Latvia · Self-guided walk
Riga in one walk 8 sights, 30 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Riga Old Town: 8 sights on one 2.0 km loop, about 30 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 2.0 km, a loop
- Time
- about 30 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Melngalvju nams
- Steps
- on Līvu laukums, Kaļķu iela
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Riga walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Riga, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Melngalvju nams
the start · inside open Mon–Thu 10:00–17:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–16:00, Sun 10:00–17:00
The busiest front on Town Hall Square. There is so much on it that I lose count, and I have time to count. Someone once left this house a request in writing. Someone else, a long time later, did as it asked. I am not telling you what it said.
Next: Rīgas Doms, 380 m, about 6 min, along Mazā Jauniela, Jauniela.
2. Rīgas Doms
about 6 minutes of walking from the start
The largest medieval church in the Baltics, on a square of its own. That is a lot of brick to chew. The real treat is inside, and it is louder than it looks. Go in and see.
Next: Trīs brāļi, 160 m, about 2 min.
3. Trīs brāļi
about 8 minutes of walking from the start
A row of houses on Mazā Pils iela, shoulder to shoulder like loaves on a bakery shelf. They are not the same age, and one of them wears a face for a reason. I am not telling you which one, or what the face is for.
Next: Rīgas Pils, 240 m, about 4 min, along Mazā Pils iela, Pils laukums.
4. Rīgas Pils
about 12 minutes of walking from the start
A castle that still has a tenant, and the tenant has an office. Long ago two birds argued over a spot on its roof, and the town took the outcome very seriously. Who won, and why it mattered, you hear at the castle.
Next: Zviedru vārti, 380 m, about 6 min, along Torņa iela.
5. Zviedru vārti
about 17 minutes of walking from the start
An archway with a house sitting on top of it, on the last standing stretch of the town wall. They say it exists because someone could not be bothered to walk around. I have never hurried anywhere, so I find this hard to follow. I am not telling you who it was.
Next: Pulvertornis, 190 m, about 3 min, along Trokšņu iela.
6. Pulvertornis
about 20 minutes of walking from the start
A stout round tower, built like me: thick in the middle and in no hurry. It was named after sand long before it was named after powder. Look closely at its walls. Something is lodged in them, and the usual explanation is not the right one. The right one is waiting for you at the tower.
Next: Kaķu nams, 140 m, about 2 min, along Vaļņu iela.
7. Kaķu nams
about 22 minutes of walking from the start
Two cats sit on a roof on Līvu laukums, and they are not up there for the view. What they are up there for stands on the other side of the square. I am not telling you what.
Next: Svētā Pētera baznīca, 380 m, about 6 min, along Kaļķu iela, Monētu iela.
8. Svētā Pētera baznīca
about 28 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Thu 10:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 10:00–22:00, Sun 10:00–18:00
A lift takes you up the tower to a gallery 72 metres high, and the Old Town lies below like a laid table. Before you go up, look at what sits on the very top. It is not the first one. How many came before it, you hear up close.
Back to the start: Melngalvju nams, 150 m, about 2 min, along Mazā Grēcinieku iela.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Riga.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 67 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Riga Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.