Latvia - Letland

Latvia[1] is a country located in northernEurope. As one of the three Baltic states is Latvia bordered by Estonia in the north, Lithuania in the south, Russia in the East, Belarus to the southeast, and the Baltic Sea to the west. The most famous place to travel to is the capital Riga, a UNESCO World Heritage city. Another nice place is Liepaja with its unique former secret military village of Karosta and its beautiful beach. kuldiga with Europe's widest waterfall and Cesis with its medieval castle ruins are also interesting. Tourists can also enjoy the raw beauty of the Latvian seacoast, which is 500 kilometers long and consists mainly of white, soft sand beaches. Forests and woodlands, which cover about half of Latvia, offer many natural trails and parks.

Info

Geography

Latvia is dominated by green hills and farmland.

Regions

There are cultural and social differences between the regions, including the traditional costume differs from region to region. The Letgallen region, for example, has a unique culture and language of its own: Latvian.

Towns

• Riga - The capital with more than 800 years of history.
• Bauska - A town with an old castle and an annual country music festival.
• Cesis - An old town in the heart of Vidzeme, with castle and deep river valleys.
• daugavpils - The second largest city in Latvia. Especially factories and industry.
• jelgava - student city
• Jurmala - Recreation city, near Riga, attracts many tourists.
• kuldiga - Small town with a lot of original architecture. The widest waterfall in Europe.
• Liepāja - City on the Baltic coast with always a strong breeze. Latvians believe that here the beginning of the wind is.
• Rēzekne - The heart of the Letgallen district
• Sigulda - Popular city with many interesting and historical places. Most visited place by foreigners after Riga.
• tukums - Three regions meet near Tukums: Vidzeme, Semigallen and Courland.
• Valmiera - Industrial city, but also with active cultural and academic life.
• ventspils - One of the busiest ports in Europe. Nice to see the ships coming in.

Other destinations

• Livu Akva Park - The biggest water attraction in Northern Europe is in Jurmala.
• Latvijas Etnografiskais Brivdabas muzejs - Open air museum about the traditional culture of the Latvian tribes, near Riga.
• Karostas cietums - A Soviet-style prison experience, with a live prison show and overnight in a cell. In Karosta, a suburb of the city of Liepaja.
• Pedvale open air art museum - modern art and art installations in a natural park, near Sabile, Courland (Kurzeme).
• Ferry to the island of Saaremaa - During the summer months you can take the ferry from Ventspils to saaremaa (Estonia).

Arrive

Passport and visa

Latvia belongs to the Schengen zone.

There are no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the Schengen Agreements. These are the member states of the European Union (except Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. In addition, a visa issued for a member state of the Schengen zone is valid for all member states that have signed the treaties and have implemented. But beware: not all EU Member States have signed the Schengen Agreements, and there are also Member States of the Schengen Area that are not members of the European Union. This means that there may be customs checks but no immigration checks (if you are traveling within Schengen but from/to a non-EU country) or there may be immigration checks but no customs checks (if you are traveling within the EU but from/to a non-EU country). -Schengen country).

Airports in Europe are divided between "Schengen" and "no Schengen" sections, which correspond to the "domestic" and "foreign" sections in other countries. If you fly from outside Europe to a Schengen country and then travel on to another Schengen country, you can complete the customs and immigration checks in the first country and then proceed directly to the second country without any further checks. Traveling between a Schengen country and a non-Schengen country will result in the usual border controls. Please note that whether or not you travel within the Schengen zone, many airlines require you to always present a passport or identity card. Nationals of Member States of the European Union or of the EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) only need to carry a valid passport or identity card to enter the Schengen zone — they never need a visa, no matter how long the visit takes. Nationals of other countries must carry a valid passport and, depending on nationality, need a visa.

Only nationals of the following non-EU/EFTA countries have no Visa required to enter the Schengen zone: Albania*, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Croatia, North Macedonia*, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro*, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Serbia*/**, Seychelles, Singapore, Taiwan*** (Republic of China), United States, Uruguay, Vatican CITY, Venezuela, South Korea, as well as persons with a British National (Overseas) passport, a Hong-Kong-SAR passport or a Macau-SAR passport.

