"Liepaja" Top 5 Page for this destination Liepaja by rollinstone81

220km from Riga, Liepaja is Latvias 3rd largest city with 140.000 inhabitants (after Riga and Daugavpils). So almost half of the people living in Kurzeme, the western most province, live in Liepaja. It was founded, like so many in the area, by the Livonion Order in the mid-13th century. It only gained some importance due to its ice free harbour, but it needed to be deepened to really become valuable. The Soviets later used the harbour and now you can still see what they left behind when Latvia gained independence.
Nowadays it's main industries are metal processing, textile, food, paper production and ship building. It is a pleasant town, with parks at the beach and there is a futball stadium as well. Liepaja regulary plays international matches in UI-cup or UEFA cup.

Here are some links:
official Liepaja site: www.liepaja.lv
cool restaurant: www.pablo.lv
map: http://www.liepajniekiem.lv/?cat=11

• Pros:not too many tourists, cheaper then Riga
• In a nutshell:Liepaja is good to visit for 2 days