48 Hours in Riga: Spires, Art Nouveau and Zeppelin Hangars

Riga is the Baltic capital that thinks big: the largest city in the three states, a UNESCO-listed old core, and street after street of the most flamboyant Art Nouveau architecture in Europe. Two days is tight but honest — here is how to spend them.

Key facts

• Where: Latvia, on the Daugava River near the Baltic Sea
• Best months: May to September; December for the Christmas market
• Currency: euro
• Getting around: the centre is entirely walkable
• Pace: day one for the Old Town, day two for markets and Art Nouveau

Day One — the Old Town

09:00 — Town Hall Square

Start where Riga likes to be photographed: the reconstructed House of the Blackheads, a Gothic-Dutch Renaissance fantasy originally built for a medieval merchants' guild. Coffee and a pastry in a square-side café while the light is still soft.

10:30 — St. Peter's from above

Ride the lift up the tower of St. Peter's Church for the definitive view: red roofs, river, and the spires that give Riga its skyline. Back at ground level, drift through the lanes past the Three Brothers — the city's oldest stone houses — and Riga Cathedral, famed for its organ.

13:00 — Lunch, Latvian style

Order grey peas with smoked bacon (the national comfort dish), beetroot soup, or fried Baltic fish, with dark rye bread throughout. Old Town cellars and modern bistros both do the classics well.

15:00 — Freedom Monument and the canal

Walk out through the old city moat gardens to the Freedom Monument, Latvia's beloved symbol of independence, and loop the canal park by rented boat or on foot.

19:00 — Dinner and Black Balsam

Riga's signature drink is Black Balsam, a famously bitter herbal liqueur dating to the 18th century. Take it as locals suggest: in coffee, with blackcurrant, or bravely neat. Pair the evening with a modern Latvian tasting menu or a lively beer hall.

Day Two — markets and Art Nouveau

09:00 — Riga Central Market

Five vast pavilions — built between the wars using old Zeppelin hangar frames — hold one of Europe's largest markets. Go hungry: smoked eels, pickles, berries, cheese, hot pastries. This is Riga's true living room.

11:30 — The Art Nouveau district

Walk north to the quiet embassy streets around Alberta iela, where architect Mikhail Eisenstein's façades erupt with sphinxes, screaming masks and peacocks. Roughly a third of central Riga is Art Nouveau — generally cited as the highest concentration in the world. The dedicated Art Nouveau museum, set in a restored period apartment, is small and delightful.

14:00 — Lunch in the Quiet Centre

The leafy blocks nearby hide stylish cafés and bakeries — ideal for a slow lunch.

16:00 — Choose your finale

Option A: the Latvian National Museum of Art, a grand palace of Baltic painting. Option B: cross the river for the skyline view back toward the spires. Option C: a sauna ritual — deeply Latvian — at a city spa.

20:00 — Last supper

End near the Old Town with seasonal Latvian cooking and one final Balsam.

Tip: If you have a third morning, take the short train to Jūrmala, the pine-and-sand resort strip on the Gulf of Riga — beach walks within half an hour of the capital.

Riga rewards walkers: almost everything above sits within a thirty-minute stroll of Town Hall Square.