Which beautiful Baltic state should you visit first - Latvia or Lithuania?

With beautiful free spirits and cities and landscapes to match, these countries are ripe for discovery. But where will you go first? Our experts help you decide.

By Amy Cooper

Of all the lovely landmarks in Latvia, the Freedom Memorial in the capital Riga is perhaps the most uplifting. The city's central monument and its crowning female figure soar 42 metres high, symbolising the soul of a small, gutsy nation that shook off the shackles of its big, bullying neighbour, the former USSR. Right now, it's an especially cheering sight. Along with fellow Baltic states Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia inspired the free world by achieving independence in 1991 after years of dogged resistance. They did it in style, too, with song (the Singing Revolution) and a human chain of 2 million people joining hands across all three countries. The Baltics are ballsy, beautiful free spirits - and Latvia most of all.

Sandwiched between the other two on the Baltic Coast, the little republic fizzes with all the things totalitarians hate: music, culture, art, food, history, celebration and imagination.

Riga, the Baltics' largest capital, has the world's largest concentration of art nouveau architecture - some 1000 highly ornamented buildings erected in a surge of creativity around the turn of the 20th century.

Stretches like the famous Alberta Street are prettier than Paris, lined with decorative masterpieces. The most flamboyant edifices resemble the dreams of a delirious cakemaker - festooned with flourishes, peacocks, sphinxes, lions and giant faces. In Riga's cobbled old town, the clock winds back to the 13th century, with medieval gothic treasures like Riga Dome Cathedral, founded in 1211, and St Peter's Church, where you can climb inside the 72-metre spire to gaze out at Riga's enchanting skyline.

Bars buzz until the wee hours, and the restaurants are so good that Riga had its first Michelin Guide published this year.

Beyond the capital, there's the stunning Baltic coastline with its linen-white beaches, and the fairytale forests covering 54 per cent of the land, so pretty you expect unicorns among the bears, wolves and wild horses roaming the vast tracts of pristine national parklands.

More than 1000 palaces and hundreds of medieval castle ruins pepper the country; the oldest, Turaida Castle, dates to 1214 and lies within the Guaja National Park, where a maze of caves and grottos create exotic silhouettes in red and yellow sandstone. Roaming to Latvia's eastern region, Latgale, will reward you with the Mark Rothko Museum in the artist's birthplace, Daugavpils, inside a fortress that repelled Napoleon - another example of Latvian resilience. Nearby is the Aglona Bread Museum, a knead-to-dough experience of Latvia's traditional rye bread, and no less than four museums dedicated to smakovka, the national moonshine - a strong spirit for a nation with exactly that.

Under-touristed, decently priced and unfailingly friendly, Latvia is the best of the Baltics, and a beacon of hope.

By Mal Chenu

If you want to grab life by the Baltics, a trip to Lithuania is the way to go. Contrary to popular belief, Lithuania is not where those little batteries come from. It is a country of diverse beauty, soaring culture and a layered history of tragedy and triumph.

In 1990, gutsy little Lithuania became the first Soviet-occupied state to declare independence. It survived a Soviet naval blockade and fought off an attempted Soviet coup. In fairness, Latvia did all this too, and both brave, bullied Baltics were admitted to NATO in 2004, along with their northern mate, Estonia. You might not think there's a helluva difference between Lithuania and Latvia, and you'd be right. They share similar geographies, languages, cultures and, along with the rest of the civilised world, anxiety about Putin's next expansionary outrage. It is the "one per cent-ers" that make Lithuania the better Baltic. It is a full one per cent bigger than Latvia and a full one degree warmer in summer.

Vilnius is a gorgeous oasis, with almost half the capital city covered by parks, public squares and forests, while the winding streets of the lovingly preserved medieval Old Town is a World Heritage site combo of Gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical architecture and churches.

The Old Town is centred on Cathedral Square, where the 700-year-old Gediminas Tower - the icon of the city - is a must-photograph and must-climb. Baroque St Casimir's Chapel is a cupola-topped, coloured marble masterpiece. Vilnius Cathedral, which the classy Soviets used as a warehouse, is filled with frescoes, artworks and crypts, one of which belongs to Grand Duke Vytautas the Great. No, I haven't heard of him either but he was both grand and great, so...

This part of the world is home to about 90 per cent of the world's amber. The beaches are speckled with it and the Amber Museum in Kraziai covers the formation of the fossilised tree resin, from its early use in Neolithic times to the striking jewellery of today. Magnifying glasses zoom in on ancient insects preserved in the amber, the idea behind Jurassic Park and its endless sequels.

The wetlands of Nemunas Delta Regional Park are a twitcher's delight with 300 bird species pausing here to breed every year.

Fascinating Lithuania is the Baltic box you should tick. And more importantly, you'll have been somewhere none of your mates have.