This guide to Riga, the best Christmas Market in Europe, contains affiliate links.
Last year, we booked a last-minute trip to explore Riga’s Christmas market. Having done our fair share of European Christmas Markets over the years, we weren’t too sure what to expect from Latvia’s capital.
What we discovered was a small, but perfectly formed, market. Free from the heaving crowds often found at other European cities, Riga’s market felt far more relaxed, traditional and, ultimately, enjoyable. In fact, we would say Riga is the best Christmas market in Europe- especially if you are looking to avoid the crowds and want to enjoy a compact city break.
If you need further persuasion, here are 10 reasons why we think Riga makes for the best Christmas market in Europe.
Did you know that Rigans claim they were the ones to invent the Christmas tree? The story goes that one night, some merchants of the Blackheads House, intoxicated and merry, brought a pine tree into the House, decorated it with flowers before setting it on fire at the end of the night. Thus, the annual, decorative Christmas tree was born.
Key Information About Riga’s Christmas Market
When are Riga’s Christmas Markets, 2025?
In 2025, Riga will be holding their Christmas Markets between early December and early January. We visited during the second week of December, when Christmas was in full flow – yet the city remained surprisingly quiet (more on this below).
I think visiting a Christmas market after Christmas Day is (controversially) a brilliant way to keep the festivities going during those strange limbo days. We did this a few years ago with the Prague Christmas markets and loved the fact we could fill our Christmas break with even more magic.
Where are Riga’s Christmas Markets Held?
1. Old Riga: Doma Square (every day)
Riga’s largest Christmas Market is held in the enchanting Doma Square. Each year, this small square, located in front of Riga Cathedral, is transformed into a magical winter wonderland (with real snow, if you’re lucky). The setting reminded me of a miniature, less crowded, version of Prague, with the city’s Cathedral towering behind.
The location is easily walkable and located in the Old Town, surrounded by restaurants, cafes and other shops. In the market, we discovered a few pop-up bars, open fires, cosy places to sit as well as delicious food stalls and a miniature carousel for children.
2. Kalnciema Quarter Market (Weekends Only)
The traditional farmer and artisan markets in the Kalnciema Quarter of Riga are held every weekend. Over Christmas, these markets transform into festive stalls where you can pick up authentic, Latvian goods.
3. Āgenskalna Market (Christmas Markets: Fridays – Sundays)
Head over the river to the newly restored Āgenskalns Market to pick up some delicious treats and unique Christmas gifts. This once rundown warehouse was transformed over Covid and reopened in 2022. It is now the most popular indoor market in Riga and is bursting full of food, drink and local merchants.
During the Christmas period, there is also an outdoor Christmas market on Friday – Sundays. Unfortunately, we visited Riga during the week and so we weren’t able to visit this particular market, but we did visit the indoor food hall. It was, by far, one of my favourite spots in the city and we picked up some brilliant gifts (including some Christmas gifts), alongside enjoying a delicious lunch.
There are vendors here offering a huge array of cuisines and we actually chose to enjoy a traditional Georgian lunch.
Best Hotel in Riga
During our visit to Riga, we wanted a hotel that offered both a central location and a luxury stay. We therefore opted for the romantically named Grant Poets by Semarah Hotel. Despite this being a 5* hotel, complete with luxury spa, our 3 night stay only cost us £390 (under £200 each).
This hotel was brilliant value for money offering a quiet, luxury stay with views out across the park, whilst being just 10-15 minute walk from the city’s Old Town. By far our favourite aspect of the stay was the ability to return to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing and unwinding in the hotel’s Hedonic Spa.
The spa has a pool, hot tub, cold and hot rooms, as well as the option of booking beauty treatments and massages.
The hotel also has a restaurant called ‘Snob’. On the first night, after a very early start and a long day of sight-seeing, we opted to dine here and really enjoyed our meal. The food was actually brilliant. There is something lovely about eating in your hotel, knowing your bed is just the floor above you.
Book your stay at Grand Poets Hotel, Riga.
