The biggest city of the three Baltic states and, as the legend says, the birthplace of the Christmas tree. Riga’s beautiful old town, Central Market, and the Jūrmala beach are just some of the reasons why Riga is worth visiting. Latvia’s capital is a city with a very diverse history that had many different rulers throughout the years. To make your Riga trip amazing I have made a list of 13 best things you can do!
Table of contents
Getting to Riga
Since Riga International Airport offers Ryanair flights, getting to Riga shouldn’t be expensive. To give you an insight, a return ticket from Krakow, Poland to Riga, Latvia, costs only 16 EUR. This is such a good deal that even if you were not planning on visiting Latvia, now you will have to! From the Riga airport, you can take bus number 22 to the centre for around 2 EUR.
Best time to visit Riga, Latvia
Since Riga lies in the Northern Europe, you have to be prepared if you will be visiting during the winter months. The weather in Riga is often below zero, which means very thick jackets and more than just a few layers of clothes. I came to Riga at the end of March. During our 4 day stay, the weather went from sunny and relatively warm to very windy and cold in just one day. The locals told us that the best time to visit is in the summer months. Especially at the end of June because of the Midsummer Festival, celebrated on the 23rd of June. Midsummer Eve, or Ligo, is a public holiday and the summer solstice. On this day, women wear wreaths made of flowers and men ones of leaves. The holiday is celebrated with singing, dancing, eating, and drinking.
If you are looking to travel outside of the summer months, I would say that the best time to visit Riga is from April to October. Those are the warmest months in this part of Europe, that will allow you to explore and pack light.
Where to stay in Riga
Since the old town of Riga is the most beautiful, I would highly suggest finding accommodation in the city centre. For our three-night stay, we chose the Blue Bird capsule hostel located in the centre of Old Riga next to the Riga Cathedral. This hostel has a perfect location and is situated inside a beautiful building. Since the hostel has a kitchen, you can prepare some of your meals or hang out and meet people. However if hostels are not your thing, some other options are renting an apartment or booking a hotel room. Since the medieval centre is not that big, you don’t have to worry about public transport to get to the main attractions.
13 Things to do in Riga
1. Explore the former Riga Ghetto at Alternative Riga Free Tour
The best thing you can do in a new place is take a free tour. Sometimes we enjoy a destination without actually getting to know the history behind it and the importance of its buildings. That is why we decided to go on two free tours. The first was the Alternative Riga Free Tour. The Alternative Tour talks about the Central Market, Stalin’s “birthday cake” or the most famous soviet skyscrapers, the former ghetto area of Riga, the Freedom Monument, and many more interesting stories. Most of these locations are found on the opposite side of Daugava river from the Old Riga.
This tour takes around 2.30h, during which you will hear a lot about the city’s history but also about the history of Latvia. Since Latvia had many rulers and one of them being the Soviet Union, this tour will talk more about it. If you are interested in the soviet rule in Latvia, you can go to the The KGB Building, also known as The Corner House.
2. Learn about history at Old Riga Free Tour
On our second day in Riga, we went on the Old Riga Free Tour, which revolves around the old medieval part. This tour takes around 1.45h. You will hear about many different rulers and occupations from the Germans, the Poles, the Swedes, and the Russians. You will also hear the story of the origin of the Christmas tree and find out when the country received its freedom and independence.
3. Go back in time at House of the Blackheads
House of the Blackheads is a stunning museum and building with a rich history dating back to the 14th century. This museum is situated on the Town Hall Square. Its beautiful decor will bring you back in time at least for a day. To see the inside of the building, you will have to buy a ticket. The ticket price for students is 4 EUR. The art on the walls and the richness of its rooms is something you can find only in museums these days. Personally, the House of the Blackheads was my favourite museum on our trip!
4. Try local food in Riga Central Market
Riga Central Market is the biggest bazaar and market in Europe situated in five German Zeppelin hangars from the 20th century. Today this market is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as well as Old Riga. This is a cheap shopping spot with a grand variety of foods and souvenirs. You can also book a tour of the Central Market and sample some food!
5. Learn about architecture at Riga Art Nouveau Center
Riga Art Nouveau Center is a museum dedicated to the Art Nouveau architecture. The museum offers an apartment display to show a perfect example of what this type of art represents. You can even play dress-up and design and print your own Art Nouveau building, to take home as a souvenir. Since Riga is world famous for its Art Nouveau architecture from the early 20th century, it’s always fun to learn more about it. In the museum you will find a list of buildings throughout the city that were built in the Art Nouveau style.
6. Visit Jūrmala beach and the Baltic sea
Jūrmala beach is definitely a place worth visiting while in Riga or Latvia in general. This sandy beach in Riga is 33km long and overlooks the Baltic sea. Since we decided to explore it on the windiest day ever, this beach will forever stay in our memory! And so will the sand that we had on and in all parts of our body! If you would like to learn more about this place you can book a Half Day Jurmala Tour. If you will be staying for at least 3 days, this beach is a must see. You can tick Baltic sea from your bucket list! During the summer, this is the place where Latvians come and enjoy the nice weather.
