SECRETS OF RIGA. INSIDER'S GUIDE

Accomodation in Riga

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Riga offers a wide choice of accomodation. If money is no object, you can choosefrom an ever growing number of luxury hotels, many conveniently situated in the Old Town. For budget travellers there are some very acceptable options too: some of these are located away from the centre but most are on tram routes, which makes getting into the Old Town an easy and relatively quick matter.

Do you need to book accomodation in advance? Particularly in the summer period, it is definitely advisable to book well ahead if you want a room in a particular price range or location. You will always find somewhere to stay in Riga , but it may not be exactly what you want if you have not arranged it in advance. There is tourist service bureaue "Welcome to Riga" at Riga International Airport (the Arrivals Sector E, where you can get information or even book rooms in the hotels in Riga or Jurmala, hostels or apartments in the Old Town, in the centre of Riga. There are also plenty of telephones if you want to find a hotel yourself before going into town.

An alternative to staying in Riga, particularly in summer, is to book a hotel in nearby Jurmala, Riga's seaside resort. Jurmala is about 20 minutes from Riga by car and about 40 minutes by train. Jurmala has some attractive and recently restored small hotels, as well as larger hotels with views over the Gulf of Riga. However, if you have only a few days in Riga, you probably won't want to travel backwards and forwards every day.

Prices at Riga hotels are oftrn quoted in euros on websites or brochures but you will always need to make payment in lats. The rates quoted by hotels generally include a buffet breakfast and VAT, unless otherwise specified.

All the quality hotels take credit cards. In practice, there tends to be little difference between prices for single rooms and prices for doubles, and single travellers will often be given a double room anyway.

If you book directly, a double room in a luxury hotel will cost from 120 euros upwards, from 60 euros in a first class hotel, and from around 40 euros in a tourist-class hotel. Rooms in budget hotels can be found for 25 euros upwards, while dormitory beds in hostels can be found from 9 euros per person. Note that the prices quoted for superior hotels are maximum rates. If you book your holiday through a tour operator you will benefit from lower package rates. Discounts are also offered by some chains if you book hotels in Riga and Vilnius or Tallinn at the same time. As ever, it always worth checking internet booking agencies for special offers.

Getting To Riga and Away

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The majority of visitors from countries in Europe or from the Americas are likely to travel by air.

By air

From the UK, Air Baltic operates direct daily flights from London Gatwick to Riga. The flight takes about two and a half hours. Ryanair also operates a daily service from Stansted to Riga. The flight leaves Stansted at 17.20 and arrives in Riga at 21.55, but the return flight is less convenient, leaving Riga at 22.20 and arriving at Stansted at 22.55. Ryanair also has regular flights to Riga from Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and East Midlands. Wizz Air flies regurarly to Riga from London Luton.

There are also regular flights to Riga from Aalesund, Amsterdam, Antalya, Athens, Baku, Barcelona, Bari, Bergen, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Budapest, Chisinau, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Eindhoven, Gdansk, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istambul, Kaliningrad, Karlsruhe - Baden-Baden, Kaunas, Kiev, Lappeenranta, Madrid, Milan, Minsk, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Odessa, Oslo, Oulu, New York, Palanga, Paris, Prague, Rome, Rovaniemi, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Stavanger, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tampere, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Trondheim, Turku, Umea, Vaasa, Venice, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw and Zurich.

Fares fluctuate frequently and for short-break visitors it is often cheaper to book package than flights and hotels separately. The lowest fares are usually available in winter, spring and autumn, but invariably increase over Christmas and Easter. To secure reasonable prices in the summer, it is important to book well in advance. Riga has become popular a weekend destination.

For travellers from the USA, SAS and Finnair offer good connections via Copenhagen and Stockholm, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines via Frankfurt and Brussels. Given the very low fares usually available to London from the USA and Canada, it may often be cheaper to break the journey in London and take separate package from there. Via London is always the best route for tourists from Australia and New Zealand, as well as from South Africa.

Airline internet addresses/ telephone numbers in Riga as follows:

Aeroflot: phone (+371) 67240228, www.aeroflot.lv

airBaltic: phone (+371) 90001100 (within Latvia only at LVL 0.37 per minute), +370 5 2356000 (Vilnius, Lithuania), www.airbaltic.lv

Czech Airlines: phone (+371) 67207636, www.czechairlines.lv

Estonian Air: www.estonianair.com

Finnair: phone (+371) 67207010, www.finnair.com

Iberia Express: www.iberiaexpress.com

LOT: ph. (+371) 67207113, www.lot.com

Lufthansa: phone (+371) 67507711, www.lufthansa.com

Norwegian: www.norwegian.no

Ryanair: www.ryanair.com

Transaero: www.transaero.com

Turkish Airlines: phone (+371) 67210094, www.turkishairlines.com

UTair: Lidosta"Rīga" , 3rd floor, LV-1053, Latvia, www.utair.ru, phones (+371) 67 303 077, (+371) 67 860 300 (ticket sales), fax: (+371) 67 207 075, utair@utair.lv

Uzbekistan Airways: phone (+371) 67324563, www.uzairways.com

Wizz Air: wizzair.com

By train

It is less likely that you will choose to tavel to Riga by train unless you are using the train to travel from Moscow or St.Petersburg. The train journey from Moscow to Riga takes about 12,5 hours; from St.Petersburg to Riga 12 hours. All trains to Riga arrive in Riga Central Station (centrālā stacija) which is a short walk from the Old Town. International trains arrive at platform 2. There are automatic luggage lockers below the Central Hall. The price is Ls 0,50 to Ls 1,00 per day - 04.30 to midnight. There are currency exchanges in tunnels A and B and banks to the left and right of the Central Hall, as well as several money withdrawal machines.

