Central / Eastern Europe Travel Plans 08

So after visiting PL last summer I cannot wait to stop by again! I was thinking about the following itinerary this summer and was wondering if anyone could give some suggestions or recommendations.

Fly from NYC to Tallinn, Estonia (2-3 nights)
Bus from Tallinn to Riga (2-3 Nights)
Bus from Riga to Vilnius (2 Nights)
Vilnius to Warsaw (3 Nights) (Not sure the best way to do this - I see the bus is almost 9 hours which is too long for me!)
Warsaw to Prague (3-4 Nights)
Prague to NYC

I would like to visit Gdansk/Tri-City but not sure how to fit that in on this trip unless there is an efficient way to get from Vilnius to Gdansk

I am still open with my planning though - I have also considered flying from Vilnius to Prague and then Prague to Warsaw and Warsaw to NYC. Any help is greatly appreciated!

There is a regular bus service from Vilnius to Gdansk. I took it once, and from memory it was about 6 hours and runs daily. Like the Vilnius-Warsaw bus, it is an overnight one, and so not ideal. They tend to arrive very early in the morning (before 5am), so you almost need accommodation sorted for that night so you can go and crash as soon as you arrive. I also took the Warsaw-Tallinn bus, but never again. It broke down somewhere in Estonia, and all us passengers were just left to fend for ourselvers and find another way to get to Tallinn. You can find bus information on www.eurolinespolska.pl
I am actually going to Vilnius and Minsk for the May long weekend. This time I am flying from Warsaw to Vilnius. It's not cheap with LOT, but preferable to spending a couple of nights on the bus.

Vilnuis and Warsaw aren't particularly nice.
Why just Capitals?

I disagree - Warsaw might not be as classically pretty as Krakow for instance, however I love it as it feels real. There are plenty of things to see and do, and a great nightlife too.

Some of the Polish language courses based in Warsaw give me more confidence than the ones in Krakow (jagiellonian excluded) but ALL the Poles I know have gone out of their way to dissuade me from going.
'Expensive and anonymous modern European city' is the impression I'v been left with but I'd be happy to rethink this.

If, however, you mean 'real' like London (real chance of being stabbed by a crackhead) it's really not my type of place.

I actually loved Warsaw when I went last year and really enjoyed the nightlife and some of the shopping. While we did also really enjoyed Warsaw we were a little turned off by the throngs of tourists.