10 Best Places to Visit in Latvia, From Riga to Rēzekne

The 10 places below are Latvia’s ten state cities, the official tier that covers every city large enough to run its own visitor economy, and together they give you the capital, the coast, the lake country and the industrial east. Riga holds roughly a third of the country’s 1.83 million people and is where almost every trip starts; the other nine sit between 40 minutes and four hours away by train or coach, which makes them day trips or overnight stops rather than separate holidays. Latvia covers 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi), so nothing here is far from anything else.

1. Riga

Riga is Latvia’s capital, its largest city and the one place you cannot skip, with a population of about 592,000 and a historic centre on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1997. It sits on the Daugava where the river meets the Gulf of Riga, and it was founded in 1201 as a port that went on to run with the Hanseatic League from the 13th century.

What people come for is the density. Vecrīga, the Old Town, is cobbled, walkable and full of medieval churches, city wall fragments and towers. Riga Central Market fills five converted Zeppelin hangars from 1923 and is one of Europe’s largest markets. The Art Nouveau quarter around Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela holds several hundred façades and is the single most distinctive thing in the city. The Freedom Monument, 42 m (138 ft) tall and raised in 1935, is the national landmark.

Riga International Airport lies 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of the centre and is the largest in the Baltic states, with bus 22 running into Old Riga every 10 to 20 minutes for €1.50 (about $1.75, £1.30). Give Riga three to four days. Late spring to early autumn is the easy season; December is cold and short on daylight, and it is when the Christmas markets are running.

2. Daugavpils

Daugavpils is Latvia’s second city, about 78,000 people on the Daugava in the southeast, and it is the country’s most Russian-speaking and most multicultural place. It began in 1275 as the Livonian Order’s Dinaburg castle, grew under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then boomed as the railway town of Dvinsk under the Russian Empire.

Three things justify the trip. Daugavpils Fortress is a complete 19th-century bastion fortress built against Napoleon’s advance, and it now houses the Mark Rothko Art Centre, the only museum in the region showing original Rothko paintings; the artist was born here. Church Hill puts Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox and Old Believer churches within a few hundred metres of each other, including the ten onion domes of Saints Boris and Gleb.

Daugavpils sits about 232 km (144.2 mi) from Riga, and the train takes three to four hours with regular departures. Two to three days is enough. Summer brings the festivals that show off the city’s Russian, Polish and Latvian communities, and it is the right window if you want to understand how Latvian traditions differ region to region.

3. Liepāja

Liepāja is Latvia’s third city, about 67,000 people, and the country’s ice-free Baltic port on the west coast. It started as the Curonian fishing village of Līva, first recorded in 1253, became the town of Libau under the Livonian Order, and spent most of the 20th century as a closed military port.

Liepāja’s draw is the mix of beach and abandoned military infrastructure. The central Blue Flag beach runs straight off the city. Karosta, the former Tsarist and then Soviet naval base north of town, is open to visitors, and Karosta Prison runs tours and overnight stays. The Northern Forts are half-ruined early-20th-century coastal fortifications collapsing into the sea. Holy Trinity Cathedral holds a mechanical pipe organ of more than 7,000 pipes, among the largest anywhere.

Liepāja is 220 km (136.7 mi) southwest of Riga, two to three hours by road. Coaches run frequently and there is no passenger train, so plan on a bus or a car. Stena Line’s ferry to Travemünde in Germany leaves from here. Two to three days covers it, and June to August is when the town is actually awake.

4. Jelgava

Jelgava is Latvia’s fourth city, about 55,000 people, 41 km (25.5 mi) southwest of Riga on the Lielupe in the Zemgale plain. Founded around a Livonian Order castle in 1265 as German Mitau, it became the capital of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and the seat of its dukes.

Jelgava Palace is the reason to come: the largest baroque palace in the Baltics, designed in 1738 by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect who later built the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. It now houses the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, which is why Jelgava is called a student city, and the Dukes’ Tombs in its cellars hold the sarcophagi of the dukes of Courland from 1569 to 1791. The Holy Trinity Church Tower, all that survives of Zemgale’s largest 16th-century church, has an observation deck. The Lielupe floodplain meadows next to the palace are grazed by a herd of wild horses.