Getting Around Riga
One of the reasons we wanted to visit Riga was the fact it’s so incredibly walkable. If you’re staying centrally, you will be able to explore the majority of Christmas markets and sights on foot.
The exception to this is if you want to head over the river to see the city’s iconic library and the Āgenskalna Market (as mentioned above), or if you want to travel into the outer neighbourhoods.
1. Trams
The tram system is really easy to use in Riga and we used it to visit the city’s library and Christmas markets on the other side of the river. There are 6 different tram lines that run throughout the city, easily getting you to most corners of Riga.
2. Bus and Trolleybuses
We used the number 22 bus to reach the city from the airport. It was a slow(ish) journey, taking around 35 minutes on a very hot and busy bus, but the journey only cost us €1.81 for a 90-minute ticket. Although it was very cost-effective, we decided to get a taxi for our return journey, just to save time.
Airport transfers aside, we also used the bus while in the city centre, which is also covered by the travel card.
Cost of travel cards in Riga:
- a 24-hour ticket is EUR 5,00
- a three-day ticket is EUR 8,00
- a five-day ticket is EUR 10,00
- one-month ticket is EUR 30,00
To buy or top up your travel card, head to a Narvessen convenience store. Alternatively, new trams have vending machines onboard.
3. Taxis
If you’re planning on using taxis in Riga, make sure you download the Bolt app rather than using curb side taxis. We heard this tip from a lot of people before visiting Riga, as it seems taxis can vary hugely in price, with many taking advantage of tourists. The only time we used a taxi was for our return journey to the airport.
We booked this through the Bolt app and the 20-minute journey cost us €25.00.
10 Reasons Why Riga is the Best Christmas Market in Europe
1. Authentic Latvian Gifts
We’ve been to many European and UK Christmas markets that offer questionable, re-produced products.
It seems like a lot of the markets have become somewhat interchangeable, with the same gifts being found across many locations. What we really appreciated about the Riga Christmas markets, therefore, was the fact that all of the products found there were authentic, Latvian gifts.
From traditional Latvian food items to authentic crafts and woodwork, we discovered so many beautiful Christmas gifts during our time in Riga. In fact, if you’re visiting at Christmas, we advise against doing any present shopping before you visit, as there are so many gifts to pick up once you’re there.
They are also reasonably priced, unlike the extortionately priced Christmas decorations at most German Christmas markets (I’m looking at you, Berlin).
2. Crowd-Free
Admittedly, we hadn’t done a lot of research into the Riga Christmas markets before our visit. I just assumed that the markets would be very busy, similar to other European markets. However, what we found was an oddly quiet, even suspiciously peaceful, Christmas market that was free from the squeeze of the crowds.
Perhaps it’s because there are a number of Christmas markets dotted throughout the city, or maybe because it’s just a smaller city, but it honestly feels like Riga’s Christmas markets haven’t hit the masses, yet.
In fact, I would go as far as saying Riga’s Christmas markets felt relaxed – something I’ve not said about the festive season before.
3. Beautiful Scenery and Decorations
Another reason why Riga is the best Christmas market in Europe is that it’s an absolute dream to explore during the festive season; with tasteful, twinkling lights filling the city. Make sure you take the time to explore the city’s lights by night too, when every street seems to shimmer.
As the sun doesn’t rise until nearer 9am and sets around 4pm in winter, the lights are a lovely lift to the dark, winter days.
There’s also a light trail to enjoy through the city’s 100 or so parks during winter, which we really enjoyed one evening on our way to dinner through Opera Square, Bastejkalns, and Kronvalda parks.
4. Riga Christmas Markets Transform at Night
A somewhat unexpected twist to Riga’s Christmas markets is that they transform into a giant party during weekend nights.
Like one big Christmas rave.
Again, sadly as we were visiting mid-week, we didn’t get to appreciate this DJ filled, festive party but rumour has it, it’s a brilliant night out.
Over the weekends, there are also many special day events too, including Latvian choirs singing, the arrival of reindeer, a resident Santa Claus and market elves for children to meet.
