Riga Travel Answers

Lucky you - i love Riga. Firstly you will love the females. They are all beautiful , second only to Lithuania in my view. The old town is the place to be for nightlife . The Skyline bar is the most impressive drinking establishment in the city but quite expensive compared to some of the others. inyourpocket.com/city/riga.h... is a great website to look at before travelling & when at the airport if you go downstairs to the information point you can pick up a free guide too - well worth doing. As for wearing your kilts - Scotland can be cold i know but trust me do that in Riga & you will freeze your ----- off. Have a great time , Darren.

thanks for your reply Ghosthunter, did you get any hassle while out at night?we are going to be staying in the old town and have read some bad stuff about how the local guys dont take too kindly to groups of foriegn males? what about the kilts? if we are brave enough to go out in the cold in them are we going to set ourselves up for hassle / trouble? we just want to go there for a nice weekend, see a few sights etc, definately not into getting hassled or in trouble? maybe sound a bit paranoid but just been reading other peoples accounts of their time there! any further info or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! also if there is anyone from Riga reading this who would like to meet up over that weekend then please get in touch, would be nice to have a bit of local knowledge around to hang out with!

No i never got any hassle & didn't see any problems . You may well get hassled by prostitutes in the old town but if you are not interested just say no thanks & they will leave you alone. If you are brave enough ( weather wise ) to wear the kilts i'm sure you will be fine. Lithuania is where you have to be more careful with the locals. I have always found the Latvians ( even the guys ) really friendly, Darren.

Hi! Now is -5C in snowing in Riga. It might be colder during the middle of January. Take care of you, don't wear kilts. :-) OK, you'll feel the frost when you'll out of aircraft. :-)

thanks for the infromation Lana, about the kilts? do you think that we should not wear kilts because it would get us in trouble / people would not like it? or because of the cold weather?

Lana was saying because of the cold. It will take you by surprise trust me. Aberdeen in Jan will be sunbathing weather compared to Riga. Because of the location the wind chill factor will make it feel colder than it is.

You don't want to be classed as a "stag type group" - but you probably will be, and especially if you're wearing kilts. ;o) I'd suggest reading the Riga forum on Tripadvisor, for info about what "stag type groups" might experience in Riga... tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g2...

That's very good advice. Also on tripadvisor member angli4anin is an absolute star on all things Riga. I'm sure he would be happy to point you in the right direction.

I don't really think stag groups get problems from the locals, more likely the other way round but you really will stick out like sore thumbs if you wear kilts in January. Plus you'll freeze off your manhood! I wasn't there as part of a stag group, but after reading some of the posts on VT I really wondered about Riga, so I Googled 'kidnapping' and 'Riga' and guess what, VT is the only place it's referenced... I really think that there might be a few people who've been there expecting to be embraced with open arms and then been a bit surprised that people aren't impressed by drunk groups of Brits... As a young British guy I can't say I felt any animosity towards me, but then I was just a fairly average quiet tourist and I wasn't wearing a kilt. Riga is a lovely city, I really enjoyed my time there and hope you do too.

Kidnapping? Hehe :o)) Never heard of tourists being kidnapped in Riga (!) - but *have* heard of quite a few "incidents" where stag groups (and the like) end up in trouble. I can fully understand that some locals are getting fed up with the hordes of loud, drunk Brits... ;o) Just be a bit careful, avoid strip clubs (unless you want to risk being beaten up / forced to pay rather huge amounts of monay for one drink etc etc;o) - and just try to act civilized... :-P ~Mette, currently freezing her butt off in Riga

Yes they are loud, yes they are drunk and yes even some are Scandinavian! I’m not defending them; I loathe them as much as anybody, but if Riga doesn’t want the millions they deposit into the countries coffers every year, its simple, stop catering for them. (strip bars, xxx hotels, etc.. etc..)

