Things to do in Riga

A restaurant in the historic Jacob’s Barracks where three chefs cook and serve the dishes themselves. Listed in the MICHELIN Guide; cookery classes are held here too. Open daily 17–23.

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

A red-brick market hall across the river (completed in 1923), a state-protected monument that reopened after restoration in 2022. Food traders, cafés and shops, a flea market on Sundays, a one-hour gastro tour with seven tastings every Thursday at 11:00, and cookery masterclasses.

An aviation education and entertainment centre inside the Mols shopping centre. Three flight simulators: a Cessna 172, a Piper Matrix with a 180° screen, and an aerobatic plane on a motion platform with VR goggles.

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 three-day Christmas fair at the Ķīpsala exhibition hall that bills itself as the largest in the Baltics: free entry, free creative workshops in the “Rotaļnīca Quarter”, an inflatable park and the Baltic Food Zone. In 2026 it runs 11–13 December.

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.

A museum in the former St George’s Church in Old Riga. While its “Design Process” exhibition is open, children can use the Design Studio, trying ceramics, kinetics, poster design and weaving with worksheets linked to the works on display.

A tasting-menu restaurant on Elizabetes iela. The menu changes twice a year; listed in the MICHELIN Guide. Wed–Sat 17–23.

A cavernous Old Town cellar bar with affordable Latvian beers and spirits, traditional Latvian food and a changing line-up of folk bands. Open until 5 am on Fridays and Saturdays; book a table at weekends.

A multiplex in central Riga by the Central Market (formerly Kino Citadele): new releases, mostly in the original language with subtitles.

A karaoke club in the Radisson Blu Latvija hotel with professional sound and lighting, a host and backing vocals, spread over several areas. Good for birthdays and company parties. Open 22:00–06:00.

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 culture venue in Skanste, opened in 2019 in a 1903 freight-station warehouse wrapped in glass and steel. The main hall holds up to 2,000 people; concerts, shows and exhibitions.

A gastro-bar in a glass-and-steel greenhouse on the roof terrace of Galleria Riga. Cocktails built on herbs, fruit, berries and teas, a seasonal local menu and sunset views over the centre.

A boutique hotel with 36 spacious rooms in Berga Bazārs, a 19th-century quarter brought back to life by the Bergs family after independence; cafés, shops and arcades lie just beyond the courtyard. Oak floors, linen and leather, with works by Jānis Rozentāls and Jānis Tilbergs and a large collection by Ilmārs Blumbergs. Part of the MICHELIN Guide hotel selection.

A theatre founded in 1992. After a long reconstruction it returned to its historic building at Lāčplēša iela 25 in 2024.

One MICHELIN star, inside the A22 hotel. The tasting menu is built on seasonal Latvian produce; the evening begins and ends in a red lounge, and the chefs bring each course to the table and talk you through it themselves. The name honours John F. Kennedy, who visited this building at the age of 22. Thursday–Saturday evenings; booking needed.

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 concept bar from the TEIKA brewery in the Old Town, pouring beer from independent Latvian craft breweries, with a view of Riga’s historic fortifications.

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.

The spa of the Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga, with an indoor pool, saunas and a gym. Facials and wellness treatments for women and men, day-spa offers and a spa club membership; hotel guests with children can also use the Kids’ Spa.

A small cinema and gallery on Elizabetes iela screening auteur and documentary films.

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 hotel in Old Riga set in the historic Konventa Sēta quarter, whose buildings date back to the 13th century. It has 161 rooms, five spaces for meetings, seminars and celebrations, and an enclosed courtyard — practical when conference guests stay on site and want Old Riga on the doorstep.

Riga’s Orthodox cathedral in Esplanāde park, built in Neo-Byzantine style in 1876–1883 to a design by Nikolai Chagin and Robert Pflug. In Soviet times it housed a planetarium; today it is a church again, with gilded domes and a richly decorated interior.

A museum in the Laima factory building on Miera iela: the story of how chocolate is made and of the brand, whose roots go back to 1870, a comparison of chocolate types and a hot-chocolate tasting. In the creative workshop you make your own sweets and take them home in a gift box. Tickets €3–16.

A tour of the Riga Black Balsam factory in Grīziņkalns: the spirits warehouse and the building’s history, the vodka unit with its tanks and columns, the bottling line and the liqueur unit, where you hear the story of Riga Black Balsam and taste several drinks. €25, ages 18+ only; book in advance.

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 military history museum in the Powder Tower and the building attached to it in Old Riga. Founded in 1916 as the Latvian Riflemen Battalion Museum, its exhibitions trace Latvia’s military history from the Middle Ages to the present.

A puppet theatre in central Riga, founded in 1944; it moved back into its renovated building on Barona iela at the end of 2023. Shows for children and teens in Latvian and Russian, plus productions for adults.

The “Castle of Light” on the left bank of the Daugava: the national library building designed by architect Gunnar Birkerts and opened in 2014. The library was founded in 1919; the building hosts exhibitions and looks across the river to Old Riga.

The home of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet by the City Canal. The building opened in 1863 as the Riga City Theatre; today it stages operas and ballets, concerts and guest performances.

A natural history museum in central Riga with roots in the Riga Naturalists’ Society, founded in 1845. Exhibitions cover Latvia’s nature, geology, animals and plants — a good stop for families with children.

