curve card for free.

How it works:  1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android.  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than getting a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card, they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  Why you need a VPN

When travelling you may use free public WiFi which is often insecure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explained.  ExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using this link you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I also get some commission to help support this site.

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, hotel bookings and Interrail or Eurail passes are often now held on your mobile phone.  You daren't let it run out of power, and you can't always rely on the phone's internal battery or on being near a power outlet.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or buy from Amazon.com.

Touring cities?  Use hill walking shoes!

One of the best things I've done is swap my normal shoes for hill-walking shoes, in my case from Scarpa.  They're intended for hiking across the Pennines not wandering around Florence, but the support and cushioning for hiking works equally well when you're on your feet all day exploring foreign cities.  My feet used to give out first and limit my day, now the rest of me gives up before they do!

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