Group Day Trip To Rundale Palace, Hill Of Crosses & Bauska Castle

Wonderful tour and a great way to gain a deeper understanding of Latvia—both past and present—and how its history has shaped the country today. Our guide, Tom, was incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, and attentive throughout the day. He welcomed every question and made sure everyone felt included and comfortable. I really appreciated his genuine enthusiasm and consideration for the group. Highly recommend!

We had a small group of 4. I almost signed up with a different company that takes groups of 16 and I was ultimately grateful we had a smaller group so that we didn't have to wait for a lot of folks, or deal with trying to wrangle with a lot of people. Our tour guide was Tom, who somehow at 22, had amassed an amazing amount of knowledge about Latvia and European/world history generally. He was an excellent guide. The palace was too big for any photos to really do it justice. The hill of crosses was also kind of hard to capture, but when you're there you can kind of feel this like... immense communal emotion from how many crosses are there, from how many people have visited. All in all a great final day in Latvia (and technically also Lithuania)

Tom our guide was very friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. We had plenty of time at each site and enjoyed all of the places. The Hill of Crosses is a very surreal place and you can buy your own cross from the stall by the car park if you want to leave your own marker. Tom was a safe driver and the journeys between each place were smooth. We weren’t rushed as he gave clear timings. You can take your own lunch or eat at the Palace cafe where there is hot food, toasted sandwiches or just cake and coffee if you want something lighter. Highly recommend this trip and Tim if you are lucky enough to be allocated him as your guide for the day.

Gabriel was remarkably knowledgeable and helpful as a guide. A lot of ground to cover in one day but eminently worthwhile. Great place to stop for lunch. Excellent introduction to Latvian and Lithuanian history.

This was an excellent tour in a mini-van. We had a small group of 8 which worked well throughout the tour. The tour guide and driver, Tom, was excellent and demonstrated good knowledge of the history and background of all three locations we visited. We had plenty of time at each location to explore and photograph. The tour took the whole day but this was necessary to see all that we wanted to and needed to see. Good value for money.

We started with the Hill of Crosses and on the way a short stop for toilet and snacks. Then on to the palace with time for lunch at one of the palace restaurants (choice of 2). Then a short stop at the castle. Our driver was kind, smooth, and welcoming. Our guide Tomass was knowledgeable, informative, and very easy to speak with. He made a point to speak with each person on the tour and made sure we all got to see what we wanted. Highly recommended day trip!

The driver and guide were top notch. I learned so much history about all 3 venues. The size of the group was small, so there was a lot of interaction within the group. A great day.

The guide provided excellent explanations of each tourist attraction, making it a satisfying trip. paldies

Had a great day out. Although close to 2 hours away the hill of crosses is well worth a visit. Rundale palace was great and it’s worth taking the electric carts with the included audio tour round the gardens to maximise your time. Tom our guide was great kept us informed prior to the trip and was great on the day. Thanks

Our day trip was cancelled on short notice apparently due to lack of the number of bookings. The information did not get to us and as we stand waiting for our guide at the predetermined time and place, other vans are filling and organized and leaving. But not us. At the last minute, another van was filling with people and the guide comments, oh, are you with this other trip, we respond yes. He generously offers us to take a different day trip for the last two seats. We jump on what all appears to be a nice Mercedes travel van. The last two seats were in the last upper row built for someone 90 lbs soaking wet with no window view. Can you say claustrophobia. We had to decline. It was a nice offer albeit the seating is extremely small and we are fit people. So I don’t know how the trip would have been but the communication was absolutely terrible in the cancellation. This is not the first time my Trip Advisor booking has not gone well. Simon- Hopeful Canadian for our next booking.

Me and my partner really enjoyed the tour, would recommend to anyone if you’re wanting to see these sites and learn about the history of them, tour guide was a very nice guy and answered any questions we had.

Great tour and saw some amazing places. The hill of crosses was really something remarkable as was Rundale palace. The other palace, not so much. Tom was a great and informational guide for our group and we all had a great time

I am glad I decided to do this trip. I could have visited these places by myself, however, having a guide to explain the background and also the history of those places made it much more enjoyable. The guide, Tomass, was extremely knowledgeable about the places we visited and really knew how to keep us informed and entertianed!

