Things to do in Vidzeme

A restaurant in Sigulda in a timber building with a wooden-shingle roof beside an apple orchard. Latvian and European dishes, grilled food all year round, fish and desserts, and a wide wine selection including bottles from its own cellar. Daily 12–23 (orders until 22).

A Neo-Baroque palace built in 1896 for Baron Paul von Wolff, a four-star hotel since 2003, with antique furniture, fireplaces and tiled stoves. A nature spa with massages, saunas and a pool, and a castle restaurant cooking with local produce, including fish from the castle pond.

A country manor in Kārļi near the Amata valley in Cēsu municipality. It has a 100 m² restaurant hall, 15 rooms, a garden terrace, a separate house by the cherry garden, an apple orchard and a historic park — suited to a small company retreat, seminar or celebration in the countryside.

A mid-19th-century manor complex above the ancient Gauja valley in Gauja National Park. The great hall with balcony seats 60 and the conference hall with salon 30, with extra rooms for group work; it sleeps up to 100 guests in summer and 60 in winter. Café Milly is on site and the terrace looks out over the Gauja valley.

The University of Latvia’s recreation and conference centre in Līgatne parish, about an hour’s drive from Riga. The grounds hold six restored historic buildings, accommodation for 150 and pitches for football, basketball, volleyball and croquet, with room for outdoor events of several thousand people.

A restored Neoclassical manor and architectural monument, now a design hotel with 22 rooms, a restaurant and bar, massages and a conference room. Walk or cycle in the park, or take a boat out on the manor pond.

A museum at Dunte Manor, where Baron Munchausen lived with his wife Jacobine: wax figures, weapons and hunting trophies, distorting mirrors and a shooting gallery. In the forest there is a trail with 55 wooden sculptures (1–4.3 km), a 1 km path to “Munchausen’s Beer Mug” and an amusement ship.

A wooden Baroque manor house built in 1731–1732 for Lieutenant General Balthasar von Campenhausen; the Campenhausen family owned the estate from 1728 to 1939. One of the few such well-preserved 18th-century wooden manor ensembles in Latvia.

A craft brewery on a manor estate just outside Valmiera. The 1.5–2 hour tour covers the estate’s history and brewing from raw grain to finished beer, shows antique tools and ends with unfiltered beer tastings. The Beer Kitchen serves seasonal Latvian food such as fish from Lake Burtnieks and pork marinated in winter beer; summer beer garden, shop and rooms for parties.

A lakeside resort on Lake Lilaste with a hotel, restaurant and bar, sauna and jacuzzi, gym, bike hire and rooms for celebrations and conferences. The restaurant sells gift cards (from €30).

A leisure complex in Tīnūži parish, Ogre municipality, with four event venues: up to 200 people indoors and up to 2,000 outdoors. The 6-hectare “Valley of Four Winds” hosts outdoor events and sports games, and there is accommodation and catering on site.

Laser tag on a former military site in Sigulda. In the underground bunker a team of up to four searches dark corridors to find and disarm a self-destruct device; above ground there are several outdoor arenas with themed quests. Children can play with an instructor; there are showers and a picnic spot with a grill. Booking required.

A five-star spa hotel in Amatciems between forests and lakes that calls itself Latvia’s first eco-village spa hotel. Turkish and Finnish saunas, a hot tub overlooking the pond, a chlorine-free pool, a shungite room, sauna rituals with a sauna master and massages; open to day visitors too.

Paintball and laser tag run by game leaders with military experience. Five playing areas, one of them indoors and open all year. Groups of 4–25, about two hours per game; equipment and 400 balls each are included. A guest house with a sauna is nearby.