Welcome and thanks for reading my rubbish commentary on a trip to Riga.
Overview
Riga is the largest and capital city of Latvia. Perhaps included in with the lesser known European countries, Latvia borders Estonia, Lithuania and Russia – gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Latvia has a population of 1.8 million, uses the Euro currency and has a large coastline along the Baltic Sea.
To be honest, even including football knowledge (Marian Pahars??), I’m struggling to think what Latvia would be famous for. The inventor of jeans, Latvian Jacob Davies partnered with some guy called Levi Strauss. There ya go.
I am pleased to tell you that I had a really good three-and-a-bit days. My main reason of the visit was to watch Latvia v Wales in the football, a game that we won!
Flights and Accommodation
Bear in mind there must have been a good 3,000+ other football fans fighting for airfares. I spent days comparing flights from Stansted, Luton, ferries and trains and in the end forked out the extra 50 quid to fly direct from nearby Bristol. With Ryanair, sacking off any extras, the return trip cost £287 but if you wanted to go ‘usually’ I would be very surprised if the flights were over £200 return. The National Express from Newport to the airport was only £9 each way too.
There are a wide array of hotels available that vary in price and quality, similar to your usual European capital. As the flights were high I chose a budget option for the hotel. Primo hotel is to the west of the river, a side that I guess is rarely visited by tourists.
Primo hotel was €81 for 3 nights including a reasonable breakfast. As my option was a single person room/bed it saved a few quid too. The hotel decor was quite dated but I really couldn’t care less about that.
My friend Peter stayed in the 4* Radisson Blu tower, that was actually only a little more expensive based on 2 sharing.
Getting around
This is a positive section. Following on from my hotel, although outside of the centre, I was lucky to be based on the doorstep of bus and tram stops, a supermarket and foodhall.
In terms of public transport around Riga, a five day ticket cost just €10 and spanned a wide area with buses and trams plentiful and on time. After 11pm the transport seemed to end, but Bolt taxis were very affordable. I didn’t get a normal taxi bit was told Bolt was about half the price and much easier to manage with their app.
Getting to the airport was a linear #22 public bus that was either €2 or included in your day pass. The trip took about half an hour, passing my abode… probably 45 minutes by the time it ended up at the central train station.
As I had a lot of free time I did use a few eScooters provided by Bolt. These were good fun outside of the old town (just don’t bother with cobbled streets) and cost just 22c a minute. Their top speed was also 25kmph that felt faster than previous experiences.
Worth noting that if you are based in the small City centre, you may not need to use any public transport bar the airport journeys.
I did have one train to Jurmala on day 2. This took around 30 minutes and a return trip was €2.20! The cost of public transport in the UK is a shambles.
Interestingly, with the Bolt app I’ve mentioned… you can use the same app for scooters, taxis and grocery delivery!
Costs
I have covered a lot of costs above, so thinking about other things…
The supermarket by my hotel was similar to Lidl and Aldi and prices were as such. Some things a little cheaper, some things a little more expensive.
In the centre, a main course cost €15-25 each and a pint came in around €5-6, again in the centre that is going to be the most expensive locations. A pack of cigarettes is priced at around 4 euro. McDonald’s was also similarly priced. A burger meal costing about 8 quid. Tourist attractions entry ranged between €5-10.
All in all, just expect to pay prices as we would in the UK and you’ll end up being a few quid better off.
Things I didn’t do…
As always, I never know where to put this, but the things I DID do are mentioned in my itinerary below. Thankfully this list is brief…. to the best of my knowledge!
The Blackheads Museum is probably the most visited museum in the City, it didn’t really appeal to me though. Plenty of churches, other museums, galleries etc etc that I never really divulge in!
There is a lot of impressive architecture around the city and I feel a bit daft covering it as little as this. However, with my dodgy feet I seldom had the opportunity to look up!
My friends recommended a canal boat you can get from the park near the freedom monument that goes out to the Daugava river for about €18 per person.
Further afield, Jurmala I’m going to highly recommend, but a little way again is a national park. If I had another full day I almost certainly would have looked at a day trip to neighbouring Lithuania and its capital Vilnius.
Itinerary
Day 1 – Newport to Riga
Well, I’ve written quite a bit already so will try and make this section shorter.
As my flight was 3pm I enjoyed an hour in Newport with a breakfast (by breakfast I mean 2 pints) before catching the National Express. No drama whatsoever.
As Latvia is 2 hours ahead of us, I didn’t escape Riga airport until 9pm. My research getting the bus to the hotel came in super useful, giving enough time to pick up some drinks and snacks in the supermarket and a posh takeaway pizza from a market / food hall.
The market looked as though they had some form of entertainment going on but I couldn’t tell if they were about to start, or packing away, or what the entertainment was supposed to be… *shrugs*.
I secured plans for tomorrow morning, watched a bit of the Rugby World Cup for my sins and went to bed.
Day 2 – Jurmala, Riga and a shitload of beer
I was rather impressed with my 7am awakening considering a few days dodgy sleep pattern. Breakfast was slightly better than I expected with a few hot items and by 9am, caught the tram outside to the nearest train station with the intention of visiting a popular summer resort city, Jurmala.
Ticket bought and train boarded with a bit of guesswork, my designated stop was in a small forest and gave immediate vibes that this was a good idea. The park included loads of areas for active buggers, including sports courts, climbing trails and skating routes.
