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The majority of visitors from countries in Europe or from the Americas are likely to travel by air.
By air
From the UK, Air Baltic operates direct daily flights from London Gatwick to Riga. The flight takes about two and a half hours. Ryanair also operates a daily service from Stansted to Riga. The flight leaves Stansted at 17.20 and arrives in Riga at 21.55, but the return flight is less convenient, leaving Riga at 22.20 and arriving at Stansted at 22.55. Ryanair also has regular flights to Riga from Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and East Midlands. Wizz Air flies regurarly to Riga from London Luton.
There are also regular flights to Riga from Aalesund, Amsterdam, Antalya, Athens, Baku, Barcelona, Bari, Bergen, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Budapest, Chisinau, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Eindhoven, Gdansk, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istambul, Kaliningrad, Karlsruhe - Baden-Baden, Kaunas, Kiev, Lappeenranta, Madrid, Milan, Minsk, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Odessa, Oslo, Oulu, New York, Palanga, Paris, Prague, Rome, Rovaniemi, Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Stavanger, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tampere, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Trondheim, Turku, Umea, Vaasa, Venice, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw and Zurich.
Fares fluctuate frequently and for short-break visitors it is often cheaper to book package than flights and hotels separately. The lowest fares are usually available in winter, spring and autumn, but invariably increase over Christmas and Easter. To secure reasonable prices in the summer, it is important to book well in advance. Riga has become popular a weekend destination.
For travellers from the USA, SAS and Finnair offer good connections via Copenhagen and Stockholm, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines via Frankfurt and Brussels. Given the very low fares usually available to London from the USA and Canada, it may often be cheaper to break the journey in London and take separate package from there. Via London is always the best route for tourists from Australia and New Zealand, as well as from South Africa.
Airline internet addresses/ telephone numbers in Riga as follows:
Aeroflot: phone (+371) 67240228, www.aeroflot.lv
airBaltic: phone (+371) 90001100 (within Latvia only at LVL 0.37 per minute), +370 5 2356000 (Vilnius, Lithuania), www.airbaltic.lv
Czech Airlines: phone (+371) 67207636, www.czechairlines.lv
Estonian Air: www.estonianair.com
Finnair: phone (+371) 67207010, www.finnair.com
Iberia Express: www.iberiaexpress.com
LOT: ph. (+371) 67207113, www.lot.com
Lufthansa: phone (+371) 67507711, www.lufthansa.com
Norwegian: www.norwegian.no
Ryanair: www.ryanair.com
Transaero: www.transaero.com
Turkish Airlines: phone (+371) 67210094, www.turkishairlines.com
UTair: Lidosta"Rīga" , 3rd floor, LV-1053, Latvia, www.utair.ru, phones (+371) 67 303 077, (+371) 67 860 300 (ticket sales), fax: (+371) 67 207 075, utair@utair.lv
Uzbekistan Airways: phone (+371) 67324563, www.uzairways.com
Wizz Air: wizzair.com
By train
It is less likely that you will choose to tavel to Riga by train unless you are using the train to travel from Moscow or St.Petersburg. The train journey from Moscow to Riga takes about 12,5 hours; from St.Petersburg to Riga 12 hours. All trains to Riga arrive in Riga Central Station (centrālā stacija) which is a short walk from the Old Town. International trains arrive at platform 2. There are automatic luggage lockers below the Central Hall. The price is Ls 0,50 to Ls 1,00 per day - 04.30 to midnight. There are currency exchanges in tunnels A and B and banks to the left and right of the Central Hall, as well as several money withdrawal machines.
By coach
The bus station in Riga is next to the railway station. The left-liggage office is open 05.30 to midnight (Ls 0,20/0,40 an hour, and Ls 0,10 per extra hour). The bus station is quite close to the Old Town. Tram 7 stops in front of the vus station and is only one stop from the centre.
By sea
There are regular ferries from Stockholm to Riga. The ferry terminal is around 1 km to the north of the Old Town. There is a money exchange bureau in the terminal (09.00 - 18.00). To get to the Old Town, take tram number 5 or 7 from Ausekļa iela for two stops.
By car
If you decide to drive you should take an international driving licence. It is probably wiser to hire a car locally.
