Riga, Latvia — tips from a local
If you are planning on visiting Riga in this last month of summer or you have a friend or relative coming to visit, here are some useful tips and suggestions from a local — enjoy!
WHAT TO SEE
Riga Old Town — just wonder around the beautiful small streets of Old Riga! Some of the main sights: Freedom Monument, Parks Bastion Hill and Latvian National Opera, The House of the Black Heads, Dome square, Saint Peter’s Church (you can also visit the top of the tower — great view!)
Riga Art Nouveau — Alberta street & most popular building on Elizabetes street 10, it is surrounded with several restaurants. More about Art Nouveau in Riga here.
Riga Central Market — on the way to the market you will see some construction works for biggest project in Baltics “Rail Baltica” that will allow you to travel to Riga and other Baltic cities by train in few years. In central market there is also local craft beer place “Labietis” and popular fish restaurant “Siļķītes un Dillītes”.
ACTIVITIES
Boat ride in river Daugava — great way to see different side of Riga! You will see great old town views, Riga Castle, other side of Daugava with our national pride–National Library building called Castle of Light, Daugava’s islands, bridges, TV tower, port area / industrial Riga, soviet block buildings etc.
Museums (if you like art or it is raining):
– Latvian National Museum of Art
– Art Museum Rīgas Birža
– Riga Art Nouveau Centre
RESTAURANTS/BARS/CAFES
Andalūzijas Suns / Cydonia — located in very nice historical quarter Berga Bazārs, where are various restarurants, cafes, shops etc.
Mañana — nice vibe, focus on Mexican food and drinks
Space falafel — great Israeli/Middle eastern cuisine and nice interior
Herbary — located on the top of the shopping center Galleria Riga — very nice and cozy place for cocktails and food, great views as well
This Place Doesn’t Need A Name — great breakfast place, has several locations
Mr Fox — great breakfast place
Mīkla bakery — great pastries, bread and coffee, very nice quarter with several restaurants
More hip areas (20min walk from the city center):
Zefīrs — great beer, cocktails and amazing pizzas (very lively place on sunny days/evenings) + Paisums — next to Zefīrs, recently opened wine & oyster place. Located in upcoming “Sporta 2 quarter” with bars, cafes, street art, art gallery, theater etc.
Tallinas kvartāls — full of street art and various cafes, street food, bars etc.
K.K. fon Stricka villa / Piens / M/Darbnīca / Labietis — nice quarter with various bars and live concerts in the evenings
If you want to taste and experience very local food, go to local cafeteria “Lido” — there are several places, but I recommend “Lido Vērmanītis” in city center or “Lido Alus sēta” in old town.
I also recommend to search for less popular cuisines (in Europe and elsewhere) — Georgian, Armenian, Uzbeki etc.
WHAT TO TASTE
Cold beetroot sup — Warning! It is pink, but don’t be afraid :) You can get it in “Lido” and other local places during the summer season.
Black bread / rye bread — it is very typical for the region. And it goes together with could soup :) And it is great souvenir as well!
Garlic bread — snack that is made with the same black bread and it goes together with beer very well :)
LOCAL COFFEE ROASTERS
Kalve coffee & Rocket bean roastery — both places has several locations and they are very nice and cozy
COCKTAILS
Gimlet — very local & nordic
LOCAL CRAFT BEER BARS/BREWERIES
Labietis — located in nice quarter surrounded with other places mentioned before
Miezis & Kompānija — in old town
Nurme Bar — nice and cozy bar in upcoming neighbourhood Avoti, there is also great (and very small) restaurant next to it — Boar BBQ
Alķīmiķis — in city center, food as well, nice interior
NIGHTLIFE
Andrejostas kvartāls (AOK) — huge bar (more like festival area) next to river Daugava in industrial part of Riga, during night they have concerts and different kind of shows and DJ sets, but you can also go during the day or evening for the sunset, they have also food (pizzas, snacks etc.)
In Andrejsala, which is industrial/harbour part of Riga, there are several clubs, restaurants, bars that are usually most visited during the evening/night, nice sunset views.
OUTSIDE CITY CENTER
Ķīpsala — one of the neighbourhoods worth exploring and close to the city centre, with renovated wooden houses & great views to Old Riga. You can walk by feet, you just need to cross Vanšu bridge and you are basically there. “Fabrika” restaurant is very nice restaurant in the area, great brunch as well (have to have reservation definitely).
Āgenskalna market — freshly renovated market building with market, local shops, cafes, bars. Great place to visit if you want to explore other side of Daugava — you can rent a bike or scooter or go by tram, on the way you will see National Library building as well.
Mežaparks — one of the richest neighbourhoods in Riga with typical wooden architecture + huge forest/park, Zoo, recently renovated outdoor concert venue, lake etc. You can get there by tram.
OUTSIDE RIGA
Trail “Lielais Ķemeru tīrelis” in Ķemeri National Park — we have a lot of swamps in Latvia and we have made them worth visiting :) If you have a chance to rent a car or book a tour, go to this nature park and experience very typical scenery in Baltics.
It is also close to resort town Jūrmala which is located next to the seaside — Baltic sea coast. You can go to Jūrmala also by train.
One of the nearest and nicest cities close to Riga is Sigulda. It is part of Gauja National Park and has a lot of hiking trails and nice views.
More on the map here.
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PRACTICAL INFO
Taxi apps
Bolt
Forus
Car sharing
Carguru
Fiqsy
Citybee
(not sure if all of them are available for tourists, but CarGuru should work for sure)
Electric scooters
Bolt (the same as taxi app)
(there are others as well, but this is most popular and on every corner)
Bicycle rentals
Nextbike
Skok (electrical)
Roller sharing
Skok
Food delivery
Wolt
Bolt food
Tipping culture
Tipping is considered polite, but definitely not mandatory. Usual tips are around 5–10%
