Summer is the time to visit – when the sun can rise as early as 4am and doesn’t sink until around midnight. Winters are long and dark by contrast, motivating Latvians to get outdoors as much as possible in the warmer months. They hardly need an excuse, but added incentives are the music concerts and festivals held throughout summer in almost every city and town across the country.
Long lunches, weekend brunches and after-work drinks see Latvians filling the pavement tables at alfresco cafés while pop-up beer gardens sprout from almost every public square and pedestrian street. After dark, Latvians hit the dance clubs and DJ events, and it’s partly the nightlife that has given the country and Rīga in particular, as well as the Baltic Sea resorts, a reputation as something of a summer party destination.