Welcome to the blog entry on the 30th country I have visited: Latvia!

Long ago, when I first fell in love with travelling abroad and seeing as much of the world as I had time for and could afford, I saw pictures of Riga in a city break brochure (remember travel brochures?!) and thought it looked stunning and have long kept the idea in mind but for years, I was put off by the unfair Stage/Hen do reputation and other places had presented themselves as holiday destinations until now.

So, in May 2025, I found reasonable flights to Riga from Manchester and booked them without much idea of what there would be to see and do there apart from pretty architecture. This is what I love about booking a trip- the research can then commence and the excitement builds as you uncover more and more of what will be waiting for you once you arrive.

I have written a bit about travelling solo in the past; other than moving to Spain alone almost a decade ago and travelling back and forth, I have now been to Vienna, Jersey, Oslo, Košice and now Riga alone and I have felt safe in all of these places as a woman travelling solo. Yes, it is much more fun and exciting travelling with others but travelling alone is a way of seeing more places and it pushes you out of your comfort zones.

Upon discovering that Riga is half an hour away from the Baltic coastline, I decided to split my trip into two destinations: Riga and Jurmala (the latter a beach town easily reachable by their efficient trains).

Some quick facts on Latvia before we proceed:

Location- One of the three Baltic states along with Lithuania and Estonia

Time Zone- Eastern European Summer Time in May (2 hours ahead of the UK BST)

Currency- Euro

Languages- Latvian, Russian and English all widely spoken

Capital city: Rīga (population approx 600,000)

I landed in Riga airport at 23:00 and although I had looked up how to get to the centre from there, I felt ever so slightly unnerved about this being in a new country for the first time and alone late at night. I had had some minor difficulties earlier this year in both Oslo and Košice so anticipated some difficulty but there was no need. You simply take the number 22 bus right outside the airport which conveniently, was already outside. It cost 1 euro 50 from the ticket machine and only took about 20 minutes. I stayed at the Old Riga Plaza Hotel which was right in the middle of the old town and central to everything.

The next morning, I woke up eager to get out to do some sight seeing but first- breakfast.

You can’t go wrong with a coffee and bagel for breakfast and Big Bad Bagels certainly delivered with a range of fillings. I had bacon with brie and caramelised onion and a flat white, sat outside on a pleasant street terrace overlooking pretty pastel-coloured buildings. This cost 12 euros so a perfect price for a great breakfast that kept me going until dinner time.

Riga is a petite enough capital city to be able to walk around easily which suited me perfectly as I had acquired a disco injury to my calf a couple of days beforehand.

The old town (Vecrīga) is so pretty it looks as if it was painted by Monet. Everything is so ornate and colourful with so much attention to beautiful detail; it is a treat for the eyes.

There are many churches for different branches of Christianity and a synagogue. Riga Cathedral belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran branch of Christianity (something I admittedly know hardly anything about!)

The other main church in the old town is St. Peter’s Church, another Lutheran church.

I am not religious but very much appreciate religious buildings as places for contemplation, reflection, community and peace, not to mention the stunning architecture of so many in the world.

One more:

The square around the cathedral is called Doms laukums, or, Dome Square. This is where you will find those cheerfully-coloured buildings that house coffee shops, wine bars, restaurants and souvenir shops.

It is a joy just to walk around Riga. You could go and simply eat pastries and sandwiches from the Rima stores and not pay into any museums and have a gorgeous time just strolling about, especially in the late-May weather (20 degrees which felt warmer than 20 degrees in Britain). You really could go on a shoestring budget and have a lovely time.

This picture below is from a central street called Meistaru iela:

UNESCO made Riga’s historical centre a World Heritage Site in 1997, owing to its Art Nouveau architecture. Riga has also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest (2003) and was the European Capital of Culture in 2014. It’s easy to see why after spending even just an hour walking around Riga’s peaceful, pretty squares and streets and observing the civilised and friendly manner of the Latvian people.

The Town Hall Square (Rātslaukums) is where you will find the striking House of the Blackheads.

There was a camera crew filming news reporters outside it when I was there. The square was peaceful on a Tuesday morning in May and was a pleasant place to sit down on a bench for a while in the sun before deciding where to go next.

The House of the Blackheads originally housed unmarried German merchants back in 1344 but was destroyed during WWII so what we see today is a reconstruction and is primarily used as a venue for events and expositions:

Round the corner from here is the banks of the Daugava River which flows from Russia through Belarus and Latvia into the Baltic Sea. There, you can sit on the Daugava Stairs right at the river’s edge and listen to the gentle flow of water for a while. There is no barrier to the water here so something to bear in mind if visiting with children or not to go near it after a few drinks!

The Baltic countries are famed for their amber, a fossilised resin from conifer trees. When I visited China way back in 2010, I bought some (real!) jade there from the Beijing Jade Factory and I happened to be wearing this pendant on this day in Riga; I had always wanted to buy some amber but didn’t visit a Baltic country until 2019 but I read that it was better to purchase amber in Latvia or Lithuania rather than Estonia, so I waited.

