Latvia Attractions

Rga

Unwary travellers lured into Rga's winding cobbled streets are transfixed by swirling Art Nouveau architecture and warm bars with candles flickering in the windows. Just as you can't take the Old Town's beauty any longer, you look up to a bewitching skyline of castle turrets and church steeples.

Rga manages to couple its toy-town cuteness with a glitzy nightlife and thriving restaurant scene. Funky and vibrant, it's a major metropolis with a big-city atmosphere hard to find elsewhere in the region. The city is booming, with a queue of backers pouring money into its infrastructure.

Sigulda

This enchanted town stands on the southern edge of a picturesque, steep-sided, wooded section of the Gauja Valley and is spanned by a string of medieval castles and legend-laden caves. Known locally as the 'Switzerland of Latvia', Sigulda is a minor health resort and a winter sports centre - with an Olympic bobsled run snaking down into the valley.

Little remains of old Sigulda Castle, but 19th-century Sigulda Manor, former residence of the Knights of the Sword, is now a sanatorium.

Just 53km (33mi) east of Rga, Sigulda is also the primary gateway to beautiful Gauja National Park, located northeast of town.

Founded in 1973, Latvia's first national park protects a diverse range of flora and fauna, and offers a multitude of forest and river hiking as well as biking trails and fabulous canoeing opportunities.