A great day out. We crossed the border into Lithuania to visit the hill of crosses which was absolutely amazing. We were given free time to wonder around and take photos. We were hoping for a stop off at the border to grab a photo or two but we sailed straight through. Next we visited Rundāles Palace where we had a couple of hours to tour the gardens and the inside of the palace and have some lunch. Our final stop was at Bauska castle where we were treated to some historical facts before and were able to walk around the grounds. Unfortunately our trip didn’t included entrance into the museum. It was a fascinating day which my family and I really enjoyed. I will point out though that we were on the minibus for a large portion of the trip which was rather boring. Our guide Tomass was excellent giving us lots of information about Latvia and the places we were visiting. A shout out to our driver Edgar as well who drove very well.

Our group tour to Bauska Castle, Rundāle Palace, and the Hill of Crosses with Toms was excellent. He shared history and local insights in a way that made the places come alive, while also giving us enough free time to explore. The whole trip was well-organized and very comfortable. Toms was not only a skilled driver and guide but also very approachable and attentive to everyone’s needs. A truly memorable day, and I would gladly recommend both this tour and Toms to anyone visiting Latvia.

The trip was professionally done. We got a lot of information about history and interesting facts. The guide was really helpful. The palace was amazing, Hill of crosses is a special experience.

This was the highlight of my first trip to Riga. We had a friendly small group and our guide Tom did an amazing job. He’s very knowledgeable about all site we visited and always made sure that everyone was comfortable. Highly recommended.

It is a nice trip. Must do it if you have time. The car is very good. The driver is excellent. The places are very interesting.

This was a great way to experience the Hill of Crosses and two wonderful castles in the Latvian countryside. Toms was a wonderful and friendly tour guide.

Amazing tour! Beautiful locations to visit. Our tourguide gave us great information everywhere we went! Recommended

The trip combines 3 locations, it is a whole day trip. The small group is guided by a local who is very knowledgeable and we enjoyed talking to him about a variety of subjects. We recommend this activity.

Great day and beautiful locations! Would recommend this day trip for anyone looking to see outside Riga

Thomas was great. very knowledgeable about the sites we visited and extremely personable. Kept a great pace with the tour.

Rundale: stunning as beautiful palace is filled with authentic furniture etc; excellent iphone app + interactive screens in each space. also nice restaurant, with good food and nice ambiance. Hill of Crosses: amazing, original, but a long ride to it... Bauska: dispointing: we saw the inner court only, no visit of the interior. Driver told us, it's just medieval - and that the stop was only for climbing the tower for the view (this limitation should be highlighted in the trip explanation), but nobody was interested in the flat winter landscape and Tom did not show any enthusiasm to encourage us. The van: fine but driver could not be heard from our third row -- I told Tom this was unacceptable for an expensive trip, but he didn't take my comment seriously (easy to buy: simple portable micro and loudspeaker). Tom turned his head at my request sometimes when he spoke but, for safe driving, he looked mostly straight ahead and we didn't hear a thing! -- I was angry!! I had expected that 4 hours in the van would be richly filled with a presentation about Latvia (and Lithuania, for the Hill of Crosses!), Riga, the 3 destinations, anecdotes, etc; Tom more or less answered our questions, that's all. He did his best but he is a (bright) law student, not a guide (in all reviews that I read his name was never mentioned); he told me his van was owned by his uncle, so maybe he was just a stand-in; maybe we had been unlucky by getting the wrong subcontracting van company. Conclusion: the day trip is worthwhile on paper but we encountered 3 serious weaknesses: no professional guide, no sound system and no visit of the castle. Also: winter time was great for this trip as we had the destinations (almost) only for us!!

Our tour guide Thomas was friendly, welcoming and really knew the facts about each place. We never felt rushed - lots of time for each place with good recommendations regarding food options. Would totally recommend and will definitely book with this company on any future trips to Riga.

Wow, what a great day out. 3 venues, 2 countries and 1 brilliant guide. The 3 venues are all totally different and all great, Well worth the money...

Awesome experience. We thought this was a “small group”….it ended up being just the two of us…..so, it was a personal experience. A little long time in the car, but that was expected since you travel from Riga all the way into Lithuania. We even stopped for fresh strawberries on the way back. We would definitely recommend this tour!! Although it says July 2024, we went in July 2022…I’m just now reviewing this trip.

We were the only couple on the buss so this was basically a private tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and happy to share the stories of Latvia. The castle was cool as they are renovating it using the traditional methods, the Palace was stunning and the gardens there amazing. Then the hill of crosses. they don[t tell you how big it is, spread out over an acre full of rabbit trails with all the crosses commemorating various groups and people. Truly amazing.

Our guide was compotent and told us alot of intersting facts about our stopping points. The Hill of crosses was wonderfull place with a nice view

I absolutley loved touring the palace! And the Hill or Crosses was an extra bonus. We had plenty of time to explore and hear information about both location. And with transportation it made life easier. Highly recommend.

