Central Rīga
Like a huge painting that you can spend hours staring at, as your eye detects more and more intriguing details, this must-see Rīga sight is in fact a…
Must-see attractions in Rīga
Old Rīga
Forming the centrepiece of Rīga’s skyline, this Gothic church is thought to be around 800 years old, making it one of the oldest medieval buildings in the…
Central Rīga
A real-life house of horrors, this imposing fin de siècle building is remembered by generations of Latvians as the local headquarters of the notorious…
Ķīpsala, Āgenskalns & Torņakalns
There is hardly a place in Latvia that can tell such a poignant and optimistic story as this quietly stunning memorial. Žanis Lipke saved over 50 Jews…
Rīga Ghetto & Latvian Holocaust Museum
Maskavas Forštate, Avotu Iela & Grīziņkalns
The centrepiece of this arresting and challenging museum is a wooden house with a reconstructed flat, like those that Jews had to move into when the Nazis…
Rīga
Between 1941 and 1944, the Nazis – aided by Latvians – shot more than 35,000 Jews at 55 different sites in this forest. It is one of several killing sites…
Museum of the Barricades of 1991
Old Rīga
Latvia's independence came after enormous struggles. One of the most remarkable stories involves the barricades built by thousands of citizens around…
Rīga
A lovingly restored courtyard with several vintage wooden buildings is home to creative cafes, shops and restaurants. It's also home to a fantastic…
Central Rīga
Pilsētas kanāls, the city’s old moat, once protected the medieval walls from invaders. Today the snaking ravine has been incorporated into a thin belt of…
Maskavas Forštate, Avotu Iela & Grīziņkalns
Haggle for your huckleberries at this vast market, housed in a series of WWI Zeppelin hangars and spilling outdoors as well. It's an essential Rīga…
Old Rīga
Founded in 1211 as the seat of the Rīga diocese, this enormous (once Catholic, now Evangelical Lutheran) cathedral is the largest medieval church in the…
Old Rīga
Built in 1344 as a veritable fraternity house for the Blackheads guild of unmarried German merchants, the original house was bombed in 1941 and flattened…
Old Rīga
Rīga’s lavishly restored 1852 stock exchange building is a worthy showcase for the city's art treasures. The elaborate facade features a coterie of…
Rīga History & Navigation Museum
Old Rīga
Founded in 1773 and situated in the old Rīga Cathedral monastery, this engaging museum presents the sweep of local history, from the Bronze Age all the…
Old Rīga
The spooked black cats mounted on the turrets of this 1909 art nouveau–influenced building have become symbols of Rīga and Instagram stars. On any tour,…
Old Rīga
Behind a row of granite heads depicting Latvia's most prominent artists, the imperial arsenal, constructed in 1832 to store weapons for the Russian tsar's…
Central Rīga
Affectionately known as ‘Milda’, Rīga’s Freedom Monument towers above the city between Old and Central Rīga. Paid for by public donations, the monument…
Old Rīga
Built in 1330 as the headquarters of the grand master of the Livonian Order, this building has been much mutated over the years and now only looks…
Old Rīga
A 13th- to 19th-century amalgam of Gothic and baroque styles, the church was first mentioned when the citizens installed catapults on its roof and…
Central Rīga
If you’re curious about what lurks behind Rīga’s imaginative art nouveau facades, stop by here to see the restored apartment of Konstantīns Pēkšēns (a…
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
Central Rīga
This museum colourfully details Latvia’s Soviet and Nazi occupations between 1940 and 1991. Some of the exhibits are disturbing, including first-hand…
Latvian Academy of Science Observation Deck
Maskavas Forštate, Avotu Iela & Grīziņkalns
This Stalinesque tower is a not-so-welcome Soviet-era present from Moscow, which has seven towers just like it, only bigger. Construction of what is often…
Old Rīga
Tallinn has its Three Sisters, so Rīga has dubbed three of its old stone houses the Three Brothers. These architectural gems conveniently line up in a…
Brasa & Teika
Your sweet tooth might come to life blocks away from the historic Laima chocolate factory as the sweet cocoa smell permeates the entire area. Founded in…
Museum of Decorative Arts & Design
Old Rīga
The former St George’s Church houses a museum devoted to applied art from the art nouveau period to the present, including an impressive collection of…
Old Rīga
Built in 1905, this art nouveau–style synagogue was the only one to survive the Nazi occupation – to torch it in the tightly packed Old Town would have…
Old Rīga
The round Powder Tower dates back to the 14th century and is the only survivor of the 18 original towers that punctuated the old city walls. Nine Russian…
Ķīpsala, Āgenskalns & Torņakalns
This sprawling green space (now mostly used as a soccer field) is home to the Victory Monument, which was built by the Soviets to commemorate the heroism…
Rīga
The stars of the collection at this surprisingly well-funded and engrossing museum are cars that once belonged to Soviet luminaries such as Gorky, Stalin,…
Old Rīga
Built in 1225, this church has ping-ponged many times between Catholic and Protestant, and has been home to many languages and communities, including…
Central Rīga
This small and rather informal space briefly recounts the city’s history of Jewish life until 1945 through artefacts and photography. Rīga’s Jewish…
Central Rīga
The expansive Esplanāde is a large park dotted with tall trees, wooden benches and open-air cafes. The Latvian National Museum of Art graces it on one…
Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum
Rīga
If you don’t have time to visit the Latvian countryside, a stop at this open-air museum is a must. Sitting along the shores of Lake Jugla just northeast…
Rīga
The Brothers' Cemetery features a monument by Kārlis Zāle (the designer of the Freedom Monument) dedicated to the Latvian soldiers who died during WWI…
Central Rīga
Its polished gilded cupolas gleaming through the trees, this Byzantine-styled Orthodox cathedral (1883) adds a dazzling dash of Russian bling to the…
Vērmanes dārzs (Vērmanes Garden)
Central Rīga
From Brīvības, pass the swirls of colour at the 24-hour flower market along Tērbatas iela to find the inviting Vērmanes dārzs. During the summer months,…
Janis Rozentāls & Rūdolfs Blaumanis Museum
Central Rīga
Surmount the wonderfully lavish stairwell up to the 5th floor to find the former apartment of Janis Rozentāls, one of Latvia’s most celebrated painters,…
Maskavas Forštate, Avotu Iela & Grīziņkalns
This moving Holocaust Memorial is on the site of a large 1871 synagogue that was burned to the ground on 4 July, 1941 during WWII, with the entire…
Old Rīga
Occupying a historic merchant's house from 1500, this little museum displays early images from Rīga along with changing exhibitions of contemporary…
Old Rīga
Latvian Riflemen Sq, on the west side of the future home of the Occupation Museum, is dominated by the imposing and controversial statue honouring Latvia…
