With a hefty international reputation as one of the finest opera companies in all of Europe, the national opera is the pride of Latvia. It's also home to the Rīga Ballet; locally born lad Mikhail Baryshnikov got his start here. Performances happen most nights of the week.
Latvian National Opera
Central Rīga
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.7 MILES
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…
0.23 MILES
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…
0.72 MILES
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…
1.17 MILES
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
0.57 MILES
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…
3.76 MILES
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
0.32 MILES
Latvia's independence came after enormous struggles. One of the most remarkable stories involves the barricades built by thousands of citizens around…
22.36 MILES
These striking pine-covered cliffs loom above a pristine white-sand beach dissected by a glistening stream. This is one of the most enchanting places…
Nearby Central Rīga attractions
0.12 MILES
Built in 1924 as a gentle way to encourage Rīgans not to be late for work, this clock is a popular meeting place, carrying the branding of a popular…
0.16 MILES
Affectionately known as ‘Milda’, Rīga’s Freedom Monument towers above the city between Old and Central Rīga. Paid for by public donations, the monument…
0.17 MILES
This quirky museum houses a collection of porcelain assembled in now-defunct local porcelain factories from Soviet times. One was run by Russians hailing…
0.18 MILES
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…
5. Latvian National Museum of History
0.2 MILES
This museum traces Latvian history from the Stone Age to the hipster age. If the exhibits have a temporary feel it's because the museum is meant to return…
6. Museum of Decorative Arts & Design
0.21 MILES
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…
0.22 MILES
A branch of the National History Museum, this exhibition involving interactive multimedia technology covers the period of the third Atmoda (national…
8. Vērmanes dārzs (Vērmanes Garden)
0.23 MILES
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,…