Riga

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Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: 56.946538
• Longitude: 24.10485

On Travellerspoint

• 7 Riga Apartments
• 3 Riga Guesthouses
• 27 Riga Hostels
• 26 Riga Hotels

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Introduction

Riga - Square

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Sitting on the wide and slow Daugava river in the heart of the Baltics, Riga has the feel of a city that is just coming in from "the cold" of communism. A pretty historic centre mixes a little uneasily with concrete municipal buildings and Soviet-designed transport.

For the visitor, facilities are 21st Century - good hostels and hotels, easy transport links, accessible attractions, tasty food and good, cheap beer.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Riga Square - This very charming public square is a great place to spend an afternoon.
• Freedom Monument - Is an inspiring monument in the center of Riga dedicated to the soldiers who died in the Latvian War of Independence from 1918 to 1920.
• Saint Peter's Church - Is a very tall church that was originally built in 1209. The view from the top of the tower gives excellent views of all of Riga.
• Latvian National Museum of Art - With over 52,000 pieces of art from the mid 18th century to the present this museum is an excellent place to visit. The museum is located at 10a K Valdemara Street and is open everyday, except tuesday, 11 am to 7 pm during from the summer (April to September), and 11 am to 5 pm during the winter (October to March).

Events and Festivals

Weather

Summers are warm, around 22 degrees during the day on average from June to August, and days above 30 are possible. Winters are cold with snowfall. Average maximum temperatures are around -5 degrees Celsius while nights average around -10 degrees. Occasionally, when the winds blow east from Siberia, temperatures can plummit way below -20 degrees. Precipitation is fairly even throughout the year, but winters and spring tend to be a bit drier. On average, there are between 10 and 15 wet days with around 50 mm of rain or snow a month.

Getting There

By Plane

Air Baltic is the national airline of Latvia and has flights to most countries in Europe.
It also has domestic services to and from Liepaya and Ventspils.
Other airlines, among others, serving Riga are KLM to Amsterdam, Lufthansa to Frankfurt and LOT to Warsaw.
Lowcost airline easyJet has budget flights to and from Berlin. Ryanair has more flights operating to several cities in Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as Stockholm and Milan.

By Train

Latvian Railway has services between Riga and all major cities like Ventspils and Liepaya, among others. International trains go to Vilinius and Moscow.

By Car

By Bus

Buses travel to and from Riga from almost anywhere in the country, including the major cities and more regional off the beaten track towns. Eurolines has buses to and from Vilnius and Tallinn in Estonia.

By Boat

Sweden

• Stockholm to Riga with Riga Sealine.

Germany

• Lisco Baltic Services between Riga and Lubeck.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

Rigassatiksme offers dozens of options of getting around Riga by tram, bus and trolleybus.

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

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