Welcome to Latvia, an antidote to overtourism

Honestly, the three I run: Rundāle Palace with Bauska Castle and a working brewery to the south, Sigulda and Cēsis through the Gauja valley to the northeast, and the Ķemeri bog walk at sunrise with a slow pass through Jūrmala’s wooden villas on the way home. Rundāle is the big set-piece day. Sigulda is the forest-and-castles day. Ķemeri is the one you tell people about when you get home. If you only have time for one, tell me what kind of traveller you are and I’ll tell you which.

Three full days is the sweet spot. One day for the Old Town and the Art Nouveau district on foot, one day for a proper excursion out of the city (the real Latvia starts at the ring road), and one day with no plan at all — a slow breakfast, the Central Market, a sauna in the afternoon if you’re brave. Two days is enough if you’re efficient. Four gets you a second day trip without feeling rushed. One day is fine for a cruise stop, but you’ll leave wanting more, which is either a good thing or a frustration depending on your disposition.

Yes, and I’d say that even if I didn’t live here. The Old Town is a proper medieval survivor with the UNESCO listing to prove it. The Art Nouveau district has the densest concentration of that style of any city in Europe. The food scene has quietly become very good in the last five years. What you won’t get is big queues, big crowds, or big prices. Riga was voted Europe’s second-best destination in 2025 and most people still couldn’t find it on a map. That tells you something.

Very. Latvia is in the EU, in NATO, and the US State Department puts it at Level 1 — the lowest advisory level, same as France or Germany. Walking around Riga late at night on my own has never worried me. The usual city-traveller sense applies, especially around the bus station and a couple of Old Town bars that run stag-weekend traps. People ask because of the geography — we share a border with Russia — and the honest answer is that daily life here hasn’t felt any different since 2022, apart from a more visible NATO presence, which most locals find reassuring rather than alarming.

Late May through early September if you want weather on your side — long days, warm evenings, Jūrmala’s beach season, everything open. June has the most generous light: the sun is up before five and down after ten. August is my personal favourite, slightly quieter than July and the light is softer. December is the other strong season, which surprises people — Riga’s Christmas market was voted third in Europe this year, and the hotel prices are a fraction of Vienna or Prague. April and October are the value months if you don’t mind a coat. Avoid late January through early March if cold weather upsets you. It’s beautiful. It’s also genuinely cold, and the daylight is short.

Yes, and it’s actually how I’d recommend most people do it if they’re based in Riga for a few days. The airport bus into town is €2 and runs every ten minutes. Within Riga you can walk everywhere that matters in the Old Town and the Art Nouveau district. For day trips without a car, the Jūrmala train is a delight (€1.50, thirty minutes), Sigulda has a direct train, and Rundāle is doable by public bus via Bauska if you’re patient. For the Ķemeri bog at dawn, Cape Kolka, Kuldīga, or rural Latgale, you want either a rental car or a small-group tour. My excursions are built for people who’d rather skip the logistics and just be in the place.

Only at sunrise, and then yes, it’s probably the best free thing to do in Latvia. The boardwalk is about three kilometres of flat wooden planking across a 10,000-year-old raised bog, with small black pools, carnivorous sundew plants, and a viewing tower you can climb for the horizon shot everyone comes for. Go at sunrise in May, June, or July and you’ll have it almost to yourself, with mist lifting off the water and the light doing the kind of thing no filter can fake. Go at midday in August and it’s hot, full, and you’ll wonder what the fuss is about. I run this tour at 4:30 AM for a reason.

Different days, different people. Rundāle is the big baroque set-piece, the one your Instagram friends will recognise: rose gardens, the white ballroom, painted ceilings, and a short drive to Bauska Castle and a proper working brewery for lunch. If you like a day with big rooms, big history, and a glass of beer at the end, pick Rundāle. Sigulda is the forest day — the Gauja valley, two castles (one medieval ruin, one 19th-century neo-Gothic), a cable car over the river, and the little town of Cēsis, which I happen to think is the prettiest in Latvia. If you like walking, trees, and the kind of day where nobody hurries you, pick Sigulda. If you have two days, do both in that order and thank me after.

In Riga, yes, everywhere you’ll need it — hotels, restaurants, museums, taxi drivers, the guy at the SIM card kiosk. Anyone under forty grew up with English; anyone over sixty is more likely to have Russian as their second language. Out in the countryside it thins out quickly, which is one of the reasons people book guides for day trips. Learning paldies (thank you) and labdien (good day) will get you warm smiles. Nobody expects you to try, which is exactly why it’s worth doing.

Layers, always. Latvian weather has a sense of humour and will give you all four seasons in an afternoon, especially in spring and autumn. Proper walking shoes if we’re going somewhere with a boardwalk or castle ruins (trainers are fine, heels are not). A light waterproof even in summer. A warm layer even in August. Sunglasses — the light here is stronger than people expect at our latitude. And a bottle of water, though I always carry spare ones in the van. Don’t bother with snacks; I feed you.

People lump us together and we all find it a little funny. Very roughly: Estonia is the tech-forward, Finland-adjacent one with the best-preserved old town (Tallinn). Lithuania is the Catholic, warm-blooded one with the biggest population and the most dramatic history. Latvia is the middle one — Protestant by heritage, quieter in temperament, and the only one with a real Art Nouveau capital. The languages are not mutually intelligible; Latvian and Lithuanian are ancient sister languages (the closest living relatives of Sanskrit, actually), and Estonian is Finno-Ugric, a completely different family. We all take our forests seriously and drink quite a lot of beer. Start with one and come back for the others.

People who want a packed itinerary and a new stop every twenty minutes. People who prefer a big coach with a microphone and a group of fifty strangers. People who want luxury-spa-level comfort — my van is comfortable but it’s a van, not a limousine. And honestly, people who want to tick off sights without hearing the story behind them. I will tell you the story whether you asked or not, because that’s why you should come to Latvia in the first place. If any of that sounds like a deal-breaker, there are plenty of good coach operators in Riga and I’ll happily recommend one.