Together in Latvia, you can find 9 cities and 67 towns. That makes 76 beautiful places to visit! But as we know, in ordinary vacation (1 – 2 week) we don’t want to rush and visit all 76 towns. Luckily I have visited more than 60 (!!!) towns. And in every town or city, I spent not less than 2 days. In some – even a month or more. Incredible, right?! And this experience I want to share with you, my dear reader!
I found on the internet a lot of blog posts where bloggers talk about best or most beautiful towns in Latvia but unfortunately, not all of them have really visited these places. So I decided not only to make an ordinary post, but I did one step further – I made a survey with a question to call the best Latvias towns and cities worth to visit! In the survey participated more than 500 people who live or have lived or have traveled around Latvia. They said what they think and I totally agree with them! All towns are already ranked in the right order but my summary and map with all 7 towns, you can find at the end of this post.
1. RĪGA
Of course, first and the main worth-to-visit Latvias city is Riga. It’s the capital of Latvia and the biggest city also in Baltic states. Rigas historical heart – Old Center is especially famous because of the Art Nouveau / Jugendstil architecture. It’s a medieval masterpiece near the Baltic Sea, also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List! You can find there amazing buildings and medieval churches, green parks, and romantic city canal, restaurants with traditional Latvian food (for example ‘’LIDO’’) and bars with the best Latvian homemade beer. I can just say, there aren’t any questions – why not to visit Riga.
2. KULDĪGA
The next leader is a small town 150km from the capital – Kuldiga! Actually, there aren’t a lot of things what to do, but it’s the perfect place for long walks, unusual swimming, lazy afternoon and beautiful views. Kuldiga is famous with Europes widest (about 270m) waterfall ’’Ventas Rumba’’, the prettiest 19th-century brick bridge and the 13th-century old town center. But of course, the most interesting part of Kuldiga always was and is the widest waterfall ’’Ventas Rumba’’ but it’s really worth to visit! In spring you can see there a phenomenon as ‘’Flying Fish’’ or in another words – fish jumping over waterfall; in summer you can take a swim and explore the waterfall by yourself; in autumn catch the best photos of ‘’Ventas Rumba’’ with the most colourfull tree leaves in the background; but in winter – see how amazing it looks white and frozen. I think Kuldiga is one of the prettiest Latvias towns.
3. CĒSIS
Cesis is one of the oldest and most beautiful towns in Latvia (and I can say – also in Baltics)! It’s located about 100km from Riga and is definitely on my worth-to-visit list TOP3! Cesis is the only town where I can feel a medieval atmosphere and see one of the best-preserved medieval castles. The Cesis Medieval Castle is the town’s symbol. Together with a green park, cute bridges, beautiful arbor and pond it creates a very romantic and unforgettable atmosphere! It’s also one of the picturesque places for a wedding day! This culturally and historically rich town takes a full day because there are so much to explore! Don’t miss it!
4. SIGULDA
Sigulda is a town located only 50km away from Riga center but mostly people are visiting this place in autumn. Have you ever heard about the golden autumn in Latvia? If not, then you need to visit Sigulda just right in October! Then trees leaves changes their colors to red, orange and yellow but Sigulda offers hill with a view to Gauja river and colorful forests. Luckily, nature isn’t everything that Sigulda is having! You can visit Siguldas Medieval Castle, Turaida Castle and New Castle, visit red sandstone Gutmanis Cave (in Latvian – Gūtmaņa ala), fly over the river valley on Sigulda cable car, try bungee jumping and other extreme and interesting attractions, catch the most colorful photos and impress your friends and family! And that’s all in this small town only one hour drive from Riga airport!
5. LIEPĀJA
As Latvians says, it’s the city where the wind was born. Liepaja you can find 220km from Riga, just right on the Baltic Sea. As it’s not located in sea bay but at the open sea, this city has taken the windiest cities status. Beside of wind, Liepaja is the 3rd largest city and the only city in Latvia to where you can get from Riga by air, land, and sea! You don’t need to drive hours by bus! Take your ticket in AirBaltic and visit Liepajas 3km long Seaside park, big mirroring Liepaja letters, the golden sand beach, and the Baltic Sea, old center and the largest military territory – Karaosta. In Karaosta you can find in Europe the only one military prison open to tourists. And even more – you can stay there at the night, get an exclusive excursion, watch a historical film, hear horror stories and feel a special atmosphere. Karaosta attracts people from all over Europe because the experience is very unique!
6. VENTSPILS
Ventspils is a city situated on the Venta River and the Baltic Sea. It is located 180km from Riga and is known for its port and cows. Yes, you heard me right – cows! Thanks to money from port transit, Ventspils has invested a lot of money to make this city beautiful. There are excellent roads, green parks, attractions for children, monument rich promenade, beautiful mole and the Cow Parades – large and colorful cow figures throughout the city. You can meet there and take photos with more than 25 different and most amazing cow figures and that’s something very unique! Also, you can in Ventspils visit Adventure Park with more than 40 fun activities and drive with Narrow-Gauge Railway Track (in Latvian – Mazbānītis). No wonder that children call this place a paradise!
7. JŪRMALA
For the 7th worth-to-visit place in my post was fighting many towns and cities. There are a lot of small treasures in the Latvian countryside and a lot of forgotten towns and places. But this post and list I will end with one of the most visited cities in Latvia. And that’s Jurmala! It’s only located 20km from Riga and that makes all Rigans visit this resort city as oft as possible! But Russian tourists are like crazy visiting this city for more than 50 years. It’s a place for swimming, sunbathing, eating, drinking, relaxing and enjoying life! Jurmala is the largest resort city in Latvia. Unique with its 25km long golden sand beach, Baltic sea, green parks, and fresh air. It’s a Latvias paradise!
SUMMARY
Not all of these cities are in my TOP-list but I really wanted to make this post not only trusting on my experience but also to include more than 500 people opinions. And the results for me are very interesting. Most of the 7 cities I really love, but something was also missing for me and that’s Daugavpils – the second largest and one of my most favorite cities! But anyway, also without this 7-town-list there are hundreds of beautiful and amazing places to visit in Latvia. And poll results show it very good. Good places get also cities and towns like Alūksne, Kolka, Daugavpils, Līgatne, Jelgava, Valmiera, Tērvete and more and more and more.
But if you would ask ONLY my opinion, I would call you my TOP4 – Jurmala, Kuldiga, Cesis, and Daugavpils. Without visiting those treasures, please, don’t leave Latvia!
If you are interested to know about me more, see my daily life, read about my travels, experience stories and tips, you are more than welcome to follow me on my other social platforms below:
My blog ''My Small Travel Guide'' has all that you want and need to know about traveling in Europe without quitting your job and taking credits. Travel tips. Cheap flights. Good food. And more in https://mysmalltravelguide.com/
My daily life in Berlin, what I do and what I like you can see in my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandra.ans/
Newest posts and actual information about my blog in twitter https://twitter.com/small_guide/
And also don't forget to follow my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mysmalltravelguide/