There are the typical amber rip-offs sold on street markets but the place to go in Riga for authentic amber is Amber Queen which doubles up as a museum.

The first floor is the boutique where a wide range of amber in raw form and set in jewellery are available for purchase and while some of the prices are quite high due to the high quality, there are many pieces for a lower budget too if you spend some time perusing what’s on offer. I bought myself a small amber pendant which catches the light in a lovely, glittery way like a cat’s eye.

Upstairs, across three floors, is the amber museum. The entry ticket is 5 euros and the lady gave me a book in English written by the owners of Amber Queen with lots of information on the Baltic history of amber and on their exhibits dating back a couple of centuries with items from hand mirrors to clocks to ships.

I deliberately skipped lunch as I was saving myself for a special dinner reservation (more on that later) but had a bit of time to kill and my calf was aching so needed to sit down for a while so I went back to my hotel for a siesta (note to self: don’t launch yourself into ambitious dance moves two nights before a city break).

Food and drink is obviously always the most interesting part of any trip to a new city or country so I will skip forwards now to dinner at the 3 Pavāru Restorāns (The Three Chefs Restaurant), a place I booked as a bit of a rare splurge even though I was travelling alone. I normally eat on the go when travelling solo, picking things up at street food stalls or food markets, but this time, I was intrigued to try something more artistic.

Admittedly, I did wonder if I was being a bit silly and lavish to go to such a place on my own and not be sharing in the culinary adventure with others but I don’t see why you should miss out on such experiences if you choose to travel alone. My cousin Luke is a chef so I kept him in the loop anyway 😉 and I took plenty of pictures for my blog.

The restaurant was founded and is run by three accomplished chefs (who you can find out more about here) and it offers a mix of both traditional and experimental Latvian cuisine.

I was compelled to book a table there when I saw their famous style of serving bread and sauce:

A chef comes to the table and lays down the parchment paper as their canvas, then talks you through each of the sauces they artfully drizzle across for the Latvian seeded miso sourdough bread. The sauces were a balsamic reduction, raspberry and lingonberry, basil pesto, sea buckthorn, and the hummus-like one you see is Latvian grey pea (I have detested peas all my life so I was aghast when I first heard the word ‘pea’ but it tasted nothing like green peas!). I tried the sauces individually and each one was so striking to my palate and blended it was even more of an intricate expression of flavours.

My starter was Irish oysters with red wine vinegar and shallots, sake and another white vinegar with a surprising glass of Latvian sparkling wine:

The next dish was white asparagus with Grana Padano shavings then the main course was sirloin steak with shitaaki, wild broccoli, pickled onions, and a glass of vino nobile di Montepulciano (I have been on a wine tasting in Montepulciano in the past where I was first introduced to this highly revered, almost sacred wine of the Tuscans).

Everything was stunning and of the highest quality, the service was immaculate; it was definitely among the top meals of my life. I get full easily yet this was equally all so light and didn’t make me feel sleepy afterwards at all.

This was just as well, as I had booked on to a sunset river cruise with Advaita Adventures.

I booked this via Booking.com for the brilliant price of £8 and even with that stunning dinner in mind, this was probably the highlight of my day in Riga.

The small wooden boat departed Andrejosta Marina with about six of us on board. It was 9pm so it was approaching sunset but the sun was still quite high in the sky, casting a shimmering light over the bright blue waters framed by lush, green trees.

We docked back at the marina just before 10pm as the sun had melted behind the river, leaving a serene golden glow over the deep blue water. Riga is so chilled, it is buzzing with activity and people yet retains a calmness, and I felt safe on my own everywhere I went (obviously, I kept my wits about me and didn’t go off anywhere isolated).

Riga looks like a fairytale with its pastel buildings and twinkly lights with flowers blooming and everywhere framed by the greenest leaves I’ve ever seen, chlorophyll glowing all around!

I popped in to a bar near my hotel called Andante Vinyl Lounge Bar which is the cosiest little bar where you can choose the tunes. Picture lava lamps, music memorabilia, a quirky bathroom, low lighting and an impressive selection of records to peruse. Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black had just been placed on the turntable when I arrived and it brought back to me how much I love that album so I ordered it to my house from my phone for when I got home!

The woman behind the bar (possibly the owner) was lovely and friendly and we chatted about the music. I lined up The Best of Sade and she lined up The Beatles’ Abbey Road when I told her I am from Liverpool. It was totally a vibe and I hope to return there one day with my sister and cousin or friends to spend a whole evening putting records on in a great atmosphere.

I tore myself away back to my hotel to pack my bag for checking out and catching a train to Jūrmala on the Baltic coast the next day but I must return to Riga. I want to train it across the whole country, in fact.

The ‘problem’ is… I want to return to many of the places I have been over the last few years. Oslo… see more of Norway… Jersey…. return to Slovakia for the High Tatras mountains, see more of Italy, more of France, more of Hungary… and visit many of the other 165 countries I’ve not yet visited!

Part Two of Latvia on Jūrmala (beach town on the Baltic Sea coast can be read here)