Riga by train from Pabaži, motorhome at Cietais Rieksts

Previous Day :: Overview Page :: Next Day

Riga by train

Our second night on the car park at Cietais Rieksts, the small cafe. Today we plan a visit to Riga by train so that we don’t have the problems associated with driving the Hymer into a city centre and then finding somewhere to park.

We do some research into the times and routes of trains to Riga and what to see there. The train station at Pabaži is 15 minutes-walk from where we are parked and the trains go every hour.

We breakfast, pack a lunch and our rucksacks and walk the 15 minutes to the station. It is easy to find. We wait on the platform for the 10.54 train. When it arrives at 10.57, it reminds us of the trains in the old Soviet films such as Dr Zhivago! Tall ladder-like steps up into the train from a platform no more than a foot off the ground. Inside the train it is very utilitarian, it does have seats but lots of functional metal rails and not that much comfort.

It costs us €1.90 each, single to Riga, which is a one-hour journey. The train is a stopping train but we enjoy the ambiance of being with other locals and watching Latvian life go by along the railway track. As we approach Riga, we cross the Daugava river which flows from near Moscow all the way to the Baltic sea at Riga, it is a huge river.

Riga is very run down, old buildings much in need of repair and old Soviet-style factories and worker’s apartment blocks. All very dowdy and depressing and very unlike Tallinn in Estonia. At Riga, we make our way to the concourse of Central Station and look for the information kiosk or stalls of maps… there is none. We have lunch outside the concourse in the sunshine and see a red tour bus pass. We spend about 45 minutes searching for the bus stop or information about where to catch the tour bus. We find neither so give up on both.

I check on Google maps how far it is to walk to the Central markets and find that it is no more than 12 minutes-walk. In fact, it is very close but we must cross the railway and the canal so it takes us longer. The Central Markets are immense and housed in four old Zeppelin hangers… how did we miss them when we came in on the train, they are huge! We spend some time looking at the fruit, vegetables, cheese, meats, clothes, shoes… the choice is endless.

We walk towards the river and then into the old quarter of the city to find the House of the Blackheads (strange name) for a fabulously ornate building that was completely destroyed in WWII. In previous centuries dating back to about 1600s, it housed the wealthy, unmarried merchants in Riga. In 1999, it was rebuilt as a complete replica of the original (destroyed in WWII) and was worth a visit, despite the ongoing building works and scaffolding along one side. From here, it borders the café quarter, so we amble around the squares full of people sitting under umbrellas in the sunshine.

Passing the cathedral, we return to the Central Markets of Riga to buy as much fresh fruit and veg as we can carry: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, apples, melon, tomatoes and broad beans at €1/kg. We stagger back to the Central station carrying our produce like the bag lady and the bag man. We find our train returning to Saulkrasi, climb up the steep metal ladder, passing our shopping bags up to the other on the train. We collapse onto the PVC covered metal benches and book our tickets to Pabaži. We watch the locals get on at Riga, the train is busy.

Our journey back from Riga is uneventful, we watch Latvian life pass us by, in general very grey and dowdy with the occasional colourful garden full of flowers and greenery. It is hot when we get back to the Hymer motorhome, so take our ice-cold wine and two chairs down to the beach and drink it there. The rough, white-peaked rollers have all but disappeared and a still millpond gently laps the beach. What a difference.

Later we cook stir fry with yellow chanterelle mushrooms, smoked ham and broad beans, and finish with great bowlfuls of raspberries and strawberries… now we must eat them up. The melon that we purchased on the market in Riga is the sweetest and most delicious melon that we have ever had.

Visiting Riga by train photos

Click any photo to enlarge

Motorhome return tour from Turku in Finland to the UK via the Baltic States

keywords for this page:  motorhