How to have an entertaining week in Latvia?

Someone nicknamed “comput1″ has asked us how to entertain his/her guests for a week in Latvia. Well, we are not a travel agency (maybe we should one day), but will try to give you a few tips. In Riga it’s cool to show something besides the Old Town, Central Market and Art Nouveau buildings – a typical tourist set-list. Bring them to Maskavas forštate to see some gypsies and poor people, or even to Latgale market with second-hand staff. Try different suburbs, even the ones that locals would consider ugly.

A view from TV tower on Riga

As for a good panoramic view point, try not St. Peters church, but also there are two other cool view points. One is from the TV tower – this is the highest (97m) you can get. It costs 2.60 Ls per person. Another option is from the Academy of Sciences – it’s that monumental Soviet era building behind the Central market. The ticket price used to be around 2.50 Ls. Of course, you can go to Sky Bar at the top of Hotel Latvija and don’t pay anything at all. Outside Riga try to go to Soviet bunker in Līgatne, but remember you need to be 10 people in a group (it costs 2 Ls per person), otherwise they will fuck you off. If you are looking for more Soviet legacy, go to Karosta (if you want a bit of exotic, stay one night in prison-hotel) in Liepāja or Zeltiņi in Alūksne. There are a lot of abandoned Soviet army military sites.

Double room in Karosta prison hotel costs 5 Ls per person

You can also visit a shooting gallery on Šarlotes street or at VEF, Līvu aqua park, a really amazing (and weird) emo’s music club Melnā Piektdiena, a local football game by Skonto or FC Rīga (it sucks, but it’s damn cheap), nudist beach in Vecāķi or regular beach in Bolderāja (hard to find the way to it, but it’s amazing and isn’t crowded), cruise around Daugava in a boat, go to museum of anatomy or nature, or go ice-skating in Piņķi ledus halle etc, etc. Have fun!

Why Riga isn’t good for stag parties anymore?

If you google “Riga stag” you get get quite a few websites that offer stag holidays in Riga. We believe there are many reasons to argument why stag parties in Riga is a history.

First of all, Latvians hate stag party boys, so if you are one of them, don’t blame the country or their people if you have been robbed or beaten. So in that sense, as a stag party guest, you can’t feel welcomed here. You will probably fuck the most stupid girls in town and they won’t do it for free, you will also pay much more than they actually cost. Because you are not perceived as a civilized human, but as and asshole with no brains and a lot of money in the arse and they want to get the most out of your ass. One of a typical scenarios is to be ripped-off by barely dressed girls that appear to want to flirt with you, for instance, at Groks bar – it’s a cafe/club near Livu sq., next to Pepsi Forums dance club. According to Latvian daily Diena, some guy have paid 2000 Ls for a bottle of champagne. He was too drunk to notice for what amount his credit card was charged. Later he didn’t want to bother with police, cos he was leaving the country and also had family back home, so obviously his wife and kids wouldn’t be happy hearing their daddy was spraying liters of expensive champagne on some local Barbies. So let’s say the first reason is that stag parties are not welcome by locals and if you are ripped-off, Latvians won’t feel pity for you, they will rather call you a dickhead and be happy that you got what you deserved.
The second reason is that it’s not that cheap anymore. And Riga is famous for bad service in bars and restaurants, very often they have pumped up prices, but not service, attitude or content. In the last year overall inflation was 17 %, but some staff jumped up even 30 %. Cigarettes cost 1.50 Ls (which is around 1.55 in GBP; last year the price was 0.80 Ls), while beer is around 2-3 Ls per pint. A meal will start at around 5 quid and a bus ride cost 0.40 Ls (remember, there’s no day pass, so if you need 6 changes, you pay 2.40 Ls per day, which is almost what Londoners pay for a day travel card on bus). Prostitutes are still in last year’s prices, which means around 30-40 Ls for a normal chick, while expect to pay 60-100 Ls for a VIP type beauty queen. Average food prices in a shop are about 10-15% more than in Berlin, for instance, a liter of orange juice is around 0.80 Ls, a simple white bread – around 0.60 Ls. Knowing that stag parties take place in Old Riga mainly and that you won’t have time to see much else besides some stupid bars and boring dance clubs, you will drink the most expensive booze of Riga, eat most expensive food and visit most boring places. For instance, one of a stag travel companies offers an option to travel to Sigulda and ride down the bobsleigh track in a bob on wheels. This package costs 36 Ls (it includes two rides) and you must be 10 people in a group (it means that you might need to pay more if you are less). In the reality this could cost you much less – return trip to Sigulda costs 2 Ls on train, while the ride in the bob is 5 Ls. So if you take the ride twice (we can assure you that one time is enough, cos your head will ache from shaking) you end up paying 12 Ls instead of 36. As a stag boy, you have overpaid three times.

What’s on the scene?

Tourists come to Latvia not only for Art Noveau architecture or stag parties but some are seeking entertainment alternatives. For those into popular music Latvia isn’t that bad choice. The price for tickets to mega stars can be twice as low as in, for instance, United Kingdom. For instance, you can see Bjork for 36 Lats only (around 35 GBP), while in London you will pay at least 70 quid.

Below we offer you a selected list of upcoming gigs in June. Over the summer such artists, as Bjork, Sex Pistols, Avril Lavigne and Sigur Ros will tour Latvia too. Check Bilesu serviss and Bilesu paradize for tickets.

09. June – Massive Attack
11. June – Def Leppard
11. June – Linkin Park
20. June – Kylie Minogue
21. June – Lenny Kravitz
29. June – Seal
01. July – Slayer
02. July – Avril Lavigne
07. July – Chemical Brothers
12. July – Lou Reed

How do they party in Riga

If you are curious to see some photos of young people having fun at clubs in Riga, you should check out this site on Flickr. Under the name “Fuck for friendship” (no fucking clue what do they mean with that) some youngsters have put photos from parties, mainly of those taking place around Andrejsala. Click here for images.

Andrejsala in pictures

I have mentioned Andrejsala here already a few times. I am sure for some it sounds like a good place to hang out. I think some photos can help to get an idea what kind of staff is going on there. See something on Flickr.

Where to meet Latvians

When you go to a foreign country it’s good to know a bit more about their people. Most of Latvians are online and they use Latvian version of Friendster, Facebook and Myspace called Draugiem.lv. It means “for friends” and its English version is called Frype. Once you are there you can “meet” almost anyone – nice chicks, ugly boys, celebrities and even politicians. And there is no age limit, you can find newborn babies and grandmas, which makes it good place for pedophiles or some other weirdos. Lot of young girls like to display photos of wearing underwear or swimsuit, that’s kinda must-have thing for all 16-18 year old girls. To sign up it’s free but the only bad thing is that it is by invitation only (well, probably to avoid perverts like you), but you can apply there and you might get invited. When applying it’s good to write not just “I am cool so let’s make friends” (cos you will just sound like some foreign jerk), but be a bit honest and handsome, don’t tell that you have muscles or nice face cos originally this site is not for dating or any sexual adventures, however, once you are in, you can start your flirting, meeting, or finding people you met on your last trip etc, cos everyone is there by their real name (well, that’s the site’s policy). But be careful sending some love poems to minors, you can end up in prison. There was already a case last year and a 50 year old daddy got sentenced for having a crush on 13 year old girl.