Latvia

July 2018: We rented a car in Tallinn, and started our journey down to Latvia, before going on to Lithuania, then back up. The drive from Tallinn to Riga is about 4-5 hours. We found the roads in good condition and directions easy to follow. However, most of the highways are one lane going each way, with a big shoulder, therefore all cars would basically drive on the shoulder, and fast cars would race down the middle of the road. It was very strange and quite uncomfortable, but that was the norm. We spent 4 nights in Riga, with a day trip to Jurmala, and then on the way back up from Lithuania, we stopped in Sigulda for two nights. All three cities are very different, so scroll down for more info!

highlights

. Prices . Old Town . Art Nouveau . Culture . Silgulda . Markets

lowlights

. KGB Museum . Humidity/random downpours .

riga

So we really struggled getting to our hotel in Riga. It was just on the edge of the Old Town, and a bit tricky to get to (there’s literally one way to get into it, and if you miss the turn, you’re screwed. Needless to say, we missed the turn…maybe more than once). Driving through parts of Old Town is a nightmare, and going around the whole thing takes forever. But anyways, we made it, with only 1 or 2 screaming matches in the car. We stayed at the Hotel Avalon, which was in a great location, included breakfast, and was a bit fancier than most places we’ve stayed at. But still a decent price, and they had air conditioning, which was really nice, as it was incredibly hot and humid the whole time we were there…and for the entire month-long trip. Riga is a really cool city. The Old Town is quite large and easy to spend multiple days walking around it, but we also got out of the Old Town and saw some really interesting things, from hipster breweries, to Art Nouveau buildings, and giant markets in airplane hangars.

old town

Riga’s Old Town felt large and unique. There are multiple little squares to enjoy a coffee or drink, very cute walking streets, and lots of walking tours you can take advantage of. In one of the larger squares, we were lucky enough to be there when the United Buddy Bears were displayed. These are 2 meter tall bears, hand painted by artists from each UN country. St. Peter’s Tower gives great views of Riga. It is 9 Euros to go up, and there is an elevator that goes every 10 minutes. The observation deck is small, but again, the views are great. I’d get there early, as the lines can be pretty long. We didn’t go on a walking tour, but we read about parts of the Old Town to see, and we searched out the Three Brothers, which are 3 neighbouring houses, each built in a different century (15th, 16th, 17th). In another square, you will find the House of the Blackheads, which was built as a venue for meetings, banquets, etc… It was destroyed in WW2, then rebuilt. Near St. Peter’s Church, you can find the Bremen Town Musicians, which is a sculpture based on a Brother’s Grimm tale of 4 animals standing on top of each other, looking through the Iron Curtain. We really enjoyed wandering the Old Town, and there’s lots to see, do, and eat! We ate and drank at Easy Wine, which is a self-serve wine bar. You load money onto a card, then use the card to pick and choose and pour different wines. Very cool idea! We also tried the local alcohol, called Black Balsam. Trevor loved it, not so much for Lisa. We found a vegan restaurant called the Fat Pumpkin (might be listed at the Green Pumpkin on google), which was delicious!

 outside old town

Riga’s got a lot more to offer than the Old Town, so definitely explore other neighbourhoods if you’ve got the time. Across the railway tracks are 4 airplane hangars that make up Riga Central Market. Each hangar has a different type of market (vegetable, meat, fish, dairy), and there are places to eat and drink in each. Outside of the pavilions, there is an outdoor farmer’s market, flower market, and much more. It is one of the largest markets in Eastern Europe, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I highly recommend taking a walk through here on your trip.

In Riga’s Central District, there are a few streets with incredible Art Nouveau architecture. So if you’re into this style of architecture, you will love Riga. This Central District is also on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We recommend Albert Street and Elizabeth Street, although there are many others worth seeing as well.

We attempted a visit to the KGB Museum (also called the Corner House, or the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia), which is also in the Central District of Riga. It was about a 20 minute walk from the Old Town. We looked up the times for the English tours online, but when we got there, those times were not correct, and we didn’t have time to go back another day. So we unfortunately did not get to go on a guided tour, which I’ve heard is great. We were allowed to walk through the main floor, which had a lot of the history and facts on the occupation of Latvia. I would definitely try and get a tour if we were to go to Riga again. So I recommend it, but give yourself extra time, as those times on the website were unclear. I believe it’s 10 Euros for the tour.

