Other sights
PÄrdaugava
Less frequently visited by tourists. The following attractions are here:
Riga Aviation Museum
Bored at the airport? Check out the Riga Aviation museum, which contains several rare aircraft.
Riga Ethnographic Open Air Museum
The Riga Ethnographic Museum is in Jugla, near a lake of the same name. There are many traditional Latvian countryside houses collected in a forest/park and exhibitions inside them about the traditional things. The employees are often dressed in the traditional Latvian costumes, creating a nice atmosphere.
Mežaparks
MežaparksEnglish: Forest Park is a pleasant park area on the outskirts of Riga. There are large, gorgeous residential houses once inhabited by Riga's pre-war elite during the summers. They were largely let go during Soviet times but many are now being refurbished, repainted, and brought back to their original glory.
Ķīpsala
An island with Nordic Dwelling architecture, solitude, and delicious sights of Riga over the river Daugava
Andrejsala
An artists' island is starting to emerge behind the passengers port a short distance north from the Old town.
Ägenskalns
A veru picturesque historical part of PÄrdaugava, in 19th century it was a district for mansions and manors, some of which still remain although bereft of any grounds, and some were replaced by slightly newer early 20th century residential architecture of wealthy middle and upper class. Many embassies were located there pre-WWII.
Theatre Museum
Theatre museum is located in the eccentrically designed and furnished pre-war house of a former director of Riga Daile Theatre and one of the key figures in Latvian theatre of the 20th century.
Maskavas forštate
A district with old wooden houses and other sights.
Jesus Church
An unusually-designed Lutheran church.
Riga TV Tower
A 368 meter-high tower built of concrete and standing on three legs.It has an observation deck at a height of 97 metres. The inexpensive tours feature a tour guide but don't depend on the guide speaking much English!
Riga Zoo
The Riga Zoo is small, but fairly popular
Latvian Photographic Museum
Constains photos of Latvia since 1839, wih focuses on the World Wars and 1905 Revolution.
Victory Monument
A splendid example of high Soviet art and the biggest occupation-era monument in Latvia. If you've never seen a Soviet monument before, you should really check this out.
Grebenshchikov Church
An Old Believers' church.
Latvian Academy of Sciences
Built in 1953, this building is often called Stalin's Birthday Cake because of it's austere and ornamented design. The balcony is open to visitors for a fee of a couple of lats.
Choral Great Synagouge
Mostly in ruins as the Germans burned it down on July 4, 1941 with 600 people locked inside. There is a memorial to 400 Latvians who saved Jews during the Holocaust dedicted on July 4, 2007.
Russian Orthodox Church of the Annunciation
Riga Motor Museum
Contains former vehicles of Stalin, Kruschev, and Brezhnev.
Riga Central Market
Riga Central market is noticeable for its huge hangars, built from parts of actual zeppelin hangars bought for the market in 1920. The market has also a large open-air area. It deals mostly in fresh food and is a good place especially during summer for fresh local fruit and vegetables. There are also stalls that sell cheap clothing and accessories. It is beloved by especially Scandinavian tourists coming via ferry for its cheap cigarettes, most of which are speculated to be contraband.
Railway Museum
The railway museum exhibits several collections of Soviet rolling stock.
Around the freedom monument
Laima Clock
Laima is a Latvian chocolate manufacturer and means good luck in Latvian.
Mentzendorff House
Former residence of a wealthy merchant built in 1720, now a museum dedicated to life in Riga in the 17th & 18th centuries.
Bastejkalns
A small, pleasant park surrounding Brivibas Bulvaris. Sites in the Bastejkalns include a Chinese and a Japanese building, and the Bridge of Love over the Pilsetas Canal. The Bridge of Love has several locks on the railings put up by recently married couples. There is also a memorial to the two people killed here in the tumultuous events of 1991.
Freedom Monument
Freedom Monument is one of Latvia's national symbols. It was erected during the first independence and surprisingly never taken down by the Soviets although laying flowers at its feet was forbidden. The statue of a woman holding three stars at the top of the monument represents Freedom embracing Latvia's regions.
Museum 'Jews in Latvia' and Jewish Community
Small museum dedicated to Jewish life in Latvia since the 16th century. Includes information on destruction of the synagogues by the Nazis, and the Latvians that saved Jews during the Holocaust. Exhibits are in English and Latvian.
Old town
Town Hall
Pretty to look at, but not open for visitors.
National History Museum of Latvia
The History Museum is interesting, however there is little English Every room has its exhibits summarized on a single plaque. However, the museum does give a very good idea of Latvian history, and will give you a good understanding of the area.
