Riga, the heart of Latvia goes back to the early 13th century and today it is the largest town in the country and also in the Baltic's. In difference to Tallinn in Estonia and Vilnius in Lithuania there is a quite different pulse in Riga. There is a lot to see and do in this town and as a World Heritage Site it first of all offers you a seductive Old Town with narrow alleys and a medieval atmosphere. I have visited Riga twice over the last 10 years and can conclude a gradual change from a quite confused, run-down post-Soviet state to a town slowly becoming more and more westernised, with new shopping centres popping up both in and outside the city. My hope is that it still keeps it charm in a similar way Tallinn and Vilnius have managed to do.

The Old Town, besides being littered with numerous strip-clubs (which was not there at my first visit in 1997), offers you brilliant 14th century Hansa-styled cathedral, an old Livonian castle dating back to the early 12th century and today the home of the Latvian president. Not to be missed is the famous House of the Blackheads near St.Peters Church and the river Daugava. In my personal opinion, the Old Town is at its absolute best at the former Konventa Seta, an old monastery that's been turned into a hotel.

An absolute must for anyone visiting Riga is to walk up to the Albert and Elisabetes Street and check out the famous Art Noveaux buildings, works of famous architects like Eizenstein, Scheffel and Peksens and some of the most beautiful in its class in Europe. Another must-do in Riga is the food market, housed in old Zeppelin hangars, just behind the train station.