Showing 1-21 of 21 results
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Central Market
Located in five huge hangars behind the bus station, this colourful, Soviet-style market is one of the largest in Europe and has Rīga's cheapest produce.
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Freedom Monument
Over the canal from Līvu Laukums you'll find the Freedom Monument. During the Soviet years the Freedom Monument was off-limits, and placing flowers at its base was a crime for which people were deported to Siberia.
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House of Blackheads
The House of Blackheads was originally built in 1344 to house the Blackheads' guild of unmarried foreign merchants.
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Jewish Community Centre
The Jewish community centre shares a building with the 'Jews in Latvia Museum', which recounts Latvian Jewish history from the 16th century to 1945.
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Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum
Located way out on the outskirts of the city, the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum is a Rīga essential. The dozens of farmhouses, churches and windmills on the grounds provide a record of bygone country life. The National Fair of Applied Arts (early June) and several festivals are held here. Take bus No 1 from the corner of Merķeļa iela and Tērbatas iela to the Brīvdabas muzejs stop.
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Lido atpūtas centrs
With an ice-skating rink and its own outdoor ethnographic park, it's a huge draw for Latvian families. From the bus station it's an easy 15-minute ride out to the 'Lido' stop on tram 7.
If you want to sample Latvian food look no further than the wildly popular buffet-style Lido restaurants. The chain's flagship enterprise is the gargantuan, amusement park-like Lido atpūtas centrs, where you can easily get lost amid endless buffet rows of pork knuckle, potato pancakes, fried cabbage and, oh, about a thousand other dishes.
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Mentzendorff's House
You can see how wealthy Rīgans once lived at 17th-century Mentzendorff's House.
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Museum of Decorative & Applied Arts
The absorbing Museum of Decorative & Applied Arts, in a restored 13th-century church, presents an eccentric melee of Latvian textiles, china and tapestry.
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Museum of the History of Rīga & Navigation
The Museum of the History of Rīga & Navigation is in a cloister next to Dome Cathedral. The gruesome mummified hand of a criminal and the 16th-century executioner's sword are highlights.
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Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
Both the Soviet and Nazi occupations of Latvia during the last 65 years are chronicled in the chilling yet spirited Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. A gaggle of young tour guides gives free tours in English, and there's also a worthwhile one-hour audio guide available. Here you can also buy historical books on the occupation and dissident memoirs translated into English.
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National Museum of Art
Across the Esplanāde park is the National Museum of Art, where pre-WWII Russian and Latvian art is on display among the Soviet grandeur of ruched net curtains, marble columns and red carpets.
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Paul Mandelstamm's Apartment
For a fix of Art Nouveau, check out Paul Mandelstamm's apartment.
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Rīga Castle
In Old Town's northeast corner, medieval Rīga Castle now houses the president and a couple of museums.
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Russian Orthodox Cathedral
Just north of the Freedom Monument is Esplanāde park and the fabulous 19th-century Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
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St Jacob's Cathedral
Heading north from busy Doma laukums (Dome Square), you'll spot St Jacob's Cathedral, with an interior dating back to 1225.
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St Peter's
Rīga's skyline centrepiece is gothic St Peter's, thought to be about 800 years old. Don't miss the view from its famed spire, which has been rebuilt three times in the same baroque form. Legend has it that in 1667 builders threw glass from the top - the number of pieces it broke into was the number of years it would stand. It landed on straw and didn't break, and a year later it burned down. The spire's current incarnation dates to 1973.
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St Roland
A statue of Rīga's patron saint, St Roland, stands between the House of Blackheads and the Town Hall. It's a replica of the original, erected in 1897, which now sits in St Peter's.
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Synagogue
Wander the area south of St Peter's square and you'll find the only Old Town Synagogue to survive the war.
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Three Brothers
Near the Dome Cathedral are the Three Brothers, Rīga's oldest stone houses.
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War Museum
The violent history of this tiny nation is depicted in photos and war relics at the War Museum.
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Warehouses
The entire area south of St Peter's square is a fine place to wander. For a picturesque ramble, head over to the 16th- and 17th-century Warehouses.
Showing 1-21 of 21 results
