What to visit in Latvia ?

Latvia runs at a pace Western Europe has largely forgotten. Riga holds one of the continent's densest concentrations of Art Nouveau architecture, but the country reveals itself above all in its silences: pine forests that run down to the sea, abandoned Baltic manors, markets where black rye bread and Jāņu siers cheese are still sold by weight. The language, the polyphonic singing of the Dziesmu svētki movement, small-batch Užavas beer - everything points to a country that tends its own references.

Geographically, the country organises itself into four distinct regions. Vidzeme, in the central-east, offers the most pronounced hills and the Gauja National Park with its medieval castles at Sigulda and Cēsis. Kurzeme, in the west, runs along a windy, lightly visited Baltic coast, with Cape Kolka as its furthest point. Zemgale in the south is an agricultural plain punctuated by Rundāle Palace. Latgale, in the east, Catholic and dotted with lakes, feels closer to neighbouring Belarus than to the rest of the country.

Frequently asked questions

Visiting Latvia, in practice