The world's densest Art Nouveau city, a belle-époque sea spa, a palace opened after hours, and the wide waterfall at Kuldīga.
Latvia
Best of Latvia
6 daysCulturalPrivate
- Latvia
RigaJūrmalaRundāleCēsisKuldīga
from$2,334(≈ €1,995)
Tours of Latvia,
the art-nouveau heart.
The middle country, the architectural capital, and a forest so deep that bears still pass through. Riga is the unmissable city.
RigaCapital
1.9MPeople
64,600km²Area
Late–SeptemberBest season
14Tours featuring LV
Three ways into Latvia.
Three ways to explore
Pick the one that sounds most like you. Each leads to a guide, and each can be built into a private route.
01
Art nouveau Riga
More than 750 Jugendstil facades stand in the centre, the densest run of them anywhere. Walk Alberta iela slowly, then tell us how much of a day you want to give it.
Explore Riga02
Manors and palaces
Rundale is the baroque one everyone names, but the country keeps quieter manor houses too, and Daugavpils shows original Rothkos in the town where he was born.
Explore the manor country03
Forest, bog and the coast
More than half the country is forest and the shore runs 498 km, flat and pine-backed. Leave a day for the Gauja valley or a bog boardwalk, and say which pulls you.
Explore wild LatviaPrivate Latvia tours.
14 itineraries, in or through Latvia
Each is privately guided, designed by the local team, and bookable in any week of the named season. Use them as a starting point: every itinerary can bend.
Where to spend your time.
Three travel areas
The three areas a trip is planned around. A week can take in all three, and a slower trip can settle into one.
01 / 03Riga & the Bay,
Riga & the Bay,
the capital and the coast.
The Hanseatic Old Town, the Art Nouveau quarter, the Central Market, and the long pine-and-sand beach at Jūrmala, twenty minutes by suburban train.
Photo: Kristaps Ungurs02 / 03Vidzeme & the Gauja,
Vidzeme & the Gauja,
the green east.
Sigulda, Turaida castle, the bobsleigh run at Mežaparks, and the medieval town of Cēsis, all in eastern Latvia. The country's most scenic river valley and oldest national park.
03 / 03Kurzeme & the wild coast,
Kurzeme & the wild coast,
the windy edge.
The Liv coast, Cape Kolka where the Baltic and the Gulf meet, the white dunes at Jūrkalne, and Kuldīga's wide, low waterfall (Europe's broadest).
When to go.
A year in Latvia
Five amber months of long light and warm sea, four blue months of dark, and three shoulder weeks at either end that quietly outshine the rest.
JanCold, clear7h lightQuiet
FebCold, clear9h lightQuiet
MarThaw, mud12h lightQuiet
AprQuiet spring14h lightOK
MayBloom, mild16h lightGo
JunJāņi, the midsummer fires18h lightGo
JulJūrmala season, busy18h lightGo
AugWarm sea, festival weeks16h lightGo
SepForest gold, mushroom hunts13h lightGo
OctForest amber11h lightOK
NovGrey, raw8h lightQuiet
DecMarkets, snow7h lightOK
More on the seasonsThe best time to visit the Baltics.
Before you plan.
Plan your visit
Three guides that answer most of the questions people ask us first.
Latvia, good to know.
Frequently asked
How many days do you need in Latvia?
Two to three days for Riga and a day trip to the Gauja Valley or the seaside at Jūrmala. Add a day or two for Rundāle Palace and the wilder Latvian coast.
What is Latvia best known for?
Riga holds the world's densest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage old town, and the vast Central Market in former zeppelin hangars. Latvia is also known for its forests, choral singing tradition, and Baltic coastline.
When is the best time to visit Riga and Latvia?
May to September for the warmest weather and the lively Riga terrace season. The Midsummer festival of Jani in late June is the highlight of the Latvian calendar.
Is Riga worth visiting?
Yes. Riga is the largest of the three Baltic capitals and the architectural showpiece of the region, combining a medieval core with spectacular Art Nouveau boulevards.
Do you run guided tours in Latvia?
Yes, always private and never a group bus: one guide, one vehicle, your pace. A short Latvia tour usually anchors on Riga, with day trips to Jūrmala or the Gauja Valley. Longer tours add Rundāle Palace, the Kurzeme coast, or a loop through Lithuania and Estonia.
Is a trip to Latvia worth planning on its own?
Yes. Riga alone fills three or four days: the Art Nouveau quarter, the Old Town, the Central Market, Jūrmala's beach twenty minutes out. Most Latvia vacations we plan do combine it with Lithuania and Estonia into one loop, since the capitals sit two to four hours apart by private car, but Latvia stands on its own for travelers who want just that.
How much does a trip to Latvia cost?
Travelling independently, roughly €50 to €70 a day for budget, €120 to €180 mid-range, and €300 and up at the high end, per person before flights. A privately guided Latvia tour sits above that because it includes the driver, the guiding and the logistics. Latvia is one of the better-value countries in the EU: well below Scandinavia and broadly comparable to Poland.
Is Latvia safe to visit?
Yes. Latvia is an EU and NATO member with low violent crime, and the ordinary precautions you would take in any European city are enough. The Russian border sits well east of anywhere a visitor goes, and Riga, Jūrmala and the Gauja Valley are unaffected by it.
Do I need a visa to visit Latvia?
Latvia is in the EU and the Schengen Area, so one Schengen visa covers Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia together. EU and EEA citizens need no visa. Most other visitors, including from the UK, US, Canada and Australia, can enter visa-free for short stays, with ETIAS authorisation required once it takes effect.
How do you get to Riga?
Riga airport is the largest in the Baltics and the region's main hub, with direct connections across Europe. Most long-haul travellers connect through a European hub. Overland, Riga sits four hours from Vilnius and four to five from Tallinn, and we can drive either leg as a sightseeing day rather than a transfer.
The practical bit.
Border, voltage, vocabulary
Everything you would otherwise have to ask. The rest, your guide will know.
Fly in toRiga (RIX), the largest hub of the three
VisaSchengen, 90/180 days
Power230V, type F (Schuko)
Tap waterDrinkable in cities; bottled outside
Tipping8–10% in restaurants
Language tipLatvian and Russian are both common; English fluent in tourism and under-40s
Your host
The heron is our host in Latvia. The real ones stand in the shallows of Latvia's rivers and lakes, as unhurried as the country.
Ready when you are
Stay in the middle.
Riga rewards a long weekend, the Gauja valley a slow week. Pair the two for a journey that moves from gold facades to forest castles in three hours of driving.