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
This noticeable and austere black building is clearly out-of-place. In the Soviet days, this housed a museum to the Red Riflemen, a group of Latvians who volunteered for the service to Russia during the Russian revolution of 1917. Now it houses a museum of Latvia's time under both the Nazi and Soviet occupations. Very long, but very moving--essential for anyone interested in the history of the USSR or Nazi Germany. Outside the building away from the town square stands the Soviet-era Monument to the Riflemen.
Sun Museum
A definite contender for Riga's weirdest museum, this one covers the history of sun mythology and its role in Latvian culture.
St. John's Church
A smaller, less spectacular church near St. Peter's. There is a nice altar inside, and unlike most Riga churches, this one is free. The altar is from the Renaissance period and depicts the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The ceiling is from the Gothic period, and has 5 separate vaulted compartments. There is also a huge pipe organ, and many stained glass windows. This church dates back to the mid 1200's.
House of Blackheads
The House of Blackheads is where the merchants-to-be had their guild. Part of this building is the tourist information office, the rest is a fascinating museum. The upper levels house grand ballrooms while the basement has a wine cellar and several exhibits relating to trading in Riga.
The House of the Black Cat
This building also housing a pub of no particular note is most famous for the two statues of black cats on the roofs. The legend has it that a disgruntled tradesman who was not accepted into the Big Guild, built this house and put the cats on it with their tails pointing towards the Big Guild, thus expressing his scorn.
Riga Castle - Rigas Pils
The castle itself is fairly uninteresting, but it houses the following 2 museums:
Museum of Foreign Art
The less interesting of the two museums: this is just a standard art museum.
The area around Old Town is mostly built between 1860 and 1914 and has many buildings that resemble Berlin, Paris, or Rome. Many Soviet-era movies set in Western Europe were filmed here as the buildings can make the city pass for a city in Western Europe.
Triangula Bastion - 11 Novembra Krastmala 17. Modern building with an excavated fragment of historical Riga fortification wall system which protected medieval Riga city from attacks from war ships. Also Triangula Bastion has the best view terraces in Riga. Open 9:00 â 22:00. Free entrance.
St. Peter's Church
St. Peters Church, dating to 1209, is Riga's oldest church. Besides its ensemble of architecture, the church has an elevator to the tower from where you can see all of Riga service not available on Mondays.
St. Jacob's Catholic Church
Dating to 1226, this is one of the few Catholic churches left in Riga. At one point, it housed one of Riga's first schools.
Statue of Roland
The Big Guild
Housed the guild of the tradesmen, who would join after being a member of the Blackheads see House of Blackheads. Home to the Latvian Philharmonic, but you can't just walk inside. It's the exterior that's worth seeing though.
The Little Guild
Another pretty building just behind the Big Guild, this one housed the craftsmen's guild. Like the Big Guild, you can't go inside except for a performance.
St. Saviour's Anglican Church
Riga's only Anglican church has English language services every Sunday, and free concerts every Wednesday. (http://www.anglicanriga.l...)
Porcelain Museum
Covers the history of porcelain in Riga through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Wagner Concert Hall
Wagner once lived in Riga, on the street now named after him. This hall where he performed occasionally holds concerts.
Riga is divided into two parts by the river Daugava. Old medieval town is in the centre of the city on the east side of the river. It is surrounded by a ring of ~19th -- early 20th century architecture, followed by a mix of private 2-floor house districts many also pre-WW2 and Soviet-era 5-18 floor apartment districts, with an occasional factory especially near railroad lines. The term "centre" loosely refers to quite a large area around Old town limited by the river to the west, the railroad lines to the east and south, and without a definite boundary to the north.
The areas usually most interesting to tourists are the Old Town and the area around the Freedom Monument, located nearby.
A walking tour is by far the best way to see these two districts. The tourist office, located inside the House of Blackheads, offers both guided tours and free pamphlets, complete with detailed descriptions of many buildings, for independent walks. These walks cover the old town and the nearby city centre sights as well as heading out to view the Art Nouveau district. It's all pretty small scale so it's easy to do each of these in around an hour, or linger and read every detail in the booklet - in the absence of any signs or plaques around the city the booklet gives you an insight to what you are seeing. Private companies also operate tours. If you want to get away from the 'touristic areas' Alternative tours on bike and on foot are also available, as well as a free city tour that runs everyday from St Peters Church at 12:00. Look for a yellow suitcase.
The Riga Card (http://www.rigacard.lv/), which costs 10Ls-18Ls, has discounts for museums and some tourist attractions.
A virtual walk through the Old Riga is available at (http://vecriga.info).
The residential areas outside Riga center are largely made up of gray apartment blocks built in the typically Soviet style. These areas are nearly identical to those all over Eastern Europe. However, they do give an idea of how the vast majority of the people in Riga live and of the history of the area.