Riga is the capital of Latvia.

Understand

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It is useful to understand that although from 1940 to 1991 Latvia was a constituent republic of the USSR, the official language is Latvian. However, a significant minority (up to 40% nationwide and possibly just over 50% in the capital Riga) is Russian speaking. The majority of ethnic Latvians living in the city, especially those old enough to have attended school during Soviet times, can also speak and understand Russian. However, they greatly prefer to converse in Latvian as Russian is seen as a language of oppression of the Soviet years. English and also German are widely understood at places regularly visited by tourists and foreigners but you may be out of luck when leaving the city centre or visiting places off the beaten track.

Get in

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By Plane

Riga International Airport, . Arrivals from and departures to various European (London, Munich, Oslo, etc) and Middle Eastern (Tel Aviv) cities as well as New York City. Bus 22 and 22A links the airport (Lidosta) with downtown. Tickets are purchased from the conductor. Have small change ready. The bus to the airport runs until late at night. Bus 22 goes to the central station south of Old Riga, the fare is 30 santimi. Bus 22A is an express bus to the cathedral between the freedom monument and Reval Hotel Latvija, the fare is 25 santimi (This may have recently increased like the Route 22 fare has).

* Aer Lingus, to Dublin

* Aeroflot,

* Aerosvit Airlines,

* Air Baltic, . The Latvian national airline. Offers flights to various European cities as well as a recently announced domestic flight to Liepaja, the first in 20 years.

* Austrian Airlines,

* British Airways,

* Concors

* Czech Airlines, . Offering 2 flights daily to Prague.

* EasyJet, .

* Estonian Air,

* Finnair, . Has convenient flights from most European cities via Helsinki.

* Israir,

* KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,

* LatCharter

* Latpass Airlines

* LOT, . Flies to Riga from its hub in Warsaw.

* Lufthansa, . Has flights to Riga from Munich.

* Ryanair, . Offers cheap deals from Dublin, Frankfurt-Hahn and Bremen (Germany), London's Stansted and Liverpool (England), Glasgow, Stockholm's Skavsta (Sweden) and Tampere (Finland).

* SAS,

* Uzbekistan Airways,

Get around

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Taxis can be cheap but you must be careful, as sometimes they try to get more money than they should and they don't care about giving a long tour through the city to arrive where you want. This must be stressed. Taxi drivers will try to rip you off. Some drivers speak a few words in English. The Red Taxis 8001313 are the only taxi company that can be trusted in Riga and that is why they have the contract with the Airport and with the most professional hotels.

There are trams, buses and trolley buses which are pretty easy to use. At each stop, the conductor goes to each person who boarded and sells them a ticket for that ride. Each ride costs 30 santims (35 for some buses, e.g. the express service...