Beer time! Maybe a 15 minute walk further into the Central District is a brewery called Labietis. We came upon this brewery while touring around Riga Central Market. We tested a few in the market hall, and then decided to find the location of the brewery. They have a great selection of beer, and specialize in infusing local herbs and berries into their beer. They’ve got a really cool logo too! The brewery is not easy to find (I believe we asked someone when we were in the general area), and we had to walk into a parking lot of a building in a park to get to it. But it was worth it! On the way we stopped at a craft beer bar called Taka, which had a lot of great selections as well. If you’re not a fan of walking that far out of the main part of Riga (the brewery was pretty far), there are plenty of buses that go out there as well.

jurmala

From Riga, we took a day trip to the beach town of Jurmala. It took approximately 35 minutes by train to get to the Majori station in Jurmala, and for the round-trip it was about 3 Euros. Once you get off the train, there is a pretty walking street through the town, with many cafes, restaurants, bars, shops, etc…However, we first wanted to check out the beach, so we did not take the walking street, but kept walking towards the water until we found the beach. It was about a 10 minute walk to the giant bronze turtle statue, and then we took a walk down the beach. There are many little bars along the large beach, as well as lots of people and music. From the beach, we walked up to Dzintari Park, which had an observation tower, as well as an adventure park (which Trevor became obsessed with once he discovered it…we later went to the one in Sigulda). It was a pretty park to walk around, well-groomed, lots of activities for kids, and lots of ice cream carts. We walked through the park, then found the walking street. The restaurants at this time were very busy, as there was a World Cup game starting right away, so we didn’t get to check out many restaurants. But we found a delicious Thai restaurant that wasn’t busy (they had no TV), so we ate there, then checked out the game while walking down the street after dinner. Overall it was a great day, and we felt like we didn’t need to spend more than a day in Jurmala. However, if you are interested in having a couple of beach days to relax in between your travels, Jurmala is a great stop. It’s a bit busy, but there are lots of hotels around to park yourself for a few days of beach time (not sure of the cost).

sigulda

Sigulda is the perfect town for when you need a break from the big cities and want to get into a bit of nature. We stopped here on our way back from Lithuania, before heading up to Estonia at the end of our Baltics adventure. It’s not far from Riga, so you could visit for a day, but we enjoyed spending a couple of nights here. We stayed at an apartment we found through booking.com, which was modern inside, right beside a park, and within walking distance to the city centre, train station, etc…Sigulda is part of Gauja National Park, and within the park you will find medieval castles, plus a ton of adventure activities. On our first evening, we drove up to Turaida Castle. If you don’t have a car, there are buses that go up to it as well. On our way back from the castle we stopped at Gutman’s Cave. We didn’t spend too long here, but it was neat to see. The next afternoon we rented bikes and cruised around the National Park. There are endless trails, with some gorgeous views, and we found ourselves mostly alone. The only issue was Trevor’s bike chain kept coming off, so we had a few frustrating stops. We also visited Tarzan Adventure Park (Trevor insisted ever since seeing one in Jurmala…even though he’s terrified of heights). There are many different options including zip lines and treetop obstacle courses. We just decided to do the zipline (Lisa panicked on the first one, as you go through it alone after completing a short training course at ground level). But it ended up being pretty fun! Not recommended if you are afraid of heights, or need assurance that you hooked yourself in properly.

Other adventure activities include a bungee jump from a cable car going across the Gauja River, and there are many canoe and kayak tours down the river (some of them overnight trips). We looked into renting a canoe or kayak, but I think you have to join a tour, and we didn’t have time for that. Other than that, there are endless hiking trails, as easy or challenging as you like. We definitely could have stayed a couple of extra days to do some of these other activities. Sigulda is also home to one of the best bobsled tracks in Eastern Europe. Many teams train here, and lots of events are hosted here. We visited the track and got to wander around it, and in the winter you can buy tickets to actually go down it!

Sigulda also has some great food options. Two restaurants we really enjoyed were Misters Biskvits; very hard to get a table, but the food was delicious, and they have some great looking desserts. We also loved Doma, which is also very popular and hard to get a table, but they’ve got some great outdoor seating, or some people just parked it on the grass. We didn’t try much of their food, but we heard the burgers are amazing. And they had some great drinks.