Latvian Legends and History in Riga’s Old Town

(119 reviews)

Riga audio tour: Latvian Legends and History in Riga’s Old Town

This is a 1.5mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Riga

Latvia

$11.99

Access all 23 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

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About the Tour

Who are we Latvians? Where do we come from? What do we believe in? On this tour, I’ll try to answer those questions with exciting stories from our history as well as a few Latvian legends instead of dry facts and numbers. I’ll also lead you to some of the most important landmarks in Riga’s Old Town.

I’m Emīls, by the way, and Riga has been my home since 2012. My background is in finance, but I also studied culture and history and I believe that the best tour guides are storytellers. Stories open the doors of our imagination and make city streets come alive.

Along the way, I’ll tell you about:

The location of the oldest pagan settlements
What hides in the basement of a Reformation church
The mysterious monks of the St. John church
A popular fairy tale called theTown Musicians of Bremen
St. Peter’s church and the unfortunate burning of Riga
The Brotherhood of Blackheads and their splendid party house
Dome Cathedral and its “witches”;
The rise of Latvians
Making sense of the Latvian code at the Monument of Freedom.

Tour Producer

Emīls Dzelzkalējs

1 tour

I am Emīls - joyful and artistic Latvian guy and a professional tour guide. Riga has been my hometown since 2012 and I have fallen in love with it ever since. I love telling about history through stories which allow us to experience places, people and events in a much more vivid, exciting and authentic way.

Preview Location

Location 1

Albert Square

A river flowing through the city.
Merchant ships approaching the harbour.
Paganic tribes worshipping their gods and cherishing their traditions.
Wars and intrigues to acquire the land next to the Baltic sea.
Hundreds of years of struggles to save and protect the unique ... Read More

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Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

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Major Landmarks

Albert Square
Reformation Church
Rock Cafe Riga
St. John's Church
Jāņa sēta
Konventa sēta
Town Musicians of Bremen
St. Peter's Church
Riga Town Hall Square
House of the Black Heads
Cat House
Dome Square
Saeima
St. Jacob’s Catholic Cathedral of Riga
Zviedru vārti
Powder Tower
The Freedom Monument

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Old Riga, Centra rajons, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia
Total distance

2km
Final location
Central District, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia
Distance back to start location

581.22m

Directions to Starting Point

The starting point of Albert's Square is a bit unusual and even some locals do not know about it. If you live or you're staying in the Old Town of Riga, you can just walk there on foot. If you are further away, take any transport to the Old Town of Riga and walk to Albert Square. You can find Albert's Square in Google Maps by typing "Alberta laukums".

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The Old Town of Riga is full of lovely cafes and restaurants, therefore you can stop at any point you want.

Best time of day

If you take this tour as the skies start to darken, a few objects might be less visible. However, the Old Town of Riga is usually quite well illuminated, so the tour can take place at any time of day.

Precautions

Old Town of Riga is a safe place, but you should be aware that there may be pickpocketers.

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”