We interrupt the usual program here at Focus on Sweden with a description of the last weekend’s trip to Riga. After 17 hours of swinging on the cruise boat from Stockholm and a fairly bad breakfast we arrived in Riga.
It was 10:30 in the morning and the ferry back to Stockholm was leaving at 16:30, so we had close to 6 hours to discover this beautiful Baltic city.
10:30 – 11:30: Walk through the park next to the ferry terminal
On the cruise boat, they provide the travelers with small maps made especially for this kind of trip. A map contains a detailed view of the city center where people are more likely to spend the few hours available.
With the help of the map we got ourselves out of the ferry terminal and went through a beautiful park with small bridges over water canals, where couples getting married were coming for pictures.
11:30 – 13:30: Getting in the Old Town
After a visit to the Orthodox Cathedral and some more walking in a commercial part of the city, we went into the Old Town, named Vecriga in Latvian. There were a few activities in some of the public squares, with concerts, dances and barbecued street food.
It was fairly easy to spot these entertainment points from the tower of St Peter’s church, one of the city landmarks. There is an elevator in the church which takes you right up in the middle of the observation point from the tower, from where you get a great panoramic view over the whole city.
13:30 – 14:30: Taste of the Latvian cuisine
Following the visit in the tower it was time to seek for some local food.
It would’ve been nice to mingle with the locals and have some grilled sausages while watching the dance show, but we opted for a cozy and nice looking restaurant named Salve right next to the Town Hall Square. From the menu predominantly based on traditional Latvian and Russian cuisine, I went for a cabbage soup with veal and a dish with pork ears and I don’t regret the choice.
14:30 – 16:30: More Old Town drifting
With 2 more hours left until departure back to Stockholm, we continued the wandering through the Old Town. Wikitravel states you need half a day to walk around Vecriga (Old Town) and they’re probably right, since it seems to me we left a lot behind.
The timing of the visit was pretty good, with a lot of autumn colors all around, from tree leaves to the products on sale in the festive markets in the Old Town. If you plan your visit for the winter, here’s a charming review of Riga in the winter time.
Maybe we were lucky, but despite the negative reviews we found on the web before going to Riga, I found the city clean and bohemian looking, cheerful, colorful and enticing for a comeback.