Ah yes, of course - but the average Latvian doesn't make money on the stag groups, and would probably be pretty happy to see the strip clubs etc gone - and I can understand why quite a few Latvians don't adore that type of tourists... ;o)

I always had much more enjoyable trips when I "blended in" with the locals. By wearing kilts you'll be seperating yourself. As has been stated earlier, in kilts, you'll most likely be viewed and treated as "stags", regardless of your behavior. You will probably get reactions from amusement to curiousity to avoidance to having people want to kick your tail. Gary

ok guys, easy!!! i dont want anybody getting worked up about anything! the information and advice has been great, perhaps i could bother you all again and ask for good places to go for eats, drinks and a bit of a boogie within easy reach of our hotel! can i say again that the 5 of us that are going are not interested in getting legless with drink, we are a very friendly, mixed age group who have been to lots of other places, we are hoping to go to Riga and see the city, enjoy the culture and have fun. we are staying at the Garden Palace hotel in the old town, where is good to go within an easy walk (5-10 mins?) we have heard that the Roxy is very close? true or false? good or bad??? on the subject of the kilt, might still take it and decide when we get there, we have always worn our kilts where ever we go, it it always recieved very well and have never recieved any negative treatment through wearing it! Scottish people are widely accepted as some of the most friendly on the planet, i am not saying that we are all angels or that we at times dont over indulge in drink. i am an ambassador for my country where ever i go, my actions reflect on my country and as a proud Scot i do not intend to damage Scotlands reputation, hopefully i / we will have the opportunity to enhance it instead! anyway any help on the good places to go for eats, drinke etc appreciated! oh yeah, another thing, us Scots like a good game of football, (even though it usually ends in tears!), can anyone tell us if either Riga fc or Skonto Riga are playing a game next weekend? Thanks again!!!

Hi, I like the Fashion Club, Its not far from the old town (Thursday: 22:00-03:00, Friday: 22:00-06:00, Saturday: 22:00-06:00 and Open Sunday). www.fclub.lv I would avoid the Voodoo Lounge club under the hotel Reval Latvia but the Sky Bar on the 26th floor is great place to start a night.

I believe the football season in Latvia is over? The new season kicks off in April, I think - and ends in November. (Much like here in Norway - bit too cold to play football in January.. :o)

2nd vote for the skyline bar. Details at : worldsbestbars.com/public/ve...

I agree with FletteMette -- "the average Latvian" doesn't really benefit, at least not directly, and actually loses (most people I know now avoid the Old Town like the plague, at least in summer -- and it used to be an exceedingly pleasant place). A lot of the businesses making money off stag groups are at least partly part of the "gray economy," and ladies of the evening don't pay taxes on their nocturnal activities. The preponderance of lager louts also drives away the tourists that we _do_ want -- if one came to experience a romantic weekend savoring the Jugendstil (Riga has ca. 600 splendid buildings from that era and is a UNESCO site), but most every café is overrun by rude RyanAir frequent fliers harassing the females... That said, I don't think kilts will be a problem if you're in a group. I wouldn't wander the streets alone at 3 AM in a kilt, however. It will get you seen as a stag group, though; a lot of the groups come with "distinctive" gear, like matching T-shirts declaring how much they can drink before they *** on the Freedom Monument. Regards, /Peteris http://lettonica.blogspot.com/

Agree with the other comments about the Kilts, A) You will freeze your nads off and b)you probably will be seen as a stag night, although I have to say that when my wife and I were there last May we did not see any trouble with stag / hen nights. I suppose it is just being sensible that keeps you out of trouble. Regarding good places to eat / drink i would suggest that you pick up the free guide "Riga This Week" from your hotel or the airport. We found this very useful. Be sure to try out the local brew Uzavas ( which tastes like bitter ) and to try out some traditional Latvian food like grey peas (pelekie zirni) with bacon & onions which tastes better than it sounds, and piragi which are little buns filled with ham and onions or minced meat. The Sky bar is good for a few drinks, but not exactly for a full evening, but is definitely a must do for the views ( be careful if you have your kilts on in the lifts as i seem to remember that the lift had glass walls ). If you like to sample different types of beer then the Belgian Beer Cafe in Marstalu Street had a good atmosphere. Nobu serves a decent sushi. There is also a medieval restaurant called Rozengrals which is in a narrow street in the old town, we did not get to it but people who we know have said it is worth it for the entertainment value, dont go though if you like your spuds, as apparently there are not any on the menu, they were not brought to europe until the 1500's and the whole menu focuses on medieval food only. Enjoy Riga

Please can you help. I am visiting in May. Can yu tell me the average cost of a beer and standard meal? Thanks