Trains leave Riga Central hourly and take 40 to 50 minutes; buses run about every 15 minutes. One day is enough, two if you want the meadows as well as the palace.

5. Jūrmala

Jūrmala is Latvia’s beach resort and fifth city, about 52,000 people spread along 24 km (14.9 mi) of white sand between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe, 25 km (15.5 mi) west of the capital. The name is simply jūra plus mala, sea plus edge. It grew into a spa town after the Riga to Tukums railway opened in 1877, and it was where the Soviet elite took their holidays.

The resort is really twelve former villages strung along one coast, and Majori and Dzintari are the two with the life in them. Jomas iela is the pedestrian spine, lined with cafés and restaurants. Dzintari Concert Hall has staged summer concerts since 1897. Līvu Akvaparks is one of northern Europe’s largest indoor water parks, which makes Jūrmala a wet-weather option as well as a beach one. The wooden resort villas in the National Romanticism style are the architectural draw.

Trains from Riga Central run several times an hour and take 30 to 40 minutes, which is the sensible way to come; driving in means paying the city’s vehicle entry fee, which applies all year. Two days is plenty. July and August are the season, and the town is quiet the rest of the year.

6. Ventspils

Ventspils is a port city of about 33,000 on the Venta estuary in northwestern Latvia, founded by the Livonian Order in the 13th century and granted city rights in 1378. It is one of the busiest ports in the Baltic states and has spent the money on making the town itself pleasant, which is not true of every industrial port.

The 13th-century Livonian Order castle is one of the oldest surviving in Latvia and now holds the town museum. The Ventspils Seaside Open-Air Museum runs a narrow-gauge steam railway. The beach and its promenade are long, sandy and Blue Flag. The Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre, built around a former Soviet military dish at nearby Irbene, runs an exhibition and tours. The Seaside Park and the cow sculptures scattered around town are the other reason people remember the place.

Ventspils is 193 km (119.9 mi) from Riga, about two and a half hours by road, and coaches are the only public option because the line here carries freight rather than passengers. Stena Line sails from here to Sweden and Finland. Two days is the right length, and June to August is the season.

7. Jēkabpils

Jēkabpils is a city of about 21,000 on the Daugava between Riga and Daugavpils, and it is really two towns facing each other across the river. Krustpils on the right bank was founded in 1237 by the Bishop of Riga; Jēkabpils on the left bank began as a settlement of Russian Old Believers and was granted town rights in 1670 by Duke Jacob of Courland, whose name it carries. The Soviet authorities merged them in 1962.

Krustpils Castle is now the regional history museum and the main sight. The Holy Spirit Orthodox Monastery complex reflects the Old Believer history. Vecpilsētas Square holds the lynx statue that comes from the founding legend, in which Duke Jacob saw a lynx under a fir tree while hunting here, and the lynx is still the city’s symbol. The riverfront walk along the levees passes well-preserved wooden houses and Latgalian red brick.

The train from Riga runs regularly and driving is straightforward, with the route following the Daugava through Koknese and Aizkraukle. One to two days is enough. The city festival falls in August, and the river usually freezes hard enough for skating in winter.

8. Rēzekne

Rēzekne is the cultural capital of Latgale, about 26,000 people on seven hills above the Rēzekne River in eastern Latvia, 242 km (150.4 mi) east of Riga. Latgalian tribes had a wooden fort here by the 9th century; the Livonian Order destroyed it in 1290 and built Rozitten Castle on the mound, and the railways of the late 1800s turned the frontier town into a junction between Russia and central Europe.

Gors, the Latgale Embassy, is the modern concert hall and the centre of Latgalian cultural life. The red-brick Sacred Heart Cathedral looks over the town from its hill. The Green Synagogue of 1845 is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the city and has been restored. The Latgale Culture and History Museum holds the region’s ceramics collection, which is the craft Latgale is known for. The Latgale Māra monument stands for the region’s union with the rest of Latvia.

Trains and coaches run from Riga. Two to three days lets you add Lake Rāzna, Latvia’s second-largest lake, and the Latgale pottery workshops. Summer is the season, with the chamber music festival in spring.

