Latvia Highlights

Jūrmala is the most famous beach resort in the Baltic states — a 33km stretch of white sand beach on the Gulf of Riga, 25km west of Riga, with extraordinary Art Nouveau and wooden villa architecture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jūrmala was the most fashionable resort in the Soviet Union — the Soviet elite built their dachas here — and retains an atmosphere of faded grandeur alongside its excellent beaches. The main street, Jomas iela, is a pleasant pedestrian street lined with restaurants, cafés, and shops. The beach is one of the finest in the Baltic states, with fine white sand and the warm (by Baltic standards) waters of the Gulf of Riga.

Sigulda and the Gauja Valley is Latvia's most beautiful natural landscape — a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of extraordinary forests, medieval castles, and the deep valley of the Gauja River, 50km northeast of Riga. Sigulda is known as the "Switzerland of Latvia" for its extraordinary scenery and is the centre of Gauja National Park — Latvia's oldest and largest national park. The valley has three medieval castles (Sigulda Castle, Turaida Castle, and Krimulda Castle), extraordinary hiking and cycling trails, and the Gutmanis Cave — the largest cave in the Baltic states. In winter, Sigulda has a bobsled track (the only one in the Baltic states) and cross-country skiing.