Hi Tracy

There are a few posts HERE and HERE.

Hope that helps.

Pippy

Hi Tracy,

When are you going? I am going 1st March and if after that date, I will hapily provide any info.

Hi Becky,

We are staying 26/27 Feb so just before you. I have to be in the office on 28th Feb so if I can post anything that will halp you I will !

Tracy

Tracy, I look forward to your quick reply. I am having difficulty getting currency and would be grateful if you could confirm location of any cashpoint at Riga airport - so I can pay for the taxi to the hotel!!!!

Thanks in advance

Hi Becky,

Got back late last night and can tell you that the cash machine is straight ahead when you emerge into the arrivals hall. Not sure why but there was a huge queue at the bureau de change but not a single person at the ATM - I had my cash in 30 seconds!

You won't need much - we took 150 lats for 2 days but ended up back at the airport with 40 left over.

Bitterly cold at the moment (-7) so wrap up really warm and hats, scarves and gloves are essential. So cold really you only want to be outside for a maximum of an hour. We just kept on popping into bars and coffee shops. When we left it was snowing again so take nice thick soled boots as the cobblestones in the old town can be slippy.

Any questions just ask

Tracy

Tracy

Thanks for taking the time to post that info.

Happy to know that your budget wasn't exhausted!!! What was the price of beer? Did you eat at any good restaurants?

Did you go on a tour bus? (Are there any tour buses?)

I know it is a little boring but did the pubs have sat tv - England are playing tomorrow?

Did you get a taxi from the airport or the bus? Would going on the bus give you more of a feel for the place than a taxi?

Thanks in advance

Becky

Becky,

In the centre of the old town beer is 1.2 lats approx (£1 is almost exactly 1 lat so nice and easy). The cheapest beer we had was.45 of a lat but that was over in the central market area.

There are a couple of english / irish bars which have sky so you'll have no problem watching the sky games there. One is the Dickens bar, the other Paddy whelans and they are about 50 yards apart. Grab a copy of the free guide Riga in your pocket from your hotel and it will have a map and lots of lists of bars and restaurants. We ate twice in paddy whelans (one lunch and one dinner) and the food was excellent both times and not more than 3.5 lats each. Very handy as our hotel (the centra was about 75 yards from Paddy whelans).

There is a very good steak restaurant called something like Steaiku Hauss on Kalku iela which was very good (meals and drinks came to 40 lats for two).

Our hotel arrange a taxi transfer for us in their own car (it was a stretch limo) which only cost us 10 lats each way. A regular taxi will cost about 6 lats plus 5 lats extra if your hotel in within the old town (they have like a congestion charge) so our flat fare of 10 was a bargain. The bus is very cheap - 0.2 lats per person but I'm not sure you will see much more of the real riga then you will by wandering around the centra market - a great experience.

We didn't do a tour - to be honest it was far too cold to be in the open air for too long. The in your pocket guide has a do it yourself walking tour guide at the front and you can hit all the must see's in riga in a couple of hours (plus a few warm up stops).

Go down the the river's edge and you will see that the river which is over 1/2 mile wide is completely frozen and covered in snow. So much so that people walk over the ice from one side to the other. We weren't going to be that daft but it is an interesting sight !

Have fun

Tracy

Tracy,

saw the people walkin on the frozen river and they have a great deal of faith in the powers of nature. Also crossed to the new town and saw people ice fishing without a worry in the world!!

The old town was nice but i didn't think much of the new town. The old town was definitely built with walking in mind and the absence of cars from large parts is a bonus. The constant snowfall made for a very picturesque view around the old town.

We got the scheduled bus from the airport and that was the bargain of the trip at 0.20lats of which was a relatively cheap city break.

All in all, I did enjoy the trip but was happy that it was only for a couple of nights and would probably return in 10 years time to see if the stag parties have left the town standing!!!

Becky

Looking for a hotel in Riga just before Easter, lots booked up, may I ask, anyone who has visited Riga, which site did they use to book their hotel ?

Tricia

I got all deatils from usual sites and then e-mailed a couple direct with enquires on availability and costs. They replied fairly quickly and agreed reservation on-line and paid when we got there.

Becky

Yep - i did the same. Looked on expedia and tripadvisor for decent hotels then i booked direct with the one I wanted.