Booked this trip a month in advance but did not receive pick up information. Chased the operators the day before for pick up details three times and eventually received a confirmation they would pick up from our hotel the next day. 2 hours later they cancelled due to breakdown of their vehicle. No alternative offered. Very disappointing as we were looking forward to it and we’re not able to make alternative arrangements at such short notice.

The guide tried his best to make unmemorable sites a good adventure, but save your money and go to local museums. If guide offers a 30 euro pp private boat trip, do not do it. There are group trips in same area for a fraction of the cost.

A great day. Paul was an excellent guide and he made the trip fun and very informative. The schedule was flexible so we never felt rushed and were able to ask lots of questions and see everything that we wanted to.

It was a really great experience. Paul arrived dot on time and he was courteous and explained the entire tour plan at the beginning. Later he guided us through all the spots. He was really knowledgeable and we had an amazing day. I would highly recommend this tour.

Our family had a fabulous time privately guided by Gints of Aurora Tours. Very knowledgeable and friendly local guide speaking excellent English with lots of tips and interesting conversation. Timely pickup, very comfortable transport with extra stop at the fascinating annex car museum on our way to Bauska Castle (beautiful views and interesting restoration) and charming Rundale Palace where we had a delicious lunch. Cherry on top was the experience of driving to Lithuania to see the very unique Hill of the Crosses. Highly recommend!

Everything was great except that there was 70 euro fuel surcharge which felt like it was ripping me off. I was expected to pay it in cash. I don't understand why it wasn't included in the price and disclosed after the fact. Seemed to be really shady to me.

We had a great day out with our driver/guide Kristine. She was a calm and careful driver and her car was clean and comfortable. We ran into some traffic returning to Riga, but knew to expect it. Kristine’s English was excellent and she was full of contextual knowledge and good suggestions on what it made sense to do on our itinerary given weather and limited mobility considerations. Kristine was very solicitous, lending my elderly mother, who walks with a cane, a helping arm so that I could run off and climb towers and take extra photos.

Really enjoyed my time on this tour. Big thanks to Paul for making this happen - fun an knowledgeable guy, he shared some nice insights about the history of the places we visited and nicely rounded out the whole experience.

Paul was an excellent tour guide! The highlight of the day for us was the Hill of Crosses! A great day! Thanks so much Paul!

Excellent tour and service. Paul was a wonderful guide. Beautiful country and fantastic day in Latvia.

We were on a group tour and had a free day, and planned to visit the Soviet Bunker, but the bunker trip was cancelled due to multiple school children visits. Paul suggested we visit Rundale Palace and Bauska Castle instead. Great choice, thoroughly enjoyed the palace, like a smaller Versailles. He personally drove us there and got us tickets and oriented.

An excellent tour. Rundale palace was the highlight - fascinating slice of Latvian history. Paul did a great job driving and guiding. Much appreciated his sharing of Latvia, the people, and the culture.

Paul was a great guide who shared personal experiences and made great recommendations (try the potato pancakes at the Palace). He made the trip interesting, and added extra insight into the things we saw.

Our trip was very informative and most enjoyable. Our guide Paul was courteous, knowledgeable and ensured that our experience was top class.

We were picked up at the hotel by our guide and driver. We got on really well from the start and enjoyed Pauls company and conversation. Rundale Palace was amazing, we were happy to visit out of season as there were no crowds and we could take our time to take photos. We ate the potato pancakes in the restaurant and a piece of Chocolate cake before finishing off with some Cherry Balsam. Hill of Crosses was interesting, we had a walk around and purchased a cross at the local stall and left it on the hill before leaving.

Gints was kind and an excellent and knowledgeable guide. He made a very interesting and nice talk. Paldies!

I took this tour right before new year's, so it was just me and my guide. He was great! Not only did he give me helpful information about the places that we were visiting, he shared personal stories and answered my questions about Latvia in general. It was a great experience, and I definitely recommend it!

It was such a lovely trip to go on and Paul was our guide and driver for the second day running. He was friendly, very knowledgeable about the history of the palace we were so lucky as my daughter and I were the only two people in the whole of Palace. It felt like we had it to ourselves.. Paul was great very helpful and he kindly took photos for us such a great trip out. We did not feel rushed, it was a very relaxed trip Great tour company ten out ten

Very good tour, our guide Paul was very knowledgeable, very relaxed and made us feel like we were just riding with an old friend . Ride was smooth, careful driver and very interesting sites. Must do when in Latvia