We flew from Stockholm to Riga in Ryanair. When we reached Riga it was even colder than Stockholm reaching lows of -16c!!! Time to put on two pairs of socks and pants.
Our hostel was very centrally located and out private room (only $24/night) was huge. They even have us a heater to keep he room nice and toasty. Next to our hostel was a restaurant called Lido, it is a chain in Latvia that serves Latvian food. The meat was super tasty and M, who had its doubts about the restaurant was so satisfied we went to it for the two nights we stayed in Riga.
Blackheads merchant house:
The old town of Riga was quite pretty and we checked out the sites such as the churches and famous Blackheads building.
The real highlight was taking the “Riga free tour” where it is by donation. For 2.5 hours our small group toured he suburbs of Riga where we saw a giant indoor market, flea market and learnt he history of Riga. A real educational experience and because the guide worked off tips they were extra good.
Giant indoor market
Lovers’ bridge
At night time being real cultural people we went to the opera. The last time I was in an opera I had to pay $75 for cheap seats to watch the incredibly boring “Madam Butterfly”. This time we got tickets for 3 Lats or $6 cad each to watch a really good performance of ” The Barber of Seville “. In Canada the majority of opera goers are 50+, in Latvia young people willingly go together to operas. I think North America is lacking in the culture . Everyone from kids to old people were dressed up except us, luckily we sat in the back 🙂
I like Riga a lot and would definitely go back if just to score some cheap opera tickets.
Travel tip: Leaving the country to the Baltics? Check LuxExpress or Simple Express for good prices.
MC Overland 