The other side of Riga with the eyes of Locals (3.5h) – Contact us for proposal
Email us your group size and choose the Dates and Times in which your Art Nouveau experience could take place, and you will get a quotation in less than 48 hours. Reserve early to guarantee availability.
Cannot wait 48h to get your quotation? Don’t hesitate to WhatsApp/Call us at +34 667 823 001 or us now.
While all Riga tours are in the Old Riga, Quiet Quarter, Moscow or Central Districts, this private tour will bring you to the other side of the Daugava river.
This private group tour can be done by car or bicycle, having stops at significant sights along the way.
You will discover unique examples of Latvian Art Nouveau in churches, schools, hospitals, residential and industrial buildings and even cemeteries. You will find out how universal this unusual style can be.
This unique and alternative private tour focuses on revealing more than what can be seen on the well advertised touristic streets of Riga. Participating in this tour you will get to know how Riga citizens see their Art Nouveau in places where tourists usually don’t happen to be. This tour has a specific local cultural background. We focus in Riga, Latvia, Northern Europe.
The tour includes coffee break with possibility to view and imagine the “inside” life of Art Nouveau era. If you love Art Nouveau and feel like doing an alternative private tour, either by bicycle or driving, this tour is a MUST !
Description
Itinerary
This bicycle or driving 3.5 hours private tour through The Left Bank of the Daugava river is a very special way to discover unique examples of Art Nouveau in residential, public and industrial buildings.
This unique tour goes to a part of the city where no tourists go so you can discover remarkable Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. Latvia’s specific cultural and historical background will be used by your private guide to explain how Latvian Art Nouveau developed in the other side of the river.
In the Janis Akuraters Museum you will see house interiors like the Kitchen and Bathroom pictures displayed in this page. After having a coffee and maybe also snacks in the premises of the museum, we will continue the driving/bicycle trip around the suburbs with emphasis to residential buildings and everyday life. Some of the places visited during this tour are:
- Hospital – the Clinical University Hospital. we will see the layout of the complex from outside
- Educational institutions (series of schools with distinctive features designed by R. Schmeling). A main example is the Janis Rozentals Riga Art School, named after the greatest Latvian Art Nouveau painter, and we may enter this building
- Cemetery – you will admire the Art Nouveau sculptural elements and learn about their symbolic meanings
- Baptist Church – built between 1913 and 1916
- Industrial buildings – the Āgenskalns Water Tower was created in 1910 to provide fresh drinking water to an exploding population. The impressive structure rises to a height of 40m and has brick walls which are two meters thick
Through the centuries, Kipsala, formerly an island of fishermen, developed into a posh residential district. The architecture of Kipsala is very eclectic, where beautifully restored houses made of wood are interspersed with large, modern buildings. In that city-island you will admire some wooden houses in Art Nouveau style. Each of them different, they are all very interesting to see close up.
During this unique tour you and your private group will discover Latvian Art Nouveau applied in various constructions like churches, schools, hospitals, residential and industrial buildings, to say some. You will discover how Riga citizens live together with Art Nouveau in non-touristic places. This is a very different approach if you compare it with visiting Art Nouveau buildings in the Art Nouveau District or the Old Riga.
Pārdaugava literally translates to “over the Daugava River”, and this private tour is for those aiming to see non-touristic places. This tour is an experience to discover Riga’s Art Nouveau in a different way.
Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Riga at the turn of the Century
The early 20th century was the golden age for the development of Riga. Its population doubled over the course of 15 years, surpassing 500,000 on the eve of World War I and becoming one of the major centers of industry, trade and culture on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. At that times Rigas was one of the top 5 cities of the Russian Empire.
The boom in the construction of the city happened between 1899 and 1913, and it has been estimated that during these 15 years more than 800 buildings were built in Art Nouveau style in Riga. Nowadays more than one third of all buildings in the Central part of the city have art nouveau style, making Riga a paradise for art nouveau lovers.
With so many Art Nouveau jewels in the Center of the city, not many people go to discover the Art Nouveau Gems hidden in the other side of the Daugava river. Be one of the first tourists doing it, and go with our excellent guide”
Pickup & Drop Off
If you choose car/minivan as a mean of transport, Pick up from your accommodation (within Riga old town or central district) or. The guide will leave you at the starting point of the tour, or in the place that you prefer of the Old Town.
If you choose bicycle, we will meet you with all the bikes somewhere in the Old town or near the cruise ship terminal in Riga Passenger Port. End of the tour will be at the same place.
If you arrive in Riga by cruise ship, we can start and end the tour at the cruise ship terminal in Riga main passenger ship terminal near Old Riga. If you require transport from/to Krievu Sala cruise port, we can organise transport from there to the start point of the tour (35 minutes of transfer and 20€ as price for 4 seat taxi both ways). If you don’t know which will be your cruise port, indicate us with the Name of the ship you are travelling with so we can get this information for you.
Inclusions
Professional fully licensed guiding service.
Rental of bicycles for each participant and the guide. in the case that you decide the car/minivan, the car is hired with a professional driver. The price of the tour is the same regardless of the mean of transport used during the tour.
Exclusions
The entrance fee of Janis Akuraters museum. Some days the Janis Akuraters museum can be closed for visitors due to some private events/opening hours.
Reviews
A magic way to discover the city. The weather was not perfect but the guide was indeed a great storyteller and we discovered a part of Riga that tourists never visit.
Lucas, Mexico
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