Things to do in Riga

Sightseeing flights over Riga from Spilve airfield in a Cessna 172 with room for 2–3 passengers. A typical flight lasts 30 minutes.

Official bathing site on Lake Bābelīte in Riga. Awarded a Blue Flag for 2026. The Health Inspectorate tests the water regularly during the bathing season.

A 42 m monument unveiled in 1935 in honour of the soldiers who fell in the War of Independence, by sculptor Kārlis Zāle. The granite, travertine and copper composition is crowned by a woman holding up three stars, and it is a symbol of Latvia’s freedom and independence. An honour guard stands at its foot.

Official bathing site: a beach on the Gulf of Riga in Riga. Awarded a Blue Flag for 2026. The Health Inspectorate tests the water regularly during the bathing season.

The rental point of a Latvian outdoor-shop chain, in Pārdaugava. It hires out touring and mountain bikes with helmets, child seats and bike bags, plus hiking kit — tents, sleeping bags, mats, backpacks, dry bags, stoves, cookware, lamps, camping furniture and trekking poles. Gear can be booked online and also collected at Gandrs points in Valmiera or Liepāja; the longer the rental, the lower the daily price.

A late-19th-century villa turned culture venue. In summer there is live music in the courtyard every week, the M/Darbnīca bar-club gives artists a stage, and the hip-hop club De Flou is on the villa square.

A quarter of restored 19th-century wooden houses across the river. On Saturdays 10:00–16:00 there is a market of local producers and craftspeople with free workshops for kids, and seasonal festivals bring concerts, exhibitions and open-air plays.

Official bathing site on the Daugava in Riga. The Health Inspectorate tests the water regularly during the bathing season.

Riga’s first “Kiwi pub”: a big bar with Latvian and foreign beers, sport on several screens, pub food and a summer terrace.

A museum in a former locomotive repair shop in Pārdaugava, holding the largest collection of broad-gauge rolling stock in the Baltics. On set days children can climb into historic trains such as the ER2 electric train and the TE3 diesel locomotive, ride a hand-pumped draisine in summer and join school-holiday workshops.

One of Europe’s oldest open-air museums, founded in 1924, in pine woods on the shore of Lake Jugla. More than a hundred historic rural buildings — farmsteads, churches, windmills and bathhouses — have been brought here from every region of Latvia; in summer craftspeople work on site and there are festivals and fairs.

A LIDO restaurant complex: a timber building with a windmill on Krasta iela serving Latvian food. It opened in 1999, with its first guests arriving for the millennium New Year, and added an amusement park and a skating rink in 2003.

The University of Latvia’s botanical garden in Zasulauks, with a palm house and a Tropical Butterfly House where, from spring to autumn, blue morphos, owl butterflies and other exotic species fly among banana and coffee trees and orchids. The butterfly house opens daily 10:00–16:00 with a garden ticket.

Official bathing site on the Daugava in Riga. The Health Inspectorate tests the water regularly during the bathing season.

The main stage of the Song and Dance Festival in Mežaparks, held here since 1955. After the first phase of reconstruction (2018) it seats about 30,000, and Latvia’s biggest summer concerts take place here.

A lit 3.5 km cross-country trail in Mežaparks plus the paths around it. Equipment rental at Kokneses prospekts 39; the park is open around the clock, with cafés nearby.

A sports and leisure complex near Baldone: ski slopes in winter, a tree-top obstacle course and a zipline in summer.

Wakeboarding and SUP on the Daugava at Zaķusala, a few minutes from the centre. Also suitable for kids.

One of Europe’s largest markets: five pavilions rebuilt from First World War zeppelin hangars, plus an outdoor trading area. Meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, bread and spices; inside the pavilions there are places to eat Latvian dishes, fish, grills and craft beer. Pavilions 7:30–18, outdoor market 7–18.

The zoo in Mežaparks by Lake Ķīšezers covers around 20 hectares and keeps thousands of animals of several hundred species, from giraffes and lions to red pandas. The tropical house is home to birds, reptiles, frogs and insects, and there is also a country branch, Cīruļi, in Kurzeme. Tram 11 takes you there.

Official bathing site: a beach on the Gulf of Riga in Saulkrasti. Awarded a Blue Flag for 2026. The Health Inspectorate tests the water regularly during the bathing season.

Riga’s public outdoor ice rink in Esplanāde park by the Rainis monument. Free with your own skates; skate hire €2.49 an hour for adults and €2 for children. Weekdays 11–22, weekends 9–22 (ice-care breaks 13–14, 16–17 and 19–20). Open from December to 1 March, weather permitting.

Three neighbouring houses on Mazā Pils iela that form the oldest complex of dwelling houses in Riga. Each house represents a different period of house-building; the buildings are home to the Latvian Museum of Architecture.

A free cross-country ski trail in Pārdaugava with artificial snow, instructors and equipment rental (€4 an hour for children, €5 for adults). On sunny days about 200 people use the rental point.