Honest tour of Riga with the best private guide in town

Honest tour of must-sees with the best* private guide of Riga Every city has it's good, bad and the ugly, and there's always the option of highlighting just one side of the coin. On this tour we try our hardest to stay as honest and objective as possible, not loosing the perspective of a local at the same time. 4-5 hours, including a coffee break, might seem long, but a half day tour like that is the shortest possible time to cover all the most important sights that Riga's heart has to offer without a rush. Still - depending on your desire or availability, it can be longer or shorter as well - you can decide during the tour. It's customisable as well, so if you'd like to drop a thing from the itinerary or add something different (eg, central market), the guide will be happy to adjust. We don't take tours more than 5 times a week, so the tour would stay fresh and the guide wouldn't become a machine of spouting facts and figures. * as described by his mother and some of his friends.

Itinerary

1. This is the oldest part of Riga, here you'll see the history - how the city of Riga and nation of Latvians formed during last 8 centuries. The most important medieval churches, merchants' houses, parts of fortification systems and even last few residential buildings of simple people that have survived from medieval times. You'll hear stories of how people lived starting from times back when the city was just founded, through centuries up until soviet occupation and the modern life of the independent Latvia. (2h 0min)
2. The circle of boulevards and parks serves as a transitional area between the centuries-old medieval German Riga and the "modern" Riga built by Russians and Latvians. Here you'll have a nice stroll through the greenest part of central Riga, see some monuments and museums, hear some stories of how the actual cultural transition happened. (30 min)
3. So-called modern center of the city is the part of Riga that formed during the turn of 19th and 20th centuries - the last decades of Russian Empire. Here you'll see the beautiful facades of Riga's Art-Noveau (aka Jugendstil), and, if lucky, get a glimpse on the interiors as well. Riga is the city that has the highest concentration of Art-Noveau buildings in the world, so you're in for a treat. You'll hear about the time of new-found cultural identity of Latvian people, the art, the architecture, the bourjouis - everything culture related from the turn of centuries. (2h 0min)

Meeting & end point