5. Riga is a Walkable City
As I mentioned in the opening of this blog, Riga is an incredibly walkable city. In fact, Riga has been voted the second most walkable city in the world, after Florence.
It’s a place that’s made for strolling around, letting yourself sit to sip coffee as you go. Far from the likes of other busy European cities, Riga feels like a relaxed, slow destination where you can take your time to wander on foot.
(That said, if you do want to speed up the getting around bit, you can hire scooters through the Bolt app).
6. Riga has the Cosiest Cafes
Hands down, our favourite thing about Riga was the seemingly endless number of cosy cafes to warm up in. This is a city that has nailed their ‘hygge’ cafe culture and we could have easily spent our whole time in these snuggly spots, enjoying hot chocolate and warm Latvian cakes.
A few of our favourite cafes were Rasols, Mikla Bakery (for breakfast), Art Cafe Sienna, Mulberry (great for breakfast but expensive), Rigensis and Parunāsim kafe’teeka.
7. Plenty More Authentic Shops and Markets to Explore in Riga
For shopaholics, another reason why we think Riga is the best Christmas Market in Europe is that it’s the shopping destination of Latvia. As well as designer and high street stores, it also boasts a brilliant array of independent shops.
If you’re looking to pick up some general gifts or keepsakes, make sure you take the time to explore some of these independent stores.
Some of our favourite stores were RIIJA shop, MūsMāja, Mazā Cilts (for kids clothes and toys) and Roberts Books for second hand books and cosy cafe.
8. Delicious Latvian Food
We didn’t know what to expect when it came to Latvian cuisine, but we were pleasantly surprised. Typically Baltic, Latvian staples include potato, pork, bread, soups and fish, due to its location close to the sea.
All dishes were hearty, warming and well-priced, keeping us full and content as we explored the wintery city.
One of our favourite restaurants was DOM, located in the old town. Despite its central location, this restaurant felt incredibly cosy and authentic, and we enjoyed a candlelit dinner in one of its quiet corners.
We also found that the city offers a huge variety of other interesting cuisines, including Georgian and Uzbek. As mentioned above, we enjoyed a traditional Georgian dish from one of the stalls at the Āgenskalna Market. Although, and having visited Uzbekistan the year prior, we decided to refrain from indulging in more Plov.
I think we’ve eaten enough of that to last a lifetime.
9. Cheap Flights to Riga at Christmas
Another reason why we think Riga is the best Christmas market in Europe is because of how budget friendly it is. Despite flying in early December, during one of the busiest times of the year, our flights were incredibly well priced.
We flew with British Airways (with baggage) and it cost us £200 each return. You can definitely find cheaper flights than this (or travel hand luggage only), but we wanted to treat ourselves after a long year of parenthood and juggling lots of plates.
Find cheap flights to Riga, Latvia.
10. Excellent (Modest) Night Life
During our trip to Riga, we discovered the Latvians are a fairly reserved and modest bunch. Despite fears of loud stag parties and cheap bars overspilling with revellers (like Gdansk), the city was unexpectedly quiet and calm at night.
We did, however, discover some great places to visit for an evening cocktail, all of which had a refined, relaxed feel.
Top of our list is Skyline Bar, which is located on the 26th floor of Radisson Blu Latvija Conference & SPA Hotel. The panoramic lift is an experience in itself, giving you amazing views of the city as you speed up to the 26th floor.
Top tip: you must try the cocktail ‘Keys to Riga’ which contains the city’s signature poison: Rīga Black Balsam. Believe it or not, this black, bitter alcohol was originally created as a medicine in 1752. Since then, thankfully the recipe (although it remains top secret) has had hot blackcurrant juice added to it – to sweeten it up. The Rīga Black Balsam cocktail was delicious (so much so, I had three) and comes highly recommended.
It would be wrong not to include the Gimlet Nordic Cocktail Bar in this list of best bars in Riga, which has been given the title of one of the best bars in the world by World’s 50 Best. Here you can taste authentic, nordic flavours in a minimalist and relaxed setting.
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