Riga 5 Days Travel Summary
TlDr; We visited Riga for five days and had a great time.
Hello everyone,
A few days ago, I reached out to this and an other related sub asking some questions about Riga and its surroundings (Jūrmala). As we have completed our five days trip, I would like to share our itinerary and experience hoping that it might be useful to others.
We arrived Sunday at around 1 AM at the Riga airport. As our flight had a delay and we were quite tired, we decided to take a Bolt to our hotel which was located close to Elisabeth Street *(Elizabetes Isla)*. I had downloaded the app beforehand thanks to the many recommendations, and the process was very easy.
On Sunday noon at around 12:30 PM we attended the English language church service at St. John's church *(St.-Johannis-Kirche Rīgas Svētā Jāņa baznīca)* as we are Christians. Despite the great service itself, some locals attended as well who gave as insightful tips for places to go in Riga and Latvia. We continued our tour at the old town from the Bremer Stadtmusikanten (right next to the church), going to the Blacksmith's House, the Town Hall, the Swedish Port, Riga dome and Market Square which can be all reached by a walking distance. Locals recommended the Ala Pagrabs restaurant to us where we went for dinner and which turned out to be quite nice.
Monday, we stayed at the beach in Majori, Jūrmala. We went there by train from Riga's central station and bought the tickets with the Mobily app. The trains are really fine and the beach is great with a lot of space and good facilities. There are showers and restrooms for free and a good variety of cafés and restaurants. It is recommended to walk around in Majori as well, because they have a lot of good wooden houses–a very interesting architecture!
Tuesday, we went to the Latvian Ethnographical Open Air Museum *(Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais brīvdabas muzejs)* which is located outside of Riga at the Jugla lake. We planned half a day there and enjoyed it a lot. There are a lot of old buildings brought together from different parts of Latvia. You can learn a lot about Latvian culture and history and enjoy the beautiful nature. The museum staff was very friendly, we were able to have some personal conversations and learn some additional information. In the afternoon, we explored the Riga's new town with the Art Nouveau buildings and especially visited in the Saint Gertrude church. In the evening, we went to the observatory of the Latvian Academy of Science which offered a good view over the city.
Wednesday was our museum's day: We visited the “Corner House” (KGB museum) in the morning and the Latvian Art Museum in the afternoon. Both museums are very different by nature, but very impressive and recommended as they both give valuable insights into Latvian history. We also went to the Latvian National Library because we read about an other observatory platform there as well, but unfortunately it had been closed despite different information on the webpage. The building in itself is impressive and offers interesting exhibitions, so it was still worth visiting.
At our last day, Thursday, we went inside the market halls behind the train station (they have a lot of food and other things there) and afterwards went along the Daugava river to the occupation museum which we also visited. With that, our tour to Riga ended. I enjoyed the trip a lot, five days haven't been too long at all. Riga is very impressive and it is especially beautiful when you walk just some of its streets and explore the architecture and geography.