Visitors to these visa-free countries are not allowed to stay longer than 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen zone as a whole, and in principle are not allowed to work during the stay (although there are some Schengen countries that allow nationals of certain nationalities to work — see below). The counter starts the moment you enter a member state of the Schengen zone and does not expire when you leave a certain Schengen country for another Schengen country or vice-versa. However, New Zealand nationals may stay longer than 90 days if they are only visiting certain Schengen countries - see [2] for an explanation from the New Zealand Government (in English).

If you are a non-EU/EFTA national (even from a visa-free country, with the exception of Andorra, Monaco or San Marino), make sure that your passport is stamped when entering and leaving the Schengen zone. Without a stamp upon entry, you can be treated as having exceeded the length of stay on departure; without a stamp on departure, you can be denied entry to the Schengen zone the next time because of exceeding the length of stay in a previous trip. If you can't get a stamp, keep documents like boarding passes, transport tickets and receipts from ATMs, as they can help convince the border police that you have stayed legally in the Schengen zone.

Be aware that:

(*) Nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia require a biometric passport to benefit from visa-free travel;

(**) nationals of Serbia with passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (residents of Kosovo with Serbian passports) must apply for a visa;

(***) Taiwanese nationals must have their ID number registered in their passport in order to enjoy visa-free travel.

By plane

By plane to Latvia can be very cheap. There are several low-cost airlines that fly to Riga (RIX), including Ryanair, which fly from Düsseldorf-Weeze and Brussels-Charleroi for just a few euros. Wizzair flies from Eindhoven to Riga.

By train

Despite the rise of budget airlines, train travel can still be a cheap, fast and certainly more convenient option for transportation. Because train stations are often located in the city centres, the train on the medium distance (for example Enschede - Paris or Bruges - Wolfsburg) can compete very well with the plane.

Currently in Belgium and at the Deutsche Bahn online only to order tickets for the neighboring countries of Belgium, resp. Germany and a number of easily accessible cities further on. Other tickets can only be purchased by telephone or at the counter, or of course in the country concerned. The latter is often much cheaper. Also keep an eye out for the many Sparpreis offers at the Deutsche Bahn, which can be very advantageous for a travel route to or via Germany.

However, it is quite possible to train journey map out from home. The two sites listed immediately below provide information not only about journeys from the Benelux, but also about all train connections throughout Europe and in the Russian part of Asia, e.g. between Moscow and Madrid. It is about this the site of the Belgian railways and the Dutch site of the Deutsche Bahn.

NS Hispeed only offers information about travel between the Netherlands and a few large foreign cities. As a rule, this information is also limited to trains that run directly to or from abroad (i.e. no connections between Utrecht and Paris or between Rotterdam and Germany, because there is always a transfer within the Netherlands). To plan trips within the Netherlands, it is best this website use.

NS Hispeed sells online a small range of trips departing from the Netherlands to other countries (one-way and return trips), and a very limited number of routes from abroad to (other) foreign countries (one-way and return trips). You can book other trips by telephone via the Telesales department (0900-9296, €0.35 p.m.) and at the counters in the Tickets and Service shops at the (medium) large stations. This is the online International counter of the Dutch railways.

Smoking is prohibited on the train in all European countries.

By car

By car there are two ways to reach Latvia from the Netherlands or Belgium. On the one hand, you can take a ferry from Scandinavia or Germany to the port city of Ventspils and/or the capital Riga. The car can be taken on this.

Another option is by car via Poland and Lithuania to go to Latvia. It should be borne in mind that the Russian oblast Kaliningrad blocks the shortest route. It is not possible to take this route without a visa. An alternative is to Poznan finally on the road Warsaw - Kaunas to arrive. Once in Lithuania it is relatively easy to travel on to Latvia. The most obvious route is via the Lithuanian city Šiauliai take the road to Riga.

By bus

By boat

Travel around

Language

Latvian is the official language and is therefore the most widely spoken. The younger generation is taught English in secondary school, which means that they are increasingly able to communicate in English. Besides Latvian, a large part of the population speaks the Russian language. This is not entirely surprising since almost 25% of the inhabitants are of Russian descent and have continued to live in Latvia after the Russian occupation. In some cases one can make oneself understood by means of the German language.

