Riga (Latvia)

Port Riga is Latvia's principal port, capital and largest city (population around 650,000, metro over 1 million), and also among Northern Europe's major financial and economic centers. The Port is on Daugava River, approx 15 km (10 mi) from the Baltic Sea (Riga Gulf). About half of all Latvian jobs are in Riga. The city generates over 50% of the country's GDP and handles ~50% of all exports. The largest exporters are in the industries of IT technologies and applications, wood products, food and beverage manufacturing, transportation, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals. Annually, RIga is visited by ~2,3 million tourists.

The city is served by Riga Airport, which by annual traffic is currently ranked the Baltic countries' largest (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). The airport serves regularly scheduled direct flights to ~80 airports (in 30 countries) and is the principal base for Latvia's three airlines (airBaltic, RAF-Avia, SmartLynx Airlines/fka LatCharter). Seasonal and charter flights link with Israel, Egypt, Bulgaria, Sicily Italy, Greek Isles, Malta, Madeira, Canary Islands, Scotland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, among others.

The historic downtown is listed as a UNESCO Site. Both domestic and foreign tourists are attracted by the active nightlife and diverse cuisine options. Southern Bridge (2008-opened) over Daugava River was the largest construction project in the Baltic states. With building cost EUR 815+ million, the Bridge was constructed specifically to reduce downtown's traffic congestion.

Freeport Riga

Port Riga (locode LVRIX) is among the Baltic Sea's largest cargo ports, handling annually 34+ million tons of cargoes. It also has a potential for future growth via a new port development project on Krievu Sala Island.

The seaport facilitates passenger (ferries and cruise ships via Riga Passenger Terminal) and cargo shipping traffic. Tallink-Silja's ferries connect the city to Stockholm Sweden.

Riga Port City is a harbor (dockland) redevelopment project that started in 2006 (when Tallink started the Riga-Stockholm line). It was developed in two phases - A (design, initial studies, conceptual blueprints, physical masterplan) and B (blueprint, marketing strategy).

Regularly scheduled ferries connect Riga with Stockholm (Sweden). The service (7 weekly crossings, travel time 18 hours) is provided by TALLINK-SILJA LINE. In 2006, Tallink Grupp purchased Attica Group's Baltic services for EUR 310 million, and opened the Riga-Stockholm route. Ferries also interlink Riga with Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland), Langnas (Aland Finland)), Visby (Gotland Sweden).

In 2017, the cruise port handled 86 ship calls and nearly 90,000 passengers. In 2018, the Port had scheduled 91 cruise ship calls (including 6 maiden port calls) and handled 75,000+ passengers. Port Riga plans to increase its annual cruise shipping traffic to over 160,000 tourists by year 2030.

In January 2018, Freeport Riga Authority started works on creating the Port's development plan for the period 2020-2030. It includes development trends, infrastructural improvements, development of new logistics routes, sustainable environmental policy. The new plan was scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.

On July 20, 2018, the port received its ever-largest cruise liner - RCI-Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas (length 293 m / 961 ft). The boat moored right into downtown, which became possible after cleaning works (riverbed sediments) conducted in the Approach Channel and the Turning Basin (near Vansu Bridge). Previously, such larger ships were moored at KS Terminal Pier (Krievu Island), where water depth and turning basin's size are proper. After cleaning the sediments, the swinging basin's diameter was extended from 380 to 400 m (1312 ft) which is the max possible in regard to the existing port infrastructure. These works (done by Rohde Nielsen AS) included over 111000 m3 of excavated soil that was used for construction works in Kudziņsala.

In 2018, Port Riga reported around 1/3 increase in timber cargo shipping (~4,4 million tons) handled at 13 different terminals. Most timber products (sawn wood, pulpwood, woodchips) are Latvian export, some are from Belarus. Processing at the timber terminals includes impregnation, fumigation, drying, containerization, storage. The export is mainly to UK, Denmark and Sweden.

For season 2019, the cruise port had scheduled/booked a total of 85 ship berthings.

In 2022 was announced the "Riga RoPax Terminal" project (for constructing a new passenger terminal serving both cruise vessels and ferries) scheduled for completion in 2025. The new facility will include a modern building, green spaces, restaurants, bars and cafes. The new terminal's design was developed by "R-Konsult OU" (Tallinn-based architecture company).

Riga cruise terminal

Riga tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

• Town Hall Square: there you will see a replica of the statue of the Patron saint of Riga, Roland, the town hall and the House of Blackheads. The square most beautiful around Christmas.
• Freedom Monument: famous landmark with a lot of symbols. The statue represent a woman who was robbed. She is atop a column and holds high three starts. Originally each star represented a Latvian religion (Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox). During Soviet time, each time represented a Baltic country and the woman was Mother Russia.
• Central Market: grand market where you can buy almost everything.
• Powder Tower: a relic that remained from the medieval defensive system in Riga. Currently, it is a part of the Military Museum.
• Three Brothers: those are three buildings that date back in the 15, 17, and 18 centuries. They are the oldest stone building in Riga. One of the buildings is the home of the Museum of Architecture.
• St. Peter’s Church: located in the Old Town. The most amazing part is the tower.