Looking for Riga visit tips

Hi from Sweden

Hello,
My name is Martin and I thought I would post a quick "hello" to all on the forum.
Originally from London I now live in southern Sweden and presently provide video engineering technical support to the whole Nordic region. (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.)

There is some discussion right now in my company about expanding my support region to also cover the Baltic states and that is how I stumbled across this website / forum.

Have a great day and maybe we'll chat in a thread or something some time.

Best.
Martin

There is a good chance I may travel to Riga on business in the near future.

I travel a lot (for work as well as pleasure) and normally have no issues adjusting to new places and not getting too ripped off. (well, taxi's can be pirates all over the world right?)

However, a little background information and advice is always useful. Reading through the 3 pages of "Visit Latvia" tips in this forum I am getting the impression that Riga can be a little spooky, especially after dark?

Is this the correct impression or simply people being a little cautious?
Having grown up in London but lived in Sweden for 10 years I can understand that there are always places where you should be a little bit more aware of your surroundings but in truth I don't think I have been anywhere that really freaked me out.

What are the things to watch for?
Are there any neighbourhoods to avoid?
Gangster bars or clip joint scams to look out for?

My normal travel for profile is about a week at a time in any one place and I always try to find a hotel relatively close to city centre or central station/travel center.

Its nice to not feel locked into a hotel room though and taking walks and finding somewhere nice to eat or have a beer can be a good place to see a new and unfamiliar city.

The purpose of my visits will be work so meeting people and making friends is not the reason for travel, however friendly places and friendly people are always a more pleasant experience.
If anybody has found any place they can specifically recommend please drop me a line as I am sure I will do once I have a little more time in the city.

In exchange...right now I can recommend A-21 in Helsinki finland. Awesome cocktail lounge I recently found. (I know its not Latvia, but i am trying to contribute and also give an idea of the kind of input I may be looking for.)

regards
Martin

It's like any other big European city, where after dark you can't be sure about your safety. But comparing to big cities, Riga is still too small Comparing to London, it is a calm resort. It's not critically dangerous, and specially nowadays, most often on deep evenings you won't see lots of people walking.


That's the standard question we are answering for few years already. The most comprehensive guide about it is told in Riga in Your Pocket edition. Get one on the airport's exit. It will tell you everything you should know, what to watch and where to check.


I doubt that you will travel far away from the Old Riga or Riga Center. Most of criminal "neighborhoods" are starting 5 km from the center.


Riga is too young for this

Regarding bars - be aware that most of the Old City cafees and bars are now quite expensive. I suppose, they could be even more expensive than in London, but comparatively poor in drinks and food. We are experiencing not the best economic times for now.

If you have a decision to travel to Riga, better do it right now, in Summer/sunny time. Then go to Jurmala or some of the beaches. Skip architecture and other things. Watching live young girls showing their legs and tits is a more pleasant business

Plomb

This is good to read, some of the things stated about Latvia make it sound like the setting of the "Hostel" movies.

C'mon, you can find adventures like in "Hostel", not only in Latvia I think, Latvia is too tiny place for that, too calm.

But nobody can be sure what's happening on those villages, rarely located in deep districts of this country!

Plomb

What I meant, namely that some of the things stated about Latvia, in a number of posts, make it seem a crazy place, whereas the reality is probably more moderate.