RIGA · LATVIA
Spires, red roofs, and the road out of Riga.
Riga's Old Town and Art Nouveau streets, plus the day trips that fan out from it: the Gauja valley castles, Rundale Palace, the Hill of Crosses and the bog boardwalks of Kemeri.
Only in Latvia
Three things Latvia does like nowhere else.
Plenty of European capitals have a handsome old town. These three are Latvia's alone: the richest Art Nouveau quarter on the continent, a hillside buried under a hundred thousand crosses, and a forested river gorge stacked with castles. Plan the trip around them.
In the city
Riga’s Art Nouveau Quarter
Riga has the densest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture anywhere in the world. Whole streets of it, Alberta iela above all, where every facade carries sculpted faces, peacocks and screaming masks. A walking tour reads the details you would otherwise stride straight past.
- 1 Riga Old Town walking tour
- 2 Best of Riga Walking Tour – Highlights and Hidden Gems
- 3 Riga Old Town Walking Tour in a Small Group
Across the border
The Hill of Crosses
An hour or so past the Lithuanian border, a low hill carries well over a hundred thousand crosses, left by pilgrims since the 1800s and added to every single day. Soviet authorities bulldozed it more than once. It came back every time. Most Riga operators pair it with Rundale Palace on the way.
- 1 2 countries! Hill of Crosses, Rundale Palace and Bauska castle
- 2 From Riga: Hill of Crosses & Jelgava Highlights
- 3 5,5 Hour Small Group Tour to Hill of Crosses from Riga
Up the river
The Gauja Valley Castles
An hour east of Riga the Gauja River cuts a forested gorge that Latvians call their Switzerland. Turaida’s red-brick castle, the ruins at Sigulda and the old town of Cesis sit along it, linked by a cable car over the valley and trails past sandstone caves.
- 1 Private Full-Day Trip to Turaida, Sigulda, and Cesis
- 2 Full-Day Private Trip to Cesis, Sigulda and Turaida from Riga
- 3 From Riga: Sigulda & Turaida Legends Group Tour
Book this first
The one most travellers book first.
Whatever else you plan in Riga, this is the one that fills up. Start here, then build the rest of the days around it.
The standouts
Latvia's Most Popular Tours
Old Town walks, the Central Market, the Hill of Crosses, husky teams in the forest. The trips travellers book before anything else.
Where to go
Pick a region, build a day.
Riga for the Old Town and the markets. Jurmala for the Baltic beach. The Gauja valley for castles and forest. Rundale for the palace. The Hill of Crosses for the day across the border.
By type
Or pick the kind of day you want.
A walking tour for the history. A bike or canal cruise to cover ground. Husky sledding when the lakes freeze, a pub crawl when they don't, and food tours through the market halls.
Out of the city
The day trips worth leaving Riga for.
Baroque palaces, ruined castles, a hillside of crosses and boardwalks over the bogs, all within a morning's drive. These three are the ones we'd clear a whole day for.
After the day-trippers leave
Riga, once the sun goes down.
Old Town bars, a shot of Black Balsam, and pub crawls that know which doors to knock on. Three nights out we'd happily run again.
Off the guidebook
The wilder side of a Baltic trip.
Husky teams across the snow, a Soviet-era rifle on a range, two wheels along the river. If you want a day that isn't another old town, start with these three.
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