The Baltic's Art Nouveau capital: a walled medieval old town, Europe's grandest market and cobbled squares, cheap and walkable in two days.
Riga works best as a 2-day city break. Riga wraps a compact UNESCO old town of guildhalls, spires and cobbled squares into a core you can cross on foot in twenty minutes. A few blocks north lies the world's densest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture, street after street of carved facades and screaming masks around Alberta iela. Down by the river the huge Central Market fills five 1920s Zeppelin hangars, one of Europe's largest, and the whole city stays cheap and walkable, if cold and dark in winter. It is the middle stop on the Baltic capitals run, a four-hour bus south from Tallinn, so it slots neatly into a wider trip.
Ideal stay
2 days
Best months
May · Jun · Jul
Mid budget
100 EUR/day
Airport
Riga Airport sits about 10km southwest of the centre
Four picks that cover the realistic range, from splurge to budget. Prices are low-season starting points; check live rates for your dates.
Special occasions€€€Grand five-star · Old Town (Vecriga)
A polished five-star in a restored 19th-century building on the edge of the old town, facing the Freedom Monument and the canal park, with a spa and a grand ballroom. The old town lanes and the National Opera are a couple of minutes away on foot.
from ~220 EUR/night
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Couples€€Berga Bazars boutique · Art Nouveau Quarter (Quiet Centre)
A calm design hotel in the Berga Bazars courtyard quarter in the quiet centre, a short walk from the Art Nouveau district and Alberta iela. Rooms are large suites, and the leafy passage of shops and cafes below keeps it feeling residential.
from ~160 EUR/night
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First visit€€Riverside skyline views · Kipsala and Agenskalns
A big modern hotel on the Kipsala bank of the Daugava, with a pool and rooms looking straight across the water to the old town skyline. It is a 15-minute walk over the bridge or a short bus to the centre, and better value than the old town.
from ~95 EUR/night
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Budget€Old town hostel · Old Town (Vecriga)
A lively, colourful backpacker hostel in the heart of the old town, with dorms and a few private rooms, a bar and a busy calendar of tours and pub crawls. It is one of the cheapest and most social beds in a city that is already cheap.
from ~22 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
A little history
Riga was founded in 1201 by the German bishop Albert as a base to convert the Baltic by the sword, and it grew into the biggest and richest city on the eastern Baltic under the Hanseatic League, run for centuries by German-speaking merchants and the Livonian knights. It passed through Polish, Swedish and then Russian rule, and around 1900 an industrial boom made it the third city of the Russian empire and covered its new districts in the most extravagant Art Nouveau architecture in Europe. Latvia won its independence in 1918, was swallowed by the Soviet Union in 1940, and broke free again in 1991 through the peaceful Singing Revolution and the human chain of the Baltic Way. Today Riga is the largest of the three Baltic capitals, a UNESCO-listed old town wrapped in Jugendstil boulevards.
Riga is known for
Pick the itinerary that matches your trip. Each one is a full day-by-day plan, not a list of 30 things to squeeze in.
2
days
Two full days is plenty for the heart of Riga, because the medieval old town is small and entirely walkable and the Art Nouveau quarter sits just ten minutes north. Base yourself in the old town so you are among the spires first thing and can walk home across floodlit squares at night, avoiding the weekend stag-group streets after dark.
See the itinerary →
3
days
Three days is the comfortable amount for Riga: enough for the walled old town and the full Art Nouveau district plus a proper day trip that a two-day dash skips. Days one and two cover the medieval core, the Alberta iela facades, the museums, the Corner House and the vast Central Market at an unhurried pace, still starting early to have the squares to yourself.
See the itinerary →
Riga has a walkable center, so the neighborhood you pick sets the tone of the whole trip.
Old Town (Vecriga)
First visit
The medieval walled core of cobbled lanes gathers Town Hall Square, the rebuilt House of the Blackheads, the Dome cathedral and St Peter's tower into a few hundred metres, so a first-time base here puts every headline sight at your door.
Art Nouveau Quarter (Quiet Centre)
Romantic
The Quiet Centre just north of the old town holds Alberta iela and the densest run of Art Nouveau facades in Europe, elegant tree-lined streets of carved stone, embassies and grand apartment blocks.
Miera iela
Local life
Nicknamed the Berlin of the Baltics, Miera iela is a bohemian street of independent cafes, artist studios, vegan kitchens, record shops and street art northeast of the centre, wrapped around the Laima chocolate factory.
Colored months are the sweet spot. Struck-through months come with a warning. Each page covers weather, crowds, prices and what to pack.
Tight budget?
Riga on a budget: same trip, around 50 EUR a day
Read the budget guide →
Pairs well with
2 days is the sweet spot for Riga. Base yourself in the old town so you are among the spires first thing and can walk home across floodlit squares at night, avoiding the weekend stag-group streets after dark
The best months are May, June, July, August, September. Think twice about January / February: Deep winter with highs around minus 3C, frequent snow and only about seven hours of daylight, so plan indoor stops between short outdoor bursts. Room rates sit at their lowest and the old town looks its best under snow, but pack proper boots and a warm coat as pavements ice over.
Riga sits around the European average. Plan roughly 50 EUR per day on a tight budget, 100 EUR for a comfortable mid-range trip, and 200 EUR and up if you want top hotels and restaurants.
Old Town (Vecriga) is the safest first-visit base. The medieval walled core of cobbled lanes gathers Town Hall Square, the rebuilt House of the Blackheads, the Dome cathedral and St Peter's tower into a few hundred metres, so a first-time base here puts every headline sight at your door. It is atmospheric and beautiful, floodlit and quiet by day, but stag groups and loud bars take over some streets at the weekend and the cobbles are hard on wheeled cases. Pick it for the medieval nights and the shortest walk to everything.
Yes. Riga has a walkable center, so most of a short trip is done on foot. Riga Airport sits about 10km southwest of the centre, so transfers are short and cheap. The number 22 city bus runs from a stop outside the terminal to the old town and the centre in roughly 25 to 30 minutes for a couple of euros; buy the ticket from the driver or a Narvesen kiosk, which is a touch cheaper. A Bolt or taxi covers the same run in around 15 minutes for roughly 10 to 15 EUR, which is worth it with luggage or after a late arrival.
Riga Airport sits about 10km southwest of the centre, so transfers are short and cheap. The number 22 city bus runs from a stop outside the terminal to the old town and the centre in roughly 25 to 30 minutes for a couple of euros; buy the ticket from the driver or a Narvesen kiosk, which is a touch cheaper. A Bolt or taxi covers the same run in around 15 minutes for roughly 10 to 15 EUR, which is worth it with luggage or after a late arrival. It is the cheapest and usually the fastest option.
Riga is best known for Old Town spires, Art Nouveau facades, The Central Market, House of the Blackheads, Baltic amber, The Song Festival. Riga was founded in 1201 by the German bishop Albert as a base to convert the Baltic by the sword, and it grew into the biggest and richest city on the eastern Baltic under the Hanseatic League, run for centuries by German-speaking merchants and the Livonian knights.