Why go à RĪGA?

Latvia's capital, nestling at the bottom of a gulf, lies on the banks of the great Daugava river. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Baltic", Rīga is above all the most industrial, the largest (800,000 inhabitants, which is disproportionate to the size of the country) and the most urban of the three Baltic capitals.

It's also the most cosmopolitan, thanks to the openness to the world it enjoyed when Rīga was one of the bases of Hanseatic trade. In the 1930s, its intense cultural life even earned it the nickname "Little Paris". A stroll through the capital's streets will take you back eight centuries. In fact, you'll encounter every historical style to be found in Western Europe: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, Classical and Art Nouveau. The city's priceless urban heritage was included on the World Heritage List in 1997.