Latvia · Riga
Plan your Riga trip
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01Your itinerary
02Where to stay
Old Town (Vecrīga)
Best for first-timers and short staysThe medieval core, packed with restaurants, bars and the headline sights within a ten-minute walk of almost anywhere inside it. Atmospheric but the busiest and noisiest part of the city at night.
A boutique hotel on a quiet Old Town side street
Look a block or two off the main squares to keep the location without the late-night bar noise.
€€€A budget guesthouse near St. Peter's Church
Central and walkable, with rates well below the squares directly on Town Hall Square.
€Art Nouveau district (Centrs)
Best for a calmer base with easy walking to everythingThe elegant, tree-lined streets north of the park ring, quieter than Old Town at night, with the district's famous facades as your everyday backdrop and the Old Town a short walk away.
A design-led hotel near Elizabetes iela
Puts the Art Nouveau quarter's best streets on your doorstep, with the Old Town ten minutes away on foot.
€€€Āgenskalns
Best for longer stays and a more local feelA quieter wooden-house district across the river, with its own café culture and a noticeably more residential, local pace than the centre.
A neighbourhood apartment stay near Kalnciema Quarter
A short tram ride from Old Town, with better value and a genuinely local neighbourhood on your doorstep.
€€Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.
03Tickets & tours
Art Nouveau district (Alberta iela)
The largest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture on earth, entire streets of sculpted faces, peacocks and geometric ornament, much of it…
Tip Walk Alberta iela slowly and look up constantly; the best details are two and three storeys above street level and easy to miss at a glance.
House of the Blackheads
A dazzling stepped-gable guild hall on Town Hall Square, originally built in 1334 for unmarried merchants, destroyed in WWII and rebuilt from scratch…
Tip Come at dusk when the facade is lit — it is one of the most photographed buildings in the Baltics for good reason.
St. Peter's Church
A soaring Gothic brick church whose 123-metre spire has collapsed and been rebuilt three times across its history; a lift to the observation deck…
Tip Go up on a clear afternoon for the light on the terracotta rooftops — the view is worth prioritising over several ground-level sights.
Central Market (Centrāltirgus)
One of the largest and oldest markets in Europe, housed in five former Zeppelin hangars, where smoked fish, rye bread, pickles and honey are sold to…
Tip Go on a weekday morning for the least crowded, most authentic version, and try the smoked sprats straight from a stall.
Riga Cathedral & Dome Square
The largest medieval church in the Baltics, its origins dating to 1211, ringing Riga's central square with cafés and street performers, and home to…
Tip Check for an organ concert during your visit — the acoustics inside the cathedral are genuinely exceptional.
Bastejkalns Park & the canal
A green ring following the line of the city's demolished medieval fortifications, with a canal you can cross by small boat in summer, connecting the…
Tip Take the short canal boat trip in summer for a different, low-effort angle on the park and the Freedom Monument.
Freedom Monument
A 42-metre granite and copper monument to Latvia's independence, topped by a bronze figure locals call 'Milda,' and a genuine site of national pride…
Tip Time a visit to the top of the hour to see the changing of the guard, a brief but well-attended local ritual.
Latvian National Museum of Art
A grand early-20th-century building holding the country's best collection of Latvian painting, recently and thoughtfully renovated, with a permanent…
Tip Budget an hour and a half; the top-floor 20th-century Latvian collection is the highlight for most first-time visitors.
Day trips from Riga
Jūrmala
A string of Baltic Sea beach towns twenty to forty minutes away by train, with wide white-sand beaches, wooden Art Nouveau summer villas, and a…
Day tripSigulda & Gauja National Park
An hour by train into Latvia's 'Switzerland' — forested river valleys, medieval castle ruins, and a cable car across the Gauja gorge, an easy full…
Day tripRundāle Palace
A two-hour drive or bus to a Baroque palace often called the 'Versailles of Latvia,' designed by the same architect behind the Winter Palace in St.
Day tripEverything to do in Riga
Skip-the-line tickets, guided tours and day trips, all in one place on Booking.com.
04Getting there & around
Getting around
The Old Town and the Art Nouveau district are both entirely walkable and best explored on foot — the two sit close enough together that most visitors never need transit for the historic core at all.
Flights
Compare fares into Riga and pick dates that suit the days you planned.
Airport transfers
Book a private or shared ride from the airport so the first evening starts at your door, not at a ticket queue.
Car hire from Riga
Only worth it for day trips beyond the city — in town, the plan above works on foot and public transport.
Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.