"A Baltic Herring" Riga by leecouk12324

I id not have intentions of visiting Riga - i was supposed to be stopping over on my way to East Estonia (Rapina) but difficult to get the Ryanair flights i wanted and to get to Rapina in East Estonia not easy from this way - just 1 bus in morning and 1 in evening to Tartu (nearest place).

However after booking with Ryanair for 4 nights and then Ryanair nto able to cancel (well to get your money back anyway) i decided to make the most of it.

After learning that it is a very popular destination for Stag nights i did not know what to expect for a cultural visit.
Although the trip was quite nice i much much prefer the City of Tallinn in Estonia - i have always been very fond of Tallinn.

The good points about Riga is that there is a fantastic market i 5 Zeppelin Hangers and the Baltic Herring from here is superb.
Then the Beer i very cold and good - and nice price at 1.50 to 1.80 Latts for 500ml.
Food is pretty nice from Market and in Restaurants although service is very variable and in some restaurants particularly outside the main tourist squares compared to Western standards sometimes you have to wait some time
Then i discovered "Lido" which is what many local people use - it is self service like Motorway Service Station only excellent food at budge price - great to use as time is precious when on a short break - there are many Lido's throughout the city centre so you do not need to go to the so called Windmill on the outskirts of the city.

Outside of Riga there is not really that much to see - and without a car i would not be so easy to get to all the National Parks for instance - because these are fine

You can however get the train to Jurmala (a place of several placesso choose which railway station - it is the beach and was little bit like Noordwijk in Netherlands - but i would much prefer Noordwijk - i was not too keen on all the Beach Bars here with music blasting out - but there were quieter parts of the beach i guess.

I would not recommend Riga for a lone traveller - i think here it much bettter if you with someone or a group.

Mostof the Hotels are accross a very mini greenbelt that has a nice river running through it and many beautiful gardens and you can go boating on the lake too

Kvass

As already mentioned the beer is very nice - particulary "Zelta" you will see everywhere - crisp and fresh like European Heinekin type of beer.
Beware - there are nice cocktails here - but they can be extremely strong compared to Western European standards -so take care - and happy hour is 5-7pm.
Some drinks which look like Beer and are on Tap in Summer - sometimes are not beer and also have no achol - ie "Kvass" bu i found this a very wonderful drink on a sunny summer afternoon (of which i had one - the last day) and makes a nice change to Coke etc
Another great drink you must try is "Black Balsam" (a spirit) and also "Vana Tallinn" (former Latvian and latter of curse from Estonia and of course these are alcoholic and very strong.
Typical Spirit measures are 50ml and 100ml - although if you go to tourist area or Irish bars you will perhaps get ripped of and get like West Europe measures.
Typical price is around 1.8 Latt for 50ml of Spirits
Most bars will serve Vodka chilled if you ask for it this way.

• Pros:Good for couple of days - preferably with a friend
• Cons:People do seem aloof and unfriendly at times but not sure if this is because of all English idiots that have been going there
• In a nutshell:A Baltic Herring