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Riga
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Photo by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Best time to visit Riga

Latvia · Europe

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Riga

Tap a month for its page

  1. Riga in January: avoid
  2. Riga in February: avoid
  3. Riga in March: ok
  4. Riga in April: ok
  5. Riga in May: sweet spot
  6. Riga in June: good, busy
  7. Riga in July: good, busy
  8. Riga in August: good, busy
  9. Riga in September: good
  10. Riga in October: ok
  11. Riga in November: avoid
  12. Riga in December: avoid
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Go in May — 17C max, 8 rainy days. Aug is the next best.

Things to do in Riga

  • Freedom Monument One of Latvia's national symbols.
  • Riga TV Tower A 368-m-high tower built of concrete and standing on three legs…
  • Riga Cathedral Dating to 1207, the cathedral is one of Riga's symbols.
  • The House of the Black Cat This building (also housing a pub of no particular note) is most famous for the two…
  • The Three Brothers The oldest dwelling houses in Riga.
  • Riga Castle One of the medieval castles in Latvia, on the bank of the river…
  • Riga Orthodox Cathedral The Orthodox Cathedral was erected during Russian rule for Russian residents.

Tours and tickets in Riga

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Riga/Centrs, Riga/Pārdaugava, Riga/Vecrīga), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 0° 9d 86% 2.2h avoid bitter cold: 0C daily max
Feb 1° 7d 83% 4.1h avoid bitter cold: 1C daily max
Mar 6° 7d 76% 7.3h ok 6C max, 7 rainy days
Apr 11° 7d 70% 10.2h ok 11C max, 7 rainy days
May 17° 8d 66% 12.4h sweet spot 17C max, 8 rainy days
Jun 22° 9d 70% 13.7h goodbusy busier than usual
Jul 23° 12d 75% 13.1h goodbusy busier than usual
Aug 22° 11d 76% 11.3h goodbusy busier than usual
Sep 18° 10d 79% 9.1h good 18C max, 10 rainy days
Oct 12° 13d 83% 5.5h ok 12C max, 13 rainy days
Nov 6° 8d 88% 2.5h avoid bitter cold: 6C daily max
Dec 2° 10d 88% 1.6h avoid bitter cold: 2C daily max

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the old town, 9 km from the airport (RIX): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest from June to August; quietest from January to March.

Then and now

Riga's March days now average 6.3°C, 3.4°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 8 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–90-1.8°-1.6°2.9°9.7°17.0°19.1°20.9°20.2°15.2°10.6°4.0°-0.1°
2017–26-0.0°0.6°6.3°11.1°16.8°22.0°22.7°22.2°18.1°11.6°5.6°1.9°
Change+1.8°+2.1°+3.4°+1.3°-0.1°+2.9°+1.8°+2.0°+2.9°+1.0°+1.7°+1.9°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Riga is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Cost of livingcheap — prices run about 57% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025)
CurrencyEuro
LanguagesLatvian
PlugsType C and F, 230 V
DrivingOn the right
Calling code+371
Travel advice No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-08-11
HealthUK Foreign Office health advice

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — Latvia uses the euro. Cards are taken in most restaurants, shops, petrol stations and hotels, and ATMs are widespread, but take out cash before heading outside the cities. Card fraud and overcharging for drinks are reported: keep your card in sight when paying, check bar bills, and use ATMs inside banks where you can.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — Reserved: rounding up the bill, by around 5 to 10%, is enough but not necessary; check the receipt, as a few places add a service charge.

Getting around Riga

Bus 22 runs between Riga Airport and the centre, stopping in Old Riga opposite the bus station, in about 30 minutes. A ticket for the city's buses, trams and trolleybuses costs €1.50: buy it beforehand at Narvesen shops or the ticket machines at some stops, or as a code ticket in the Rīgas satiksme or Mobilly app, and validate it each time you board, as inspectors fine on the spot. A taxi from the airport to the centre takes 15 to 20 minutes and costs about €10 to €15.

  • Apps — Rides: Bolt. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Licensed taxis have yellow number plates. To avoid inflated fares, book a major taxi firm such as Baltic Taxi or Red Cab, or use an app such as Bolt that shows the price first; otherwise agree an approximate fare before setting off and make sure the meter is on, as some visitors report meters altered to run fast.

Vecrīga mainly comprises rounded cobblestone streets that may be hard to walk on if you are not wearing proper shoes. Outside of Vecrīga, most streets are paved with asphalt, although some smaller streets may be unpaved. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Riga, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — police 110 · ambulance 113 · fire 112. In Riga, the tourist police are on +371 6718 1818.
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (12)

Riga in pictures

Weavers Street, Riga (DSC02271)
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Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vistas desde la iglesia de San Pedro, Riga, Letonia, 2012 08 07, DD 12
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vistas desde la iglesia de San Pedro, Riga, Letonia, 2012 08 07, DD 17
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Riga Landmarks 99
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Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Riga Landmarks 96
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Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Riga is like

Riga is the financial, creative, and cultural centre of Latvia. It is the capital and the largest city in Latvia, it is also the second largest city in the Baltic States after the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing
For tourists, the most interesting districts are Vecrīga (the UNESCO-listed Old Town) and the area around the nearby Freedom Monument… More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing
If you're interested in classical culture, head to the National Opera in the Old Town to enjoy opera or ballet or to the Koncertzāle Ave Sol a little further north. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in
Riga International Airport (Starptautiskā Lidosta Rīga RIX IATA) (10 km southwest of Riga). The airport serves approximately 5 million passengers per year. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe
Riga is generally safe if you know how to take the basic precautions. Riga's old town is extremely safe at all times, as are the city's major thoroughfares. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Riga, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Riga

Nearby

Kind of place

Riga is in Latvia, Europe. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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