I really knew nothing about Latvia before I visited this great country which was part of the intrigue for me – I love conquering the unknown. I can’t say I walked away being a Latvian expert but I did have an awesome week in this country exploring Riga and its surrounds.

Latvia was part of the Soviet Union but you would never guess it. We loved exploring the pretty Old Town in Riga and the Art Nouveau architecture. We enjoyed Riga very much especially because the Old Town did not seem packed full of tourists and seemed more real than some of its neighbours.

Travelling to Latvia

Travelling to Latvia is straight forward – there are many buses, trains and planes.

From the neighbouring countries, buses make the most sense. We caught Lux Express buses from Tallinn to Riga and then on to Vilnius. The buses are awesome – plenty of space, comfort and our own seat back entertainment systems. You can read more about getting around the Baltics here.

Travel in Latvia is also easy and we found it easy to visit everything we wanted.

You can find out a lot more about Latvia from native Latvian, Kaspars’ Latvia Travel Guide.

Latvia for kids

Exploring Jurmala

We travelled to Latvia with our two preschoolers. We found this a very easy destination with kids. Our kids were always welcome and many restaurants would give them colouring in sheets and pencils.

Prams are common – we actually bought a pram while we were here! It was easy to walk around with this as long as you are happy to push over cobblestones.

Food is fairly simple so you are unlikely to have trouble with even fussy eaters. There are bakeries, many supermarkets and meat and vegetables are easy to come by.

In our Latvia travel blog, you will find our Latvia travel guide and more information about travel to Latvia. You can also read about the neighbouring countries in our Estonia and Lithuania travel guides.