I set sights on a viewpoint and pleased with my energy getting to the top above the pine trees. Well, nearly at the top. The final 3 flights were an effort to be honest. I don’t struggle with heights, but I was constantly looking down through the mesh steps and by the time I got to the top, was unable to take my hand away from the rail! I’ve been a lot higher with no issues, strange but I survived.
The walking route to the beach was real nice. Coming out of the park to a small street filled with boutique shops, cafes and restaurants just opening for the days trade. I passed an impressive looking church, prior to strolling through the main street that I can only relate to Niagara-on-the-Water in Canada, not much help is it?
The beach was busy but not crowded. There were very few people in the water but I wasn’t going to come all this way without having a swim. I had no issues about leaving my bag unattended but always carry my phone in a waterproof pouch.
Perhaps of interest, when visiting Stockholm in May I was told the Baltic is the most polluted sea in the world, due to only a few small entry/exit points between Denmark’s islands. Thankfully there were no obvious signs viewable of pollutants, although the lack of tide made me think of the moon’s involvement way too much for my small brain.
If you have time in Latvia I highly recommend a half day visit. From the train to the beach is a ten minute walk and will get you back direct to Riga central station.
By lunchtime my friend Peter had arrived in Riga and we met in his Radisson Blu tower sky view bar for a cider playing “spot the tiny international football stadium” in the distance.
From here we had a very brief walk through the old town before choosing somewhere for lunch. I dropped a bollock here as I went for a ample sized fish and chips whilst Pete hit jackpot with a half meter sausage and trimmings! Greedy bugger.
We’re going to hit the fast forward button a bit here. After lunch I returned to my hotel for a nap and struggled to drag myself out for a beer. Thankfully I met up with a few County pals during a Welsh rugby world cup game to settle in.
Settle in and then some. Now technically in Day 3, I soon lost how many beers I had and stayed out until 7 FUCKING A M before crumbling in to a taxi. I returned to the hotel just in time for breakfast. 4 slices of bread plus a pile of bacon. Consumed just before I nodded off and I can’t remember how long I was asleep before hotel staff gave me a nudge and I finally made it to my room!
I really did expect to go out for one or two. Oops.
Day 3 – Sleep and Matchday!
Jeeeeesus I was exhausted today. I finally left the hotel at 4pm!! Pete managed to do some tourist stuff in my absence so when we met, simply enjoyed a stroll through the park, a soft drink and snack at the hotel counting down the hours until kick-off, itself bloody late at 10.45pm.
I was so tired before kick-off I decided to go for a walk. This actually turned in to a 4km scooter ride that started aimless but eventually ended up near the impressive national library building and 1back at my hotel to freshen up and have a lie down.
Every other Welsh fan drinking and singing copious amounts at this point in town as I made my way back in!
The ride and rest done wonders as we made a short 10 minute from Pete’s hotel to the ground, bumping in to the harmless Latvian Ultras and their pyro.
Prior to the game we knew thousands of Wales fans had tickets in the home end, us included, but told that this wouldn’t be a problem. Time for a few beers then!
There were indeed a ridiculous amount of Cymru fans in the home end and on the whole it was a very good atmosphere with the 2 sets of fans. We won the game two-nil, only my fifth Wales trip ending in maximum points!
Such a fabulous atmosphere, but incredibly exhausting standing and singing and dancing. I squeezed in one final cider before a taxi to my hotel via a kebab.
Day 4 – Touristy bits and home
It had still passed 2am before getting some sleep last night so I was surprised as any unnecessarily having breakfast at 7:30. Still, it was gone 11am once I got back in to town to see some bits.
Our first stop was the Riga Holocaust Museum. The site was really insightful to how Latvia and Latvian Jews were affected by both World Wars. The area included reconstructed houses from the initial ghetto and a replica carriage that felt uncomfortable, even empty.
From here we went to Latvia’s biggest market, a few minutes walk from the central stations and town centre. The market is spread across 4 or 5 old aircraft hangers and each is designated a specific area of food. Our gamble was a bit shit as we ended up with the fish market, but had success next with the food hall where we had a refreshment.
Lunch was back in the old town before saying cheerio to Peter as he made his own travels.
Just 7 hours to kill before my flight, and a bed no more! Discovering that St Peter’s (different bloke) Church had an elevator to the top of its viewing tower made the decision for me to get a good open view of the city, although the 9 euro charge was steep. For free, you can go to the aforementioned sky bar in the Radisson Blu and the views are just as good.
The next hour was spent scooting along the riverfront and along the impressive suspension bridge across the Daugava river. I still ultimately ended up at my hotel, sitting outside wishing the time away.
Finally, I did something I often like to try, catching a random public bus and hoping it goes in a circle and drop me off at the same point. Not quite as Gen Z to be considered ‘off the beaten track’ but it was free and time-consuming. The number 56 covered a vast area, I was struggling to keep awake at this point. Now deep in the leafy suburbs I got off one bus earlier than planned before catching the same in the opposite direction a few minutes later back to base.
I sensibly decided to give up on further exploration at this point and headed to the airport. Getting through the airport wasn’t problematic, I had 90 minutes for a kip before boarding my flight home, which is where I’m writing this from now.
The flight is running late. I hope I don’t have to add an *update* because I’ve missed my fucking bus….
*update* Didn’t miss my bus despite passport control doing the utmost.
Thanks for reading.
How Not 2 Life 