After being absorbed by the raw historic drama that oozes from the pores of Warsaw, my fellow travellers and I boarded our awaiting chariot, a roomy luxury coach, for a romp through the countryside en-route to Lithuania. Insight Vacations’ Warsaw & the Baltic States guided holiday soon proved to be an eye-opening journey of immense discovery for me. It had long been on the bucket-list to tick off the Baltics and this expertly crafted itinerary, with comforts galore, stitched the regional jewels together with style, aplomb and surprises aplenty. Lounging in recline on the super-comfy coach with trusty wifi, Insight Vacations are reputed to be the most indulgent in Europe, with 10 seats removed to provide added legroom.
As a stickler against needless waste, I was most impressed to discover that the tour company had jettisoned single-use plastic bottles, opting for refillables instead. My 25 fellow guests from New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Singapore soon struck up a warm rapport, swapping tales and laughs all along the way. It’s another winning attribute of the Insight Vacations experience, their group sizes don’t exceed 40. As the gleaming new skyscrapers of contemporary Warsaw faded from view, our ebullient Australian travel director, Brad Dick, titillated us with a plethora of regional insights, as we breezed through the pancake-flat Polish countryside.
A lunch stop soon beckoned in the lovely, leafy resort town of Augstow, swooned over by Poles for the therapeutic spas. I was fascinated to learn that the wider lake-filled region of Masuria rubs shoulders with a pint-sized outpost of Russia, Kaliningrad. Brad informed us how the Allies gifted this little chunk of coastal land to Stalin after World War II, so that Russia had port access to the Baltic Sea where it doesn’t freeze over in winter. Sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, before we knew it, we arrived in the venerable Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Insight Vacations takes great pride in hand-picking hotels that boast prime locations and brimming with comfort.
 Their Vilnius offering is a class-act, Radisson Blu Royal Astorija Hotel. Lording over the heart of the old town and loaded with character, this upscale Baroque-style hotel, circa 1901, features vintage décor, glorious frescoes and primo views. I swung back the doors on my Juliet balcony, drinking in the knock-out views of the Church of St. Casimir, directly across the road. It’s the city’s oldest Baroque church, with legend having it that 700 people rolled the cornerstone into place, in 1604.
We also ventured to St. Peter and St. Paul Church. Reputedly built on the site where pagans  worshipped Milda, the goddess of love, this 1668 Baroque masterpiece is wedding-cake beautiful. The interior is even more ornate, with over 2,000 stucco statues of religious and mythological figures, like wedding-cake icing. Visited by Pope John Paul II, it is a revered house of worship, the pearl of Lithuanian Baroque.
Our local guide in Vilnius, Amelia, was a straight-shooting and enthralling raconteur, with a ready wit. I revelled in her deep disdain for trendy and modern art installations, cropping up around the old town. “I hope it’s temporary,” she would frequently mutter, as we passed by another abstract metallic street installation. The old town’s architectural beauty belies its blood-stained backstory, in which 40% of the buildings were destroyed during WWII. Guiding us on a walking tour across the cobbles of the delightful old town, spilling with al fresco cafes and studded with Baroque confections, it’s an irresistible locale to stroll, absorb and immerse yourself in the stories of tumult, drama and human resilience.
I was constantly seduced by the glinting yellows and oranges of the amber shops, liberally sprinkled throughout the old town. Nicknamed the gold of the North, the amber is sourced from the Baltic coastline, as resin from the fossilised pine. Most amber is 40-60 million years...