Travelling Riga Latvia

We didn’t know much about Latvia at all when we decided to visit it. As part of our “visit all European Countries” adventure, this country was on the list and we decided to visit the capital. As we started to read about it and see some of the other travellers reviews, we began to realise it was going to be an attractive city to visit!

We booked into Hotel Dodo after reading reviews on Trip Advisor. While in a not overly attractive area itself, it was only a few minutes by tram from the city centre (which was very cheap and which ran very frequently). This, as you are gathering, is our way of travelling — find a good, budget hotel to sleep in — saving our money to spend on good quality food and drink, and also some day trips!

Dodo Hotel

I should also point out we did all our sightseeing by foot — the only time we need any form of transport was the trams for a few minutes in and out of the main centre — but one evening we walked about to our hotel and it took less than 20 minutes on foot.

The below are the different restaurants, buildings and sites we encountered of 3 days.

On our first evening of arrival, we decided to take the tram into town and head out for dinner. We found “Palete”, a restaurant recommended by Trip Advisor. It was a little tricky to find (hidden down a side street) but the building inside and out was beautiful, the service great and the food delicious. We certainly enjoyed our first evening in Riga!

Palete Restaurant

Day 2 we headed to the Opera House on the tram and decided to take a walk around the city centre’s sites. Even in late October, the garden areas were beautiful and the Opera House itself a beautiful structure.

Opera House and Gardens

We then wandered up to the very impressive, 42m high Freedom Monument (at the beginning of Brivibas Street), which was set in a traffic free area near a nice park area with a river. (You’ll hear more about this river later as we discovered you could take a boat ride on it!).

Freedom Monument

The statue on the top of the monument (known as “the liberty lady”) holds up the three stars symbolising the 3 regional areas of Latvia — and the statue now is considered to represent Latvia’s independence.

The Liberty Lady

For lunch we then made a pit stop at “Fazenda Bazars” — an odd name but it was perfect for a late breakfast or lunch stop — and inside looked like an old fashioned English kitchen! The food was great quality.

Fazenda Bazars

We then continued our sightseeing tour on foot, visiting an Orthodox Church, passing by the French Embassy. Both buildings we colourful and beautiful in style.

Orthodox Church

French Embassy

As we heading back into the old town part of Riga, we found the plaque which commemorates Riga becoming part of the World Heritage List, along with a number of beautiful old buildings and the large Dom Cathedral which we went inside of — it was impressive with attractive stained glass windows.

World Heritage Plaque

Inside of Church in the old town

As part of our tour, we looked at several restaurants and bars as we passed, and found some of the translations highly amusing!

English Translations

We found several little bars to pop into which were great for photos, and very different from anything we have back in England. Some of the most interesting were “101 Stacija” which was a Russian looking bar complete with old memorabilia, and “Balsam Bars” where we tried rabbit soup and our first attempt at drinking their national drink, Black Balsam.

Black Balsam

During the rest of the visit we also discovered several great buildings to see or places to visit:

- The Powder Tower (shown below with an interesting building to its right, showing all the various Latvian regional symbols)

Powder Tower

- The fabulous 1221 restaurant (delicious food — again a Trip Advisor recommendation)

Restaurant 1221

- A medieval restaurant called Rozengrals with a large barrel outside

Rozengrals Restaurant

- The House of the Blackheads

House of the Blackheads

• The Large Guild (a beautiful building with a “fairy tale castle” feel)

The Large Guild

- The Museum of Soviet Occupation in Latvia (well worth a visit if you like recent history)

Museum of Soviet Occupation

- A restaurant called Domini Canes which served amazing food and was located opposite St Peter’s Church

Restaurant Domini Canes

- An enormous monstrosity of a building called the Latvian Academy of Sciences

Latvian Academy of Sciences

- The Riverboat you can take a tour on, great views

The boat ride on the river

- Riga Castle

Riga Castle (view from the river boat)

- Restaurant Livonija, which had excellent food, and on the night we dined had a singer who you could choose songs for from a book and he would sing either for you at your table, or for the restaurant. Was great fun!

Restaurant Livonija

Finally — when planning your trip to Riga, I strongly suggest travelling in September time — and if possible, coinciding your visit with their Harvest Festival celebrations. Below are some pictures so you can see the carnival atmosphere they create and all the effort they go to, to celebrate this event as a city. We had a lot of fun, especially with the carrot “dress”!