Produced by Virtuoso with Latvia Travel
March 17, 2025
Old Town Riga highlights include the medieval Riga Cathedral, Saint Peter’s Church, and Riga castle. Getty Images
The medieval castles, relaxing saunas, and lush forests are all yours.
Across the Baltic Sea from Sweden, nestled between Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia offers all the appeal of classic European destinations – history-rich cities, natural beauty, and cultural treasures – with a fraction of the crowds. “It’s a little bit of a blind spot on the map of Europe for most American travelers,” says Virtuoso travel advisor Lance M. Gilliam, who regularly visits Latvia.
Virtuoso advisor Katharine Christmas, who returns to the country frequently to visit family, adds, “I recommend Latvia to travelers who enjoy authentic culture and are looking for a new-to-them European destination.”
Summer is a great time to experience the welcoming country: Latvians are known for their devotion to music and nature, both of which come together during Ligo, the centuries-old summer solstice celebration. The revelry takes place across the country on June 23 and 24, with bonfires, singing, dancing, wreath weaving, and plenty of time spent outdoors. But beyond the annual affair, there are plenty of ways to soak up Europe’s under-the-radar escape. Read on for a few ideas.
Settle into Riga, Latvia’s Charming Capital City
Most Latvia trips begin in the capital, Riga, which has flourished since the Middle Ages, as reflected in its well-preserved, UNESCO World Heritage-designated Old Town. The architectural riches continue: The city is also home to some 800 art nouveau buildings – the world’s greatest concentration of structures in the 1890-1914 design style – most located in the pedestrian center. “Riga has huge nineteenth-century boulevards that feel a little like Paris,” Gilliam says. “It’s like a layer cake of different centuries in one relatively small capital.”
Its size belies its power as a cultural stronghold: Riga is home to the renowned Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet – where dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov got his start – and the Latvian National Museum of Art, housing more than 52,000 Baltic artworks. Gilliam recommends travelers stay at the 141-room Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, a 12-minute walk from the museum, for its palatial grace, opulent rooms with views of the National Opera house, and easy access to city attractions, including Old Town, Riga castle, and idyllic Bastejkalna Park. The hotel’s rooftop Stage22 bar and restaurant is a great spot for post-opera cocktails with city views.
Riga is home to Europe’s largest market, the Riga Central Market, housed in five 1920s military hangars a block from the Daugava River. The market’s stalls showcase an array of Latvian-grown produce, beer and wine, homemade goods, and regional cuisine such as farmhouse cheeses, rye bread, and freshly smoked eel. Look for fruit and berry wines from Abavas, Europe’s northernmost vineyard, and stop for a sample of Riga Black Balsam, a liqueur first made in 1752 from 24 botanicals. Try more brews nearby in the Riga Beer District, home to ten craft breweries and pubs.
Shop for handmade ceramics, homeware, and other Latvian goods inside Pienene.Latvia Travel
Shop for Latvian-Made Souvenirs
For a taste of modern Latvian style, Riga design shops such as Riija and Pienene hew to Scandinavian-inspired minimalism in their linen textiles and clothes, beauty products, furniture, homewares, and lighting. Pienene’s in-house café is a great place to grab a cup of forest-berry tea and socialize with the craftspeople and artisans who often frequent the locale.
In Old Town, travelers can try on wool scarves and sweaters woven on an authentic wooden loom at Galerija ETMO – wool and linen feature prominently in Latvia’s traditional folk culture. At M50, peruse jewelry, ceramics, candles, textiles, and books by more than 100 Latvian designers and artists. And Christmas recommends seeking out amber and silver jewelry: “The jewelry has a lot of pagan symbols that make it cool and unique.”
An hour’s drive outside the capital, Sigulda, a popular rural getaway, is a great shopping destination for jewelry. At the Baltu Rotas workshop, peruse leather goods, carved and branded walking sticks, natural perfumes, and ceramic dishware, and learn how to make your own pendant under the guidance of local artisans.
Latvian spa and sauna experiences focus on relaxation and detoxifcation. Latvia Travel
Soak Up (and Sweat Out) Latvia’s Sauna Culture
“Americans think of a sauna as a luxury experience, but it’s such a central aspect of social and community life in Latvia,” Gilliam says. “There’s a big focus on the use of traditional plants and oils.”
Latvian farms traditionally included a bathhouse – or pirts in Latvian – and faith in the healing powers of heat and water still fires the sauna culture. Sauna-goers swat themselves with tree twigs (for aromatherapy and exfoliation) before jumping in a cool pool or lake for vascular benefits.
Your Virtuoso travel advisor can arrange a Latvian-style wellness excursion, from Riga’s sleek saunas to the rustic bathhouses in Sigulda and Jurkalne. Some spas in Riga, such as Taka Spa and the spa at the Kempinski, offer post-sauna massage and facial treatments. Or, for one of the most authentic doses of Latvian sauna culture, travelers can venture four hours to the easternmost Latgale region, where bathing rituals revolve around black saunas, which feature an ancient design that excludes chimneys, leaving the space full of smoke that’s believed to disinfect and purify the body.
The Rundale Palace gets its name from the German “Ruhenthal,” meaning “Valley of Peace.”Latvia Travel
Day-Trip to Latvia’s Fairy-Tale Towns
Latvia’s countryside and its castles, palaces, and manor homes (some refashioned as hotels) beg for exploration – and they’re easy to access from Riga. In the Gauja River Valley near Sigulda, the restored Turaida Castle encompasses a 100-acre museum reserve that includes monuments, sculptures, and medieval landmarks dating to the eleventh century. Latvians love visiting in the fall, peak time for the fiery foliage surrounding Gauja National Park.
An hour’s drive from Riga, southern Latvia’s Rundale Palace, with its lavish eighteenth-century interiors and 25-acre French garden, is often compared to Versailles. Spend a few hours exploring the palace before heading to nearby Bauska to see the fifteenth-century ruins at the Bauska Castle Museum, before stopping into Mezs Kungs for traditional Latvian cuisine.
The medieval town of Cesis, an hour’s drive east of Riga, grew around the imposing Cesis fortress, which traces its origins to 1214. Travelers can wander through the Cesis Castle’s well-preserved ruins, walk along the hills and ravines of its surrounding park, and visit the castle’s manor-house museum.
Trek Through the Country’s Wild Side
Forests cover more than half of Latvia, and the country’s four national parks preserve a variety of landscapes from dunes to bogs to coastlines. In the northeast, Gauja National Park’s sandstone cliffs and caves beckon hikers. In the northwest, boardwalks in Kemeri National Park’s Great Kemeri Bog draw birders into a biodiverse world straddling the aquatic and terrestrial. “It’s a unique landscape that even experienced hikers and outdoor enthusiasts may not have seen before,” Gilliam says.
Virtuoso advisor (and frequent Latvia visitor) Galina Bubennonva recommends Cape Kolka in Slitere National Park, a two-hour drive from Riga. There, the Baltic Sea meets the Gulf of Riga, and the area protects a thriving ecosystem of dunes and wetlands filled with rare plants.
