Private trip - Hill of Crosses / 2 countries in 1 day
Description
Hill of Crosses is a truly unique site which will take your breath away! It is is a site of pilgrimage dating back to 1830ties when people started to place crosses here to pray for their loved ones they've lost in the battles (Lithuanian - Polish commonwealth uprising against Russian Empire). In Soviet times this place served as a peaceful protest action against Soviet regime as they tried to destroy the place many times while locals kept coming back and placing more crosses all the time. The Hill of Crosses was visited by Pope John Paul II back in 1993 and since then this place has become very popular - not only between locals but also tourists from all over the world! Don't be intimidated by the fact that it is a pilgrimage site. Even if you're not religious, please note that everyone is welcome to visit this beautiful sight as long as you respect everyone else visiting it!
Tour Options
Itinerary
A border crossing between Latvia and Lithuania - optional stop for a photo.
A guided tour of the Hill of Crosses so we can explain the history and legends of the place. Also, we will point out details in some crosses which will change how you look at the hill afterwards.
Free time to explore the place by yourselves. Take it all in, enjoy the moment and of course - take loads of stunning photos!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We will pick you up from any central location in Riga.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(48)
The Hill of Crosses has to be experienced. It evoked a feeling of admiration for the spirit of endurance. I was not spooked .
It is the most incredible, truly humbling place filled with so much emotional energy. Our guide Viesturs was wonderful, he was kind, friendly, very knowledgeable & a truly lovely young man, nothing was too much trouble. We really had a fabulous day & would HIGHLY recommend booking this trip. Krista was so very helpful with planning after we booked. A**
What an incredibly moving & emotionally charged place full of love & heartbreak. Ive never seen anything like it. Well worth a visit.
Highly recommend Latvian Gem and the private tour to Hill of Crosses. We were a group of 4 and had a wonderful guide: Viesturs. Being a private tour, we had some flexibility as to what site we visited first, where and when we stopped for lunch, and Viesturs was informative, friendly and humorous. His English was faultless and he gave us some excellent recommendations for restaurants and bars in Riga, which proved to be spot-on! The Hill of Crosses is a must-see. An amazing experience, and with snow on the ground and was just beautiful.
We booked a tour direct with Latvian Gem and was so pleased with the customer service ahead of the tour from Krista and on the day. We were kept informed of who our tour guide would be and which vehicle to look out for through WhatsApp. On the day Janis let us know he'd arrived and the itinerary for the day. As it was just the 2 of us on the tour it was brilliant as Janis shared so much h information, not just on the trip we had booked to visit The Hill of Crosses from Riga, but about Latvian life, history culture and customs. If you get Janis as your tour guide you'll be very lucky as he's knowledgeable, personable and friendly and for English speakers is English is superb. We had such a great visit as we learned so much and The Hill of Crosses is incredibly moving. Religious or not you can't not appreciate the beauty. We also visited the city of Jelgava and stopped for a photo opportunity at the border crossing with Lithuania. We highly recommend booking direct with Latvian Gem.
Wonderful private tour with VB! So knowledgeable and kind. We learned much about the Baltics and had a great time!
So what can I say that's negative? Nothing! 100% recommend. I had a great day on this tour. Our guide was punctual for pick up and easy to find. Welcoming us at the start and ensured all were on board. We did the introductions of all names and where from to break the ice and then we were off. The weather was unusually poor for this time of year apparently, rain, and he made sure the van air con was set to make it comfortable for all in the back and no "steamy" windows. The drive to the Hill of Crosses, 90mins approx, didn't seem to take that long. Great chat passed the time easily. All in the back seemed to be chatting away amongst themselves. On arrival at the Hill we had just the right amount of history of the site before an hour on our own. The hour passed quickly, there are up to 500,000 crosses to work your way around! On the way back, again it doesn't seem to take long which was good, the photo stop for the "border" photo and the most beautiful Orthodox church, worked really well. As far as monies worth 10 out of 10. Also our guide, Peter and middle name "Richard", was a great guy. I was heading to collect my race pack for the Riga half marathon and he even gave me a lift on his way home to save me on Bolt/Uber etc. big thanks for that, ran my second fastest time ever! All in all I really recommend this tour with this company!
Excellent tour through 2 countries: Latvia🇱🇻 and Lituhania🇱🇹, with the Crosses✝️ as the ultimate goal. Beautiful surrondings, villages and palaces. It was a privelege to be driven and guided by Latvian Gem colleague Janis. Many thanks, Joost from The Netherlands🇳🇱.
A bit of a depressing and crumbling place. Definitely a meaningful place for deeply religious people. Rather not for visiting with with fickle children.
I had such a wonderful day with Krista exploring Hill of Crosses, Rundale Palace, and even adding in a Riga city tour! Krista was such a patient, kind, and just all around great companion all day and I highly recommend going on any tour with her or her team! I fell in love with Riga’s architecture and quirky public art, enjoyed walking amongst the countless crosses in Lithuania (easy border crossing by the way!), and savored the blooming roses in the Rundale Palace (Baltic’s own Versailles with much less crowds!) Riga was not at the top of my list of cities to visit, but thanks to my new found appreciation because of Krista’s love of her own country, I’m excited to return one of these days!