9. Valmiera

Valmiera is the largest city in the Vidzeme region, about 23,000 people on the Gauja 107 km (66.5 mi) northeast of Riga, founded in the 13th century as a Livonian Order castle settlement and rebuilt repeatedly after fires, plague and two world wars. The historic centre burned in 1944, which is why so little of the medieval town survives.

St Simon’s Church, from the 13th century, is the exception: it came through the war when the rest of the old town did not, and it holds a historic pipe organ. The Valmiera Castle ruins sit beside it, with the Valmiera Museum built among them. The real draw is the Gauja, the longest river running entirely inside Latvia, which flows through the middle of town and connects Valmiera to the trails, canoe routes and sandstone cliffs of Gauja National Park.

Direct trains from Riga take a little over an hour, and coaches run too. Two days is right if you are using it as a base for the national park rather than just seeing the town. Late spring to early autumn is the window, because the river is the point.

10. Ogre

Ogre is a city of about 23,000 on the Daugava in central Latvia, close enough to the capital to work as a half-day trip, and it has been a summer river resort and health destination for well over a century. The name comes from a Livonian word for the forked rivers here, and the first written record dates to 1206.

Ogre is a nature stop rather than a monuments one. The Lazdukalni Dendrology Park is a planted forest walk above the town, laid out on a pine ridge, and Ogre’s riverside trails run from the centre. The Ogre History and Art Museum covers the town’s Livonian and industrial past. The Zilie kalni, the Blue Hills nature park just outside, is the bigger walk of the two.

The railway from Riga to Daugavpils runs through Ogre, so the train is the obvious way in and takes about 40 minutes from Riga Central. One day is enough. Spring through autumn is the season, with the city festival in September, and the centre is decorated from late November into January.

Where to go in Latvia by season

Latvia’s four seasons change which of these cities is worth the trip, so the season should pick the destination rather than the other way round.

Summer, June to August. Jūrmala is the obvious answer, with 24 km (14.9 mi) of beach, the water parks, and a town that only fully wakes up for these three months. Liepāja and Ventspils are the alternatives if you want a beach without the Riga weekend crowd. Riga runs outdoor concerts, the August city festival and beer gardens in the Old Town squares.

Winter, December to February. Riga is the answer, because it is the one place with enough indoors to fill a short day. The Christmas markets run through December, the Old Town takes snow well, and Sigulda and Cēsis in Gauja National Park are an hour or so away for winter walking and the Sigulda bobsleigh track. See the Riga winter packing list before you go: a midwinter day here gives you under 7 hours of daylight.

Spring and autumn. Late April to May and September to October are the shoulder seasons, with lower prices, thinner crowds and workable weather. This is the right time for Daugavpils, Rēzekne and Valmiera, none of which depends on beach weather.

What to know before you travel to Latvia

Seven practical points cover most of what catches visitors out in Latvia, and they are listed below.

1. Weather swings hard. Summer highs average around 20°C (68°F) and January means sit near -2°C (28°F), with cold snaps well below that. Pack layers for any season except high summer.
2. Headlights stay on at all times. Latvian law requires dipped headlights day and night, year-round, and winter tyres are compulsory from 1 December to 1 March.
3. Trains centre on Riga, coaches cover the rest. Nearly every rail route starts or ends in Riga, so a journey between two regional cities usually means changing in the capital or taking a coach. Liepāja and Ventspils have no passenger train at all.
4. Ticks matter more than any other health risk. Tick-borne encephalitis is present in Latvian forests, so cover up and check yourself after walking or camping between spring and autumn.
5. Entry is Schengen. EU citizens travel freely; British, American, Australian and Canadian passport holders get 90 days in any 180 visa-free. Check ETIAS status before booking, because the start date has moved repeatedly.
6. Cards work, cash still helps. Markets, rural guesthouses and some buses want cash, and ATMs thin out fast outside the cities.
7. Occupation history is not small talk. Latvia spent fifty years under Soviet rule. Do not treat Latvians as Russians or the country as a former province, and take Jāņi and the Song and Dance Celebration seriously, because people here do.

What to eat in Latvia

Latvian food runs on rye, dairy, pork and whatever was preserved last autumn, and the eight things below are the ones to order.

