What to see in Riga?
Are you dreaming of a trip to the Baltic countries? Start with Latvia’s capital city – Riga offers numerous attractions and captivates with its unique atmosphere. Whether you are planning a one-day trip or a longer holiday, Riga is the perfect destination. Check out in our article what this largest Latvian city has to offer and join a tour with our guide!
Riga – what is worth seeing on your trip?
The Latvian capital impresses with its mediaeval Old Town, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Riga’s Old Town charms with its narrow streets and beautiful townhouses, churches and monuments. It is worth mentioning that the city lies on the European Brick Gothic Route.
Tourists are keen to visit Riga’s religious buildings, especially the 13th-century Riga Cathedral, which is the largest mediaeval church in the Baltics. Also noteworthy is St Peter’s Church built in the early 13th century, from its towers you can admire the city skyline.
Among the symbols of Riga is also the House of the Blackhead Brotherhood, located in the Old Town. This 14th-century Gothic-style building was the headquarters of an association of wealthy German merchants. Other famous tourist attractions include the Teutonic Castle in Riga. Since 1995, the building has served as the presidential residence and is also home to several museums. When visiting Riga, one should not miss a visit to the Cat House, a building from 1909 located in Riga’s Old Town. The name refers to the sculptures of two cats placed in the side turrets of the building. It is these sculptures that contributed to the saying about turning the cat’s tail.
Riga’s city centre also impresses with its Art Nouveau-style buildings. The city experienced a huge boom at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when this style of architecture reigned supreme. Over 750 Art Nouveau townhouses were built back then! A visit to Riga will therefore be a real treat for architecture lovers!
One of Riga’s most recognisable landmarks is the so-called Stalin’s Birthday Cake, the Skyscraper of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, which was built on the model of Stalin’s Seven Sisters – seven skyscrapers in Moscow built on the dictator’s orders. Riga’s famous landmarks also include the Freedom Monument, which stood on the site of the monument to Tsar Peter the Great in 1935.
Free walking tour – Riga with a professional, local guide
Looking for a guide to show you the most important sites of Latvia’s capital city? Take a free walking tour of Riga with Walkative! You won’t have to look for the main attractions yourself, our guide will take you to all of them and tell you about them in a fascinating way. Individual tourists, couples, families and small groups of friends are welcome on a walking tour of Riga. Deciding on a free tour with Walkative! you are the one to price the guide’s work and commitment – there is no predetermined price for the tour, just sign up through our website, come to the meeting place and at the end reward him/her with the amount of your choice. Riga is just one of the many locations you can visit together with us. Walkative! guides will also show you other European capitals such as Warsaw, Bucharest, Prague, Bratislava, Zagreb or Sarajevo.