By coach

The bus station in Riga is next to the railway station. The left-liggage office is open 05.30 to midnight (Ls 0,20/0,40 an hour, and Ls 0,10 per extra hour). The bus station is quite close to the Old Town. Tram 7 stops in front of the vus station and is only one stop from the centre.

By sea

There are regular ferries from Stockholm to Riga. The ferry terminal is around 1 km to the north of the Old Town. There is a money exchange bureau in the terminal (09.00 - 18.00). To get to the Old Town, take tram number 5 or 7 from Ausekļa iela for two stops.

By car

If you decide to drive you should take an international driving licence. It is probably wiser to hire a car locally.

Shopping in Riga: the best retail therapy and what to buy in Riga

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Many shops in Riga are packed into its city centre. Sure that you can take your time to browse before committing to a purchase. This is particularly advisable when it comes to the hand-knitted woolens for which Latvia is famous. As we have rather cold winters these things are very popular among locals. Every autumn I myself go to my friend knitter that sells her woolens at the Central Market to buy pair or two of wool socks and mittens. But you can also trawl the many carts that pepper Vecrīga (the Old Town), where the stall owners can often be seen knitting new additions to their stock, or check out stores like Tines at Vāgnera iela 5 ("iela" in Latvian means "street"). One more interesting shop, which is located in the Old Town, was created by knitting enthusiasts of "www.uzadi.lv". If you like traditional or fashion knitwears you can visit the shop "Hobbywool" at Mazā Pils iela 6.
For more modern souvenirs made by the Latvian craftsmen you can drop in a cozy arts and crafts shop "Rozes Bode" at Teātra iela 4, which showcases products by Latvian designers.
Here you can find everything. Nice and soft things like these:

Soft toys

Loving soaps like these:

Loving soaps

And hundreds of other hand-made things like juwelry, photographs of Latvia today, paintings, graphics, hand-made candles, wooden toys, greeting cards, linen clothing and knitting, leather, ceramics and glass, etc.

"Rozes Bode" showcase

Even more compact shopping experience can be found at Bergs Bazaar. Its warren-like are the place to find Latvian contemporary art at the Arte gallery, fashion store and art exibition in one place at Proud2B, apparel at OT Ogres trikotāža. On the second and the fourth Saturday of each month,the Bazaar hosts a Slow Food Farmer's market and the only covered outdoor antique market in Riga. The markets are open from 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Here you can not only see, but also taste and buy local, traditional and seasonal produce and products: cheeses, black bread, honey, meats and cakes.

Arts and crafts market at Berga Bazaar

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On the second and the fourth Saturday of each month,the Bazaar hosts a Slow Food Farmer's market and the only covered outdoor antique market in Riga. The markets are open from 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Here you can not only see, but also taste and buy local, traditional and seasonal produce and products: cheeses, black bread, honey, meats and cakes.

5 Best Coffee Stops in Riga

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In fact, there were always plenty of places in Riga, where you could drink a cup of good coffee and taste a freshly baked, delicious pastries. Even during the Soviet era "melnā kafija" ( black coffee) was very tasty and made from coffee beans, if only not brewed from once already used grounds... Sorry for such reminiscences :)) Already at that time Riga was called the little Paris. I think it was mainly because of Riga cafes, pattisseries and its coffee culture...

I am a coffee fan myself. I always start my mornings with freshly brewed expresso. I am always happy to discover new settings in Riga to enjoy a cup of coffee. It is not so hard since coffee is served everywhere - outdoor cafes in parks and squares, coffee shops, bars, indoor cafes and restaurants.

I remember my trip to China where I desperately tried to find a cup of good coffee. In most cases always riant and ready to help Chinese waiters served me with one, but the taste of this brown liquid made me to switch to tea drinking. From that time I am also a great fan of Chineese tea ceremony :)

I shall not go here into deep details about coffee as a drink. The list is not about the popular beverage so much as the experience and the taste of the city. Tastes differ, of course, but all places usually offer good coffee, friendly service and cosy and relaxed atmosphere. Here's a few of my favourite Riga destinations to stop, sit, relax, watch and savour the city:

1. My great discovery was V.Kuze Cafe in Old Riga. I felt as if this place was created specially for me. I like its atmosphere of the 1930th, achieved by well thought-out and elegant decorations and original period furniture. Friendly wait staff in "vintage" clothing of the interwar period enhances the feeling of the old good times. Cafe serves good coffee, gourmet chocolates, delicious tortes and cakes, offers nice views over Riga Castle, the small park surrounded by the Bank of Latvia and the Arsenāls buildings.

Old Riga, 20/22, Jekaba str.