• Rupjmaize: dark sour rye bread, the base of the whole cuisine.
• Pelēkie zirņi ar speķi: grey peas with onion and crisp bacon, the national dish.
• Aukstā zupa: cold beetroot soup with kefir, cucumber, dill and a hard-boiled egg, eaten all summer.
• Skābu kāpostu zupa: sauerkraut soup, thick with potato and pork, eaten all winter.
• Pīrāgi: small crescent pastries filled with bacon and onion.
• Sklandrausis: a rye-pastry tart filled with sweetened potato and carrot, from Kurzeme and protected as a traditional Latvian speciality.
• Smoked fish: sprats and herring above all, worth buying at Riga Central Market or a roadside smokehouse on the Kurzeme coast.
• Riga Black Balsam: a 45% herbal bitter, usually served with blackcurrant juice because it is a lot on its own.

Getting around Latvia

Trains, coaches and a hire car cover Latvia between them, and which you need depends on how far you go beyond the Riga axis. Trains are frequent close to Riga, thinning out with distance, and Pasažieru vilciens sells tickets at stations and through the Mobilly app. Coaches reach almost everywhere the trains do not, with Lux Express and Ecolines the main operators.

A car is what unlocks the coast, the national parks and the Latgale lakes, none of which run to a useful timetable. Main roads are paved and quiet, secondary roads are often gravel, and local driving is faster than you will expect. If you want the flexibility, hiring a car for the rural half of a trip and using trains for the rest is the arrangement that works. Non-EU licence holders should carry an International Driving Permit alongside the original. To compare flights into Riga and hotels once you are there, Trip.com covers most of what serves Latvia.

Latvia’s Christmas markets

Riga runs Latvia’s main Christmas markets, and the largest is on Dome Square in the Old Town rather than in Town Hall Square, which older guides still get wrong. The market sells amber, knitwear, gingerbread and mulled wine from wooden huts around the square’s Christmas tree, and the Riga Christmas Market has its own guide here.

The second Riga market fills Esplanade Park, with a small animal pen, craft workshops and concerts, and the two are a fifteen-minute walk apart. Kalnciema Quarter, the restored wooden district across the Daugava, runs a Saturday producers’ market that takes a Christmas form in December. Outside the capital, Sigulda’s market sits among the pines of Gauja National Park and works as a day trip, and Cēsis runs a winter fair.

Is Latvia expensive?

Latvia is cheaper than western Europe and the Nordic countries and more expensive than it was a decade ago, which makes it good value rather than a bargain. A single city transport ride in Riga costs €1.50 (about $1.75, £1.30), and an airport taxi runs €10 to €15 (about $12 to $17, £9 to £13), at rates of 10 September 2026 when €1 bought $1.16 and £0.86.

Where Latvia saves you money is accommodation and eating out, both well below western European levels, and a lot of the culture is free or nearly so. December is the cheapest month to fly in, because it sits between the summer peak and the ski season and Riga’s markets need no ticket.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

Four tips matter most when planning a trip around these ten cities, and each one corrects something older guides still get wrong.

1. Head for Dome Square, not Town Hall Square, for Riga’s Christmas market. The main market and its tree are on Doma laukums in the Old Town. Older write-ups routinely send people to the wrong square.
2. These ten cities are Latvia’s ten state cities, so the list has a rule behind it. Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Ventspils, Jēkabpils, Rēzekne, Valmiera and Ogre are the official tier, which is why the list stops at ten and why the smallest are still worth a stop.
3. Take the train to Jūrmala rather than driving. Departures run several times an hour from Riga Central and take 30 to 40 minutes, and driving in means paying the city’s vehicle entry fee, which applies all year rather than only in summer.
4. You can now reach Riga by train from Vilnius and Tallinn, but not from the east. The Baltic through service reopened in January 2025: LTG Link runs Vilnius to Riga in a little over four and a half hours with no change, and Riga to Tallinn takes about six hours with one cross-platform change at Valga. Services into Russia and Belarus are gone.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes in this post come from her winter trip to Riga and the Latvian coast. The team covers Latvia for independent travellers, including the tours, hotels, car hire and seasonal markets worth booking across the country’s ten cities, and updates this page when routes, dates and prices change.