It is interesting to understand that although Latvia was occupied by the USSR from 1940 to 1991, the official national language is again Latvian. However, a significant minority (up to 30% nationally and up to 45% in the capital Riga) is Russian. Therefore, almost all written communication is in Latvian but the spoken language on the street is a mix of Latvian and Russian. This is because the immigrants from the Soviet era do not feel much like studying Latvian and continue to use Russian in everyday life. The majority of the ethnic Latvian population, especially those old enough to have attended school in the Soviet system, do understand Russian. Also, many young Latvians learn Russian when they grow up with Russian-speaking friends. Latvian and Russian belong to different language groups and the differences between these languages ​​are greater than, for example, between Dutch and French. Latvian is written with a Latin alphabet (like Dutch) but also has some special letters like Ķ, Ļ, Ū etc. English and German are also well understood in places frequented by tourists and foreigners. If you deviate from the beaten track, you will have to deal with basic concepts of Latvian and Russian. Young people (born after 1975) mostly understand English.

To buy

Cost

Food

Latvian eating and drinking habits

Latvian meals are based on potatoes, meat and salad. However, depending on the region, fish such as eel and herring are also eaten. They eat warm at least twice a day, and they also like to eat sweets.

Breakfast is enjoyed by the whole family and consists of bread with meat fillings, cheese or jam.

Lunch is a hot meal consisting of roast meat or fish, potatoes or rice and a salad. This hot meal is followed by a dessert, which can be fruit or a dairy product.

Dinner is again eaten with the whole family and can be a cold or warm meal.

National drink

The national Latvian drink is called Melnais balzams, which is a bitter herbal liqueur. But there are also typical beers such as Užavas, Tērvetes and Cēsu.

Going out

stay overnight

Hotels in Latvia can mainly be found in Riga. Riga is the capital of Latvia and a very lively and interesting city. Discovering the city of Riga is a good base for a starting tour of the country. There are basically hotels everywhere in Latvia. In addition to hotels, Latvia also has interesting guest houses, hostels or youth hostels for which you often spend less money. Latvia therefore has both expensive and less expensive hotels and there is something for everyone.

Modern Latvia

Latvia has only been independent since 1991 and is therefore still well on the way to modernization. Riga has a large number of hotels located in the old town or in the modern center. The architecture of Latvia is very special and it is therefore certainly possible to spend the night in a special Art Nouveau or grand Gothic building. In Riga, cars are banned as much as possible, which ensures a clean city center.

Luxury Hotel Latvia

With a hotel in the center of Riga, you can easily recognize the city on foot. A well-situated hotel in Latvia is therefore recommended. Your hotel in Latvia provides the basis for an ideal holiday in Latvia. The compactness of the center of Riga makes it very possible to discover everything on foot. Latvia's hotel offer is very varied. The most offer of hotels in Latvia are in the more luxurious hotels, these are in abundance.

To learn

To work

Safety

Health

respect

Contact

This article is still completely under construction . It contains a template, but not yet enough information to be useful to a traveler. Dive in and expand it!

Countries in Europe

Balkans: Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Kosovo · Croatia · Montenegro · North Macedonia · Romania · Slovenia · Serbia Baltic states: Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania Benelux: Belgium · Luxembourg · Netherlands British Isles: Ireland · United Kingdom Central Europe: Germany · Hungary · Liechtenstein · Austria · Poland · Slovenia · Slovakia · Czech Republic · Switzerland France and Monaco: France · Monaco Iberian Peninsula: Andorra · Gibraltar · Portugal · Spain Italian Peninsula: Italy · Malta · San Marino · Vatican CITY Caucasus: Armenia · Azerbaijan · Georgia East Mediterranean: Cyprus · Greece · Turkey Eastern Europe: Kazakhstan · Moldavia · Ukraine · Russia · Belarus Scandinavia: Denmark · Finland · Norway · Iceland · Sweden

Destinations
Continents: Africa · Asia · Europe · North America · Oceania · South America Oceans: Atlantic Ocean · Pacific · Indian Ocean · Arctic Ocean · Southern Ocean Polar regions: Antarctica · Arctic Also see: Room