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Day 1. Vilnius -Trakai-Vilnius
Arrival to Vilnius, check-in at Conti 4* hotel.
Lunch.
A tour of Trakai, the ancient capital and the residence of Grand Dukes of Lithuania, famous for the lakes and sights of the area. The 14th century insular castle with a museum of Lithuanian history. The Karaite museum and the story of this small ethnic group (confessing Judaism), brought by Lithuanian duke Vytautas from Crimea as war prisoners about 600 years ago.
Dinner and overnight in Vilnius.

Day 2. Vilnius
Breakfast at the hotel.
Vilnius city tour including the main historic and architectural monuments of the town. You will see the Medieval Jewish quarter its lanes and courts, listen to the history of Great Vilna Synagogue, the personality of Gaon of Vilna. In Vilnius Old Town you will also see the world famous Jewish printing house “Widow and Brothers Romm”, the Monument to Tsemakh Shabad and the Ghettos of Vilna where more than 40.000 Jews were concentrated in 1941-1943. Visit to Vilnius University and the Yiddish Institute, in which the Yiddish language is taught and Yiddish literature is fostered.
Also a visit to the Vilna Gaon State Jewish to see the collection of traditional and modern Jewish objects of art and documents and objects connected with the Holocaust. The museum demonstrates different aspects of the historical and cultural heritage and tragedy of Jews.
The last visit to Jewish Cemetery, a place of eternal rest of Jewish public and religious figures.
Lunch in Vilnius.
Afternoon visit to Ponar Memorial (10 kilometres from the city centre) - a place of the mass killing of 100,000 people (mostly Jews and Poles), from Vilnius and nearby towns and villages during World War II. You will see the memorial and museum dedicated to this great tragedy.
Dinner and overnight in Vilnius.

Day 3. Vilnius – Ukmerge – Panevezys – Kedainiai – Kaunas
Breakfast.
Departing for a full day excursion over the trails of the Jewish centers in the past. First stop in Ukmerge. Ukmerge was a major Jewish community and in 1923 the Jewish population was 3,885, 37.5% of the total population. It was noted for its secondary school, the Vilkomir Reali School which provided instruction in Yiddish. Distinguished Jews from this community include the following: 1857- Zvi Hirsh Fogelovitz was correspondent to Hamagid and Rabbi S.Z. Koifman and A. Klatzi donated for the Eretz Israel colonists: 1882-birthplace of Mendel Silber who moved to the United States in 1900 and was a Rabbi in New Orleans.

Panevezys had a tradition as a place of Torah and occupied a position of honor in the rabbinical world. Residents told enthusiastic stories of a long-ago rabbi from Ponevezh, R'Moyshe Itskhak of Libau. They had a more recent memory of R'Eliyahu-Dovid Rabinovitz-Teomim, who left Ponevezh to become the head of the Mir Yeshiva and later a rabbi in Jerusalem.

A short visit to Kedainiai, a citadel of Radziwil family, one of the most powerful nobility in Lithuania and also a town where the Vilna Gaon lived and worked. The buldings of three synagogues have remained in Keidaniai. Lunch.
Drive to Kaunas, the second largest city of the country.
Check-in at Best Western Santaka hotel 4*. Dinner and overnight in Kaunas.


Day 4. Kaunas – Hill of Crosses – Rundale – Riga
Breakfast.
City tour includes the most interesting – architectural and historic monuments in the Old Town; former Kaunas Jewish ghetto; Sugihara Center; Kaunas Choral Synagogue. Kaunas Choral Synagogue is striking for its black and golden colors, as w ell as its Children's Memorial. From Synagogue you’ll be able to pass the house where the poet Leah Goldberg once lived, and visit the area that once contained the vibrant Jewish Ghetto, ultimately incinerated by the Nazis. Stand at the spot where the members of the Kaunas Ghetto once lined up and waited as Nazi officers assigned their fate.

Also you will visit the Ninth Fort Museum, a former death site of thousands of Jewish nationals during the World War II. There Jews were imprisoned overnight, only to be executed in the surrounding open fields the next morning. Visit the Museum within the fort, and pay respects at the memorials on the open grounds which surround it.
Lunch.

Departure to Riga, the capital of Latvia. Stop at the Hill of Crosses near Siauliai, a symbol of Lithuanians’ resistance against foreign rule, with more than 100.000 crosses.

Another stop at the wonderful Baroque Rundale Palace, built by the famous Italian architect B. Rastrelli. Arrival to the capital of Latvia - Riga. Check-in at Tallink City hotel 4* In Riga for Shabbos
Dinner and overnight in Riga.

Day 5. Riga

Breakfast – 9am Walk to Synagogue for Shabbos services or free morning then Shabbos lunch at time to be advised
Afternoon walking tour of Riga City tour a tour of the Old Town, including the Dome Cathedral, the Jewish quarter, a memorial for the burnt Great Synagogue of Riga, the Jewish school founded in the XIX c. by Rav Dr. Max Liliental, the Synagogue, the museum “Jews in Latvia”, the Jewish community centre, the sites of Shimon Dubnov in Riga. Visit to Rumbula and Bikierniki Memorials, where Nazis murdered many thousands of Jews from Latvia, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Day 6. Riga- Gauja National Park/Sigulda – Parnu - Tallinn
Breakfast. Am visit to Salaspils, the Memorial to the victims of the Nazis. At this site, obscured by dense forest, the Nazis herded thousand of victims to be executed and buried in the anonymity of mass graves. Jews were brought from as far away as Austria and Germany; many Latvians and Russians were killed at this site as well. The current monument was unveiled only in 2001, and it illustrates the persistent Jewish soul and its refusal to be forgotten.
Dinner and overnight in Riga. Visit to the biggest gallery of Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture by Russian-Jewish architect Mikhail Eisenstein.

Drive along the Baltic Sea coast to Tallinn. En route stop in Sigulda, located in the picturesque Gauja Valley dotted with caves and castles. Sigulda is often called the Latvian Switzerland. Visit to the 13th cent. Turaida castle, now housing a small History Museum.

A short visit to Parnu a resort in Estonia. Late afternoon arrival to the capital of Estonia - Tallinn.

Check-in at Meriton Grand SPA & Conference hotel 4*. Dinner and overnight in Tallinn.


Day 7. Tallinn – Kadriorg PalaceBreakfast. A city tour of Tallinn, including the the Old Town with its Town Hall Square, Town fortifications, the Toompea Castle, Dominican Monastery, Alexander Nevski Cathedral.

Lunch. Visit to the Kadriorg Palace, famed for its baroque palace and park ensemble, built as the summer palace for the tsar Peter.
Lunch and free time in Tallinn. Dinner at a Synagogue.

Day 8. Departure from Tallinn
Breakfast. Transfer to the airport.

PRICE PER PERSON SHARING DOUBLE £895 £1,095 FOR SINGLE
Included:
- 7 Overnights at 4-stars centrally located hotels in Vilnius, Riga, Kaunas and Tallinn;
- 7 Breakfasts, 7 lunches and 6 dinners (kosher food);
- Transfers according to the programme with 35-50 seats bus;
- Tour leader escort during whole tour;
- Entrance to Vilnius University, Trakai Catsle, Rundale Palace, Rigas Dome, Turaida Castle, Tallinn Dome, Kadriorg Palace, 9th Fort in Kaunas, Art Nouveau gallery ;
- 15 guided excursions: City Tours in Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Kaunas, Ukmerge, Kedainiai, Panevezis, Trakai, Hill of Crosses, Rundale Palace, Kadriorg Palace, Turaida Museum, Panar and Salaspils memorials, Art Nouveau gallery.


 
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