2 Days in Riga Latvia: How I’d Spend a Weekend in Riga

If you have 2 days in Riga Latvia, I think you have enough time to see Riga without rushing and still have time to do something outside the city.

I wouldn’t try to fill two days with a massive list of attractions. If you only have one day, I’d focus on the main Riga sights in my one day in Riga itinerary.

With two days, I’d use the extra time for something different.

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How to Spend 2 Days in Riga Latvia: Quick Answer

My ideal 2 days in Riga would look something like this:

Day 1: Riga + a tour or boat cruise

Day 2: A day trip from Riga

That gives you the main experience of the city without spending your entire trip ticking off sights.

Day 1: See Riga and Add an Experience

If you have two days in Riga, use your first day to explore the city itself.

Start with the Old Town, where you can see places like the House of the Blackheads, St. Peter’s Church, Riga Cathedral and the Three Brothers. From there, continue towards the Freedom Monument and the Art Nouveau district.

You can find the full route and all the main sights I recommend in my one day in Riga guide, so I wouldn’t repeat the entire itinerary here.

Instead, because you have a second day, I’d add something to your Riga experience that you wouldn’t have time for on a really short visit.

Take a Boat Cruise in Riga

A canal or river cruise is an easy activity to add to your 2 days in Riga without taking up half your day.

The cruises are relatively short, so you can fit one between sightseeing, lunch and dinner rather than having to reorganize your entire day around it.

You get to see Riga from the water and it gives you a break from walking around the city.

→ Find my Favorite Boat Tours: The 7 Best Boat Tours Riga, Latvia

Try a Food Tour

If you’re interested in trying Latvian food, a food tour is another good option for your first day.

You could obviously just choose a restaurant yourself, but a food tour gives you the chance to try several things and learn a little about Latvian food while you’re there.

For a short trip, I prefer experiences like this over adding another random museum to the itinerary.

→ Find my Favorite Food Tours: The 6 Best Walking Tours in Riga + 2 Food Tours

Go Out in Riga

I’d also leave some time for Riga at night.

I spent plenty of nights going out while I was based in Riga, so I wouldn’t treat nightlife as something you have to squeeze into the itinerary after you’ve finished all the sightseeing.

Have dinner, find a bar you like and actually enjoy the city.

You don’t need to make your entire trip about sightseeing.

Day 2: Take a Day Trip From Riga

This is where having 2 days in Riga Latvia becomes much more interesting.

Instead of finding another ten things to see inside Riga, I’d use the second day to get out of the city.

There are several options, depending on whether you want an easy beach day or a proper full-day excursion.

Jūrmala

If you’re visiting Riga in summer, Jūrmala would be my easiest choice.

I’ve spent time in Jūrmala myself, and it feels completely different from Riga. You have the beach, seaside atmosphere and a much slower pace than in the city.

You can spend the day at the beach, walk around Jomas Street, have lunch and head back to Riga in the evening.

It’s also easy to do independently, so you don’t need to book an expensive tour just to get there.

If you want someone else to organize it, there are also tours available.

Sigulda and Gauja National Park

If the beach isn’t your thing, I’d look at Sigulda and Gauja National Park.

This is a much better option if you want nature, viewpoints, castles and something completely different from the architecture and streets of Riga.

It’s also a good choice if you’re spending 2 days in Riga Latvia outside of summer, when I wouldn’t personally be as excited about going to Jūrmala for the beach.

→ Book a Sigulda and Gauja day trip

Rundāle Palace and the Hill of Crosses

If you want to make your second day a proper full-day excursion, there are also organized trips from Riga that combine Rundāle Palace and the Hill of Crosses.

This is a much longer day, but it lets you see places that would be difficult to fit into a short Riga trip otherwise.

The Hill of Crosses is actually in Lithuania, so this is also an option if you’re interested in seeing a little more of the Baltics rather than spending both days entirely in Latvia.

→ Find my Favorite Day Trips: My Favorite Day Trips from Riga: 6 Best Places to Visit Beyond the City

→ Book your Hill of Crosses Tour Here

Where to Stay for 2 Days in Riga

For 2 days in Riga, I’d stay in central Riga near the Old Town.

You don’t need to stay directly inside the Old Town, but being close to it makes things much easier when you only have a couple of days.

I’ve stayed in different parts of Riga during my time there, including hostels, central hotels and near the airport. For a short tourist trip, I’d choose the center.

→ Here are my Favorite Hotels in Riga

If you’re traveling on a budget, I also stayed at Cinnamon Sally Backpackers Hostel during my first trip to Riga.

→ Here are my Favorite Hostels in Riga

How to Get to Riga

If you’re arriving in Riga from another Baltic country or elsewhere in Europe by land, bus is one of the easiest options. That’s how I arrived in Riga on my first trip, when I traveled through the Baltics by bus.

→ Find buses to Riga

If you’re flying into Riga, you can take public transportation from Riga International Airport into the city. If you’d rather not deal with transport after landing, especially if you have luggage, you can also book an airport pick-up.

→ Book your Riga airport pick-up

Stay Connected

I use an eSIM when I travel, especially when I’m moving between cities and countries.

Having data is useful for maps, checking transport, booking tours and figuring out where you’re going next.

→ Get an eSIM for Latvia

Travel Insurance

I recommend having travel insurance whenever you travel internationally, even if you’re only going away for a couple of days.

I use SafetyWing for my own long-term travel and it’s the insurance option I normally recommend.

→ Get travel insurance for Riga

Final Thoughts on 2 Days in Riga Latvia

I think 2 days in Riga Latvia is a really good amount of time for a first visit.

With one day, I’d concentrate on Riga itself. With two days, you don’t need to cram another huge list of attractions into the city. Use the extra day to see somewhere different.

If you’re visiting in summer, Jūrmala would probably be my choice. If you want nature, I’d look at Sigulda and Gauja National Park. And if you want a proper full-day excursion, there are tours that take you further into Latvia and even across the border to the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania.

That gives you a much more varied two days instead of spending 48 hours trying to see every single attraction in Riga.