The main building of Latvia’s national art museum, on the edge of Esplanāde park. The permanent exhibition covers Latvian painting, graphic art and sculpture from the 18th century to the mid-20th; the museum grew out of the Riga City Art Gallery, which opened to the public in 1869. Tue–Thu 10–18, Fri 10–20, Sat–Sun 10–17, closed Mondays.

A drama theatre in a building from 1902, where the state of Latvia was proclaimed on 18 November 1918. Performances run in three halls, mostly in Latvian.

A museum on the 51 years in which Latvia was occupied in turn by the USSR (1940–1941), Nazi Germany (1941–1944) and the USSR again (1944–1991). Founded in 1993, it has a new interactive exhibition, with Miks the teddy bear as a guide for children. Daily 10–18, Thursdays until 19; adults €8.

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 historic Great Guild hall in the Old Town, rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style in the mid-19th century. Its concert hall is home to the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.

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.

A museum in the former Riga Stock Exchange building by Dome Square, holding Latvia’s largest collection of world art, from Ancient Egyptian objects to Asian art and European painting. Founded in 1920.

One of Old Riga’s best-known buildings, on Town Hall Square. The first house here was built in 1334 as a warehouse and a place for merchants to meet and celebrate, and from the mid-15th century it was used by the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild of unmarried merchants and foreigners. Destroyed in the Second World War, it was rebuilt at the end of the 20th century; inside you can see the halls and cellars.

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 Russian-language drama theatre in the Old Town, founded in 1883 and one of the oldest Russian theatres outside Russia.

Latvian home cooking in a vaulted Old Riga cellar, with a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand: sausages, grey peas, cepelinai potato dumplings and other traditional dishes. Tue–Sat 12–23, Sun 12–22, closed Mondays.

A gym that since November 2025 takes up the whole 6th floor of the Galleria Riga shopping centre. A large functional training zone, cardio with a view over Dzirnavu iela, a reformer Pilates studio and saunas.

The restaurant of Hotel Neiburgs, in an Art Nouveau building in Old Riga near Dome Square. Mediterranean cooking with an emphasis on fish and seafood; listed in the MICHELIN Guide.

A contemporary hotel in Old Riga on Jēkaba iela, close to the Swedish Gate. Large rooms with Old Town views, a rooftop bar and a fitness suite.

The tallest building in central Riga, with panoramic views from the upper floors: a hotel with conference halls, several restaurants, the ESPA Riga spa and the Skyline cocktail bar on the 26th floor.

An Old Riga restaurant on Skārņu iela serving modern Latvian cuisine from local, seasonal produce — meat, fish and vegetarian dishes with a wine list to match, on a menu by chef Vadims Jevsejevs. Gift options include a gift card (from €20) or dinner for two: a three-course chef’s choice or a modern Latvian dinner.

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

A themed Old Town bar built around Riga Black Balsam: Black Balsam cocktails, chocolate and pastries.

A hotel on Ķīpsala on the bank of the Daugava, with river-facing rooms, a rooftop terrace and a generous breakfast; handy for business trips, with Old Riga across the river and the Ķīpsala exhibition hall nearby.

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 historic circus building in central Riga, now a stage for contemporary circus — productions by Latvian and visiting international companies — and family shows such as the Christmas programme in December.

The largest medieval church in the Baltics, built from 1211. The Dome organ (1884) has more than 6,700 pipes; organ and choir concerts are held regularly.

A museum on Alberta iela devoted to Art Nouveau, the style that shapes much of central Riga. Opened in 2009, it is set in the apartment of architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns, restored to its early-20th-century look. The street itself is one of Riga’s showcases of Art Nouveau architecture.

The largest collection of historic vehicles in the Baltics: more than 100 cars and motorcycles over three floors and 4,000 m², from a replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen to Soviet-era and Kremlin cars and racing cars. Interactive displays, a children’s play zone and a café. Open Tue–Sun 10–18; adult ticket €12.

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.

An Old Riga museum holding about 8,000 porcelain pieces from the mid-19th to the late 20th century, with porcelain making and painting workshops — for example pressing textures into a small porcelain dish (from age 6). Pieces are ready a few weeks later; booking required.

One of Riga’s oldest churches, first mentioned in the chronicles in 1209 and Lutheran since 1523. Its spire has collapsed and burned several times, most recently in 1941, and was rebuilt in 1973. A lift takes you up to the tower’s viewing gallery for a view over Old Riga.

The oldest museum in the Baltics, which began in 1773 as the private collection of Riga doctor Nikolaus von Himsel. It sits in the Riga Cathedral ensemble in Old Riga and holds the largest collection on the history of Riga and its shipping.

A medieval-themed restaurant in an Old Riga cellar that, the restaurant says, once held Riga’s oldest wine cellar. Carved columns, worn wooden chairs and staff in period dress; the menu leans on game such as venison stew and hare. Mon–Thu 12–23, Fri–Sun 12–23:30.

A 50-metre pool for serious swimmers and beginners alike. Swimming lessons for kids and adults, plus a gym, sauna and climbing wall.

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.

The restaurant of the Grand Palace Hotel in Old Riga, with menus inspired by painters. Chef Timofei Monahhov received the MICHELIN Young Chef Award in the 2026 guide. Mon–Sat 17–22.