Becky, Cyn

Thanks for your response. I have been trying for a couple of days to secure a hotel in Riga and had contacted a number direct, but unfortunately were either fully booked, too far out, too basic, or too expensive !

BUT eureeka ! have just discovered Hotel Visiteurs (hope thats how it is spelt) a small Boutique hotel only 13 rms in the old town and at a good price.

Really looking forward to discovering Riga

We are in Riga for 4 days, suggestions for travelling outside of the city to places of interest, by bus or train ?

Four free great guides we found on our recent trip were Riga in your pocket, Riga this week, Riga welcome and (for a good street map of Riga old town) The Baltic guide.
I'd booked flights with Ryanair and at the same time decided to book car hire with Hertz and have a drive around the Baltics, as all we wanted accommodation wise was somewhere to sleep at night I booked a private room in a hostel (Balthostel) through hostelworld.com the hostel was clean and secure and being opposite the railway station was just a 5 to 10 min pleasant walk to the old town.
Although I'd read that Latvian currency was readily available at Riga airport I ordered some from the Post office website before we went and collected it the following day, I was concerned that the 100 lat note (1 lat roughly equals 1 pound) would be a bit difficult to use but that wasn't the case.

The plane departed from Liverpool and arrived at Riga on time, went to the Hertz car hire desk where the staff spoke good english and were very helpful, drove from the airport to Riga with no problems (having visualised the journey several times on google earth) until I got into the one way system, so stopped to get my bearings and luckily found that I was almost outside the hostel.

Booked into the hostel approx 11.30 at night, went for a walk into the old town to have a look around and stumbled upon one of the Lido pubs where beer was about 1.30 lats per half litre so had a drink and then another walk, found the Stella pub where beer was a similar price and they were still doing food at 1am so had a beer and something to eat, from the Stella we walked down the street and found the NB club (i think that's what it was called) that was open 24/7 and had several pool tables so went in for a couple of beers (1 lat per half litre) and a few games of pool.

The following morning we walked into the old town and found a bar called "I love you" where we had great omlettes and pancackes for breakfast. On our second night in riga we visited the Skyline bar in the Reval hotel (use the panoramic lift to take you up to the 26th floor) it's a view not to be missed and amazingly the ride up the lift is free and when you get in the bar a half litre of beer will cost you in the region of 1.50 lats.

On our third night (to read what we did during the day see my "baltics report" post in the eastern europe forum) we caught the tram to the out of town Lido, you must not miss this place it's easy to get to on the number 7 tram from outside the opera house and the fare is only 20 centimes each way but take a big apettite with you there is food to suit almost any taste and it's so cheap. From the Lido we caught a tram back about 11pm to the old town where we had a couple of drinks and played some pool.

Following some recommenadations on this site hubby & I are thinking of a 3 day break to Riga for our pearl wedding in November. As I literally know nothing about the place, I should be grateful if someone could answer a few questions for me;
Is 3 days ok - what's to see?
What is the weather likely to be like at the beginning of November?
Can you recommend some central accommodation?
What are the prices like - meals out, a glass of beer etc.

Thanks in advance for your help.

http://holidayforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=65115

Look in the above topic - might provide some help. I was there in Feb and it was -7 so i'd take warm clothing.

just something to be aware of, if your break is Fri/Sat/ Sun the town centre bars are packed with stag weekends. They are usually in very good spirits but do tend to be noisy!

I am due to visit Riga with my wife and are thinking of booking the Albert Hotel, I believe it is in the Commerical Centre near the Art Nouvea????

I have a slight worry that it is a bit to far away from eveything, as I don't know Riga at all, I am looking for a little bit of night life and shopping in the day, not looking for strip clubs just nice bars.

If anybody knows this hotel or it's location any advice would be grateful.

Desperate to get a report on Riga so PLEASE do send in a report - even a brief one on your return. Thanxs.

Nivsy

Friends have just returned. Architecture is stunning, but Riga is still not really a tourist destination - there isn't much to do.

The few local restaurants only cater for locals - no foreign language menus at all, so you have to be brave to try them. If you want to eat you are forced into some multinational set up who will happily relieve you of £25 a head for a meal.

Other shops are very expensive, so much so our friends wondered who actually bought the goods as Latvia is not a rich country.