Latvia: Amber Shores and Forest Souls
Where Art Nouveau meets the Baltic wild
Where Art Nouveau meets the Baltic wild
Latvia is a land of endless forests, empty beaches, and a capital where Art Nouveau facades outnumber any city on earth. From the medieval core of Riga to the dunes of Jūrmala and the castles of the Gauja valley, the country holds its secrets close — until you step inside.
The historic centre crowds with Gothic spires, Hanseatic warehouses, and cobbled streets that have seen crusaders and merchants. The House of the Blackheads and the Dome Cathedral anchor a maze where every alley leads to another story.
Over a third of the buildings in central Riga are Art Nouveau — more than anywhere else in the world. Gargoyles, goddesses, and floral curves climb the façades along Alberta iela and Elizabetes; look up and the city becomes a stone theatre.
Five former Zeppelin hangars house the largest market in Europe — cheese, smoked fish, berries, and the buzz of a nation that has always traded. Under the vaulted roofs you taste Latvia in one place.
The Baltic Versailles rises from the flat Zemgale plain — baroque halls, gilded ballrooms, and a rose garden that blooms in summer. Built for a duke, it is the kind of palace that makes you forget you are in the countryside.
The Gauja River cuts through sandstone cliffs and ancient forest — Latvia's oldest and largest national park. Turaida Castle, Sigulda's bobsleigh track, and the Gutmanis Cave sit in a landscape made for hiking and legends.
Red brick ruins crown a hill above the Gauja — a 13th-century stronghold that has become the emblem of the region. The sculpture park, the church, and the view over the valley tell a story of crusaders, fire, and rebirth.
A string of resort towns along the Gulf of Riga — wooden villas, long beaches, and pine-backed dunes. The sea is shallow and the air is clean; for generations Latvians have come here to slow down.
Medieval Cēsis clusters around a castle ruin and a church — narrow streets, craft workshops, and the sense of a town that has kept its character. The castle tower offers a view over red roofs and the green of the park.
Bog boardwalks, healing mud, and forests that seem to drink the sky. The Great Kemeri Bog is a vast wetland of stunted pines and pools; walk it at sunset and the light turns the landscape into something between earth and dream.