Latvia’s capital bursts into life in spring. As the days grow longer, Riga’s cobbled streets and medieval squares shed their winter coats and café terraces and riverside bars begin to welcome visitors once more. My advice? Go now — by the middle of May this Baltic beauty gets pretty busy, making the weeks ahead the perfect time to visit.
Get your bearings
Riga’s old town is wonderfully compact. Roughly 1km by 500m and near enough encircled by the Pilsetas Canal and the River Daugava, it’s a brilliant city to explore on foot.
Art nouveau architecture is the big draw, and there are beautiful examples on Alberta and Elizabetes streets. However, for even better buildings minus selfie-snapping hordes, just walk ten minutes east to Terbatas Street — 15-17 is stunning, 33-35 even better.
For cracking views over the city’s red rooftops (as well as exhibitions and concerts) head to St Peter’s Church to climb the city’s tallest church tower, open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays (£7.55, svpetera.lv).
The extraordinary Freedom Monument towers over the city
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Experience Soviet history
Join the charismatic tour guide Phillip Birzulis on a city tour that takes in big hitters including the extraordinary 42m-tall Freedom Monument and the brilliantly named (also beautiful) House of the Blackheads, but also takes you way off the beaten track to an unassuming timber lodge where Lenin secretly stayed. The four-hour tour concludes with a Soviet era feast inside a 1950s Stalinist building, sampling rye bread platters and small fudge delights called gotinas (£170pp, including transport, entrance fees and food, rigasights.com).
Drink like a local
No trip to Riga is complete without sampling Latvia’s answer to Bucky. First made in 1752, Black Balsam is a bitter liqueur made with 24 natural ingredients from herbs to honey. The atmospheric Black Magic Bar (blackmagic.lv) is the best place to give it a go (£4 per 40ml shot), with famously good chocolate truffles on the side. Or try the lively Armoury Bar (thearmourybar.com), with a weird collection of weapons and relics on original medieval walls, and an impressive selection of craft brews from around the world.
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Fancy something more modern with the best views in town? Try the Skyline Bar (skylinebar.lv) on the 26th floor of the Radisson Blu hotel. You’ll need to get here by dusk if you want a window table but haven’t booked.
Eat like a local
Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs is a brilliant, really atmospheric wee cellar bar just round the corner from St Peter’s Church on Peldu iela, serving Latvian classics like pork hock and rye bread, more than 30 craft beers on tap, its own cider, plus wines, spirits and cocktails — and if you time it right, folk music and dance. The place is heaving on the weekends, so book ahead. Mains and pints about £3.50, folkklubs.lv).
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Grab some coffee and culture
Coffee shops are a big deal in Riga these days, and Kalve Living Room is one of the best. For one thing, it roasts its own coffee and bakes its own pastries daily (the hazelnut cookies are worth the visit alone); for another, the cool café is directly across from the Latvian National Museum of Art (£6.70, lnmm.gov.lv). A grand baroque classical building with striking art nouveau interiors, the country’s most important gallery houses a fine collection of Latvian art.
Riga Central Market is brilliantly quirky
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Haggle for your lunch
Selling everything from pickled treats and berries to strange mushrooms and cheeses, the Riga Central Market (rigasnami.lv) is a brilliantly quirky, deliciously aromatic assault on the senses. Housed in five repurposed German zeppelin hangars by the Daugava, the market has a food hall selling everything from sushi to smoked fish. My tip? The Pelmeni stall serving fried dumplings with sour cream for less than a fiver.
The plush Tribe Riga City Centre
Where to stay
Located in the heart of the Art Nouveau District, the Tribe Riga City Centre is a bargain boutique find, with modern, plush rooms designed to maximise natural light — and an absolute snip at less than £60 per room. The hotel has a funky bar, an on-point industrial chic social hub with 24-hour snacks and drinks, plus a spa and gym that is free for guest use. B&B doubles from £59, tribehotels.com
Euan Gerry was a guest of Tribe Hotels and Riga Sights. Fly to Riga from Edinburgh from about £65 return (ryanair.com)