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Riga
Capital and largest city of Latvia

Riga

Riga, officially Riga State City, is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia and the second most-populous city in the Baltics.

Plan a trip to Riga→From Palanga

Home to 588,911 inhabitants, the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies 1–10 m (3–33 ft) above sea level on a flat and sandy plain.

Get in

Getting to Riga

  1. 01
    Riga International Airport
  2. 02
    Riga's main bus station is just outside

    As of October 2023 there is substantial road and tramway construction underway around the bus station.

  3. 03
    Riga
  4. 04
    Andrejosta Marina

    Andrejosta - small gulf in the right side of Daugava, where the Riga channel meets Daugava river.

See

Worth seeing

For tourists, the most interesting districts are Vecrīga (the UNESCO-listed Old Town) and the area around the nearby Freedom Monument, which do double duty as the setting of Riga's foremost historic sites and the centre of its burgeoning nightlife.

Do

Things to do

If you're interested in classical culture, head to the National Opera in the Old Town to enjoy opera or ballet or to the Koncertzāle Ave Sol a little further north. The city has several pleasant parks, notably around the city canal and further north into Centrs. Another interesting park is Mežaparks in the north of the city with beautiful old villas and Riga's zoo.

Eat

Where to eat

Riga, as the most vibrant and cosmopolitan city of the Baltics, offers countless opportunities to sample both local cuisine and international favorites. Latvian food can be hearty, using a lot of potato, cabbage, beef, pork and fish. A diversity of foreign cuisines is also available — sushi restaurants in particular are in vogue.

How locals move

Getting around Riga the local way

  • Get inTraveller Tours - Minibus sightseeing tours from Tallinn to Riga, stopping off at different sights along the way.
  • Go nextStockholm - accessible via direct ferry from Riga; 17-hour journey

From Wikivoyage: Riga, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.