For travellers, the best thing about Latvia is that it is so compact. Its 500 km of sandy beaches are easily reached from historical towns, where medieval hanseatic foundations support baroque and art nouveau buildings, that become venues for cultural festivals during the summer. Families of storks happily give their seal of approval to the unspoilt nature, fresh air and clean water around them. In addition to Riga, its spectacular gateway, there are 6 other UNESCO world heritage listed sites. A

The Kaliningrad region is a great find for fans of military and historical reenactments. A lot of events which influenced the course of the world history took place there. There are battlegrounds of many wars that shook Europe. The land witnessed the Napoleonic wars, battles of the World War I and World War II. Still in the Kaliningrad region there are numerous unique fortifications: pillboxes, forts, defense walls. The fortifications are a natural backdrop for

Hotel Astoria occupies an unrivalled setting in St Isaac's Square at the hub of St Petersburg's city centre. Complementing the beauty and heritage of St Petersburg, the 169 rooms at Hotel Astoria are carefully furnished with comfort and tranquility in mind. Contemporary facilities share a harmonious space with elegant decor, luxurious marble bathrooms. Rocco Forte's Hotel Astoria is not only the ideal resting place for leisure visitors to this historic city. Business travelers are welcomed with

This art depository was inaugurated in 1979, to become Russia’s first and only Amber Museum. Located in the center of Kaliningrad on the Verkhneye Lake shore, it is housed in a fortress tower "Dona" dating from the mid-nineteenth century. The tower was built in 1853 in the Neo-Gothic style as a part of the city defense system – its construction was supervised by Ernst Ludwig von Aster, commander of the Engineering Corps and the person, who had engineered Konigsberg’s mighty