7. Enjoy the view from the Latvian Academy of Sciences
Latvian Academy of Sciences, or as I already mentioned, Stalin’s birthday cake, is a Latvian skyscraper that looks a lot like the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. The building got its nickname since it was supposed to be a gift for Stalin’s 80th birthday, build in the time of the Russian occupation. But you will hear more about it on the Alternative Riga Free Tour. On the top of the building, there is an observation deck from where you can see a view of the whole city.
8. Enjoy a cocktail at Skyline bar Riga
The Skyline bar is located in the Radisson Blue Hotel on the very top. The panoramic elevator will bring you to a stunning view of the city and the river that you can enjoy while sipping one of the many cocktails on the menu. Don’t froget to go to the bathroom while there since the view is breathtaking! Don’t worry, to enter the bar you don’t have to be a guest.
9. Explore Old Town Riga
The old town of Riga offers several spots that you can visit such as the Three Brothers, Riga Cathedral, Riga Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral, Latvian National Opera, Latvian National Museum of Art, The Swedish Gate, the Freedom Monument, Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the Cat House, and more simply beautiful buildings. Since the medieval Riga is on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the whole capital is a large historic site.
Even if you decide only to walk down the oldest medieval streets, you’ll have plenty of popular sights and statues to look at. But also many museums to enjoy. If you find yourself on the other side of Daugava river, you can go to the National Library of Latvia also known as the Castle of Light.
10. Climb St. Peter’s Church tower
For a view of Riga’s city centre, you can climb up St. Peter’s Church, the tallest church in Riga. From its tower, you can see the red roofs of Old Town, the modern part of the city, the Daugava River and its port, and the Riga Bay. In 1997 St Peter’s Church was listed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The price for adults is 9 EUR. If you would like to see a higher view you can climb up the “Stalin’s birthday cake” or the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
11. Admire the Holy Trinity Church
On our way to the airport, we stopped by to see the beautiful pink Holy Trinity Church. Since there was a mass, we did not enter, but it is worth a visit even if just from the outside. Since there is not much to do near it, I would suggest visiting it on your way to the airport if possible.
12. Go on a Beer bike tour
Cool activity to do if you are visiting Riga with a group of friends is the Beer or Cider bike tour. We have seen some people do it, and since they were pretty happy, I would say it was fun! How could drinking and biking around with your friends be boring anyway! This is a great activity for a break between museums.
13. Try Riga’s Black Balsam
Black Balsam is a traditional Latvian alcoholic beverage you must taste while in Riga. The Black Balsam was created by a pharmacist in the 18th century and was sold only in pharmacies. Today the Black Balsam is a national beverage with a bitter taste and 24 natural ingredients. We tried the black currant taste, and it reminded me of the Croatian blueberry liqueur. The original drink has 45% alcohol, while the other flavors have 30%.
Where to eat in Riga
A local recommendation for a place to eat in Riga was Lido. Since there was one just next to our Blue Bird Hostel, we decided to go and try it. The food was traditional and delicious. In Lido you can get a meal for around 10 EUR. We liked it so much that we decided to go there more than once. Since Lido has many locations, you can find one closest to you. If you are traveling on a budget like us, this is a great spot to eat nutritious food for a good price. At the entrance, you grab a tray, choose your food, and pay at the end.
Some restaurants that have great reviews and are not as expensive are Garage, Restaurant Domini Canes, and Pētergailis. City center offers many restaurants and cafes so it will be easy to find one that suits your wishes.
Riga nightclubs & bars
Even though we spent three nights in Riga, we went out only once. We were recommended by locals to go to Rock Cafe Riga so we decided to try it. In the basement of the bar you can find a karaoke room, two pool tables and a bar. On the ground level there is a bar and you can order food but only until a specific hour which we unfortunately missed so we didn’t have the chance to try it. On the first level there is another bar and a room where they have live performances. We spent most of our time in the basement and enjoying the karaoke & playing pool. If you are looking for a fun place to go out with friends I would recommend it.
The second recommendation was the Folkklubs ALA pagrabs which we unfortunately didn’t visit. It is an underground Latvian pub with live music in an ancient wine cellar. This kind of a bar is the perfect place to go to if you want to experience the Riga nightlife. Another karaoke bar that I found with pretty good reviews is the Friends club. Throughout the old town we saw some smaller bars that had karaoke nights which is always fun even if you are not planning to sing.
Price of beer in a bar in Riga
The price of beer in a bar in Riga depends on the location of a bar. If you will be going to a bar in Old Riga the prices will be a bit higher since it is a touristic area. Therefore the price of a 0,5l beer can be from 3 – 5 EUR. However if you want to drink a beer with locals you will have to head to Central Riga where the price of beer is 2,50 – 4 EUR.
SAVE TO NOTES!
- Explore the former Riga Ghetto at Alternative Riga Free Tour
- Learn about history at Old Riga Free Tour
- Go back in time at House of the Black Heads
- Try local food in Riga Central Market
- Enjoy architecture at Riga Art Nouveau Center
- Visit Jūrmala beach and the Baltic sea
- Enjoy the view from the Latvian Academy of Sciences
- Enjoy a cocktail at Skyline bar Riga
- Explore Old Town Riga
- Climb St. Peter’s Church
- Admire the Holy Trinity Church
- Go on a Beer bike tour
- Try Riga’s Black Balsam
ENJOY YOUR TRIP TO RIGA!
I hope you liked my list of best things to do in Riga!
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