Daugavpils

Introduction

Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia with around 100,000 people living here. There is a high Russian speaking population, making up about 50% or the inhabitants. The name Daugavpils is taken from the Daugava river that it runs by the city, with 'pils' in Latvian meaning castle. Together the name means Daugava Castle. Aptly, you will see on its coat of arms a castle and a flowing river. Historically, Daugavpils was a very important city with traders passing through from Russia to the Baltic and back again. Today much of its industry is run down and there is a sense of a post soviet hang up which cities like Riga have been able to shake off. It is for sure, one place many visitors miss out on their travels and for this reason alone it is a good place to visit.

Getting There

By Train

Latvian Railways has services to/from Daugavpils. There are also a few other options to check timetables, prices etc, including the Latvian Passenger Trains website and the excellent 1188.lv website.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Latvijas Pasts is the national postal service of the country and has relatively fast, affordable and reliable services. They have both mail and express mail service, domestically and internationally. For sending letters, postcards and parcels internationally, it is easy to check prices at their post tarrifs. Prices for international mail start at around 0.45L for postcards within Europe, 0.50L outside Europe, stamps for letters are slightly more expensive. It usually takes at least several days up to a week within Europe, but around 10 days to North America for example. Domestic services are faster of course, usually within 2 days. Post offices are generally open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday, and 9:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday, though large central post offices might keep slightly longer hours and can be open on Sunday sometimes. Latvian post boxes are colored yellow, and postage stamps can be bought in post offices or news-stands (kiosks). Specialized package services are provided as well by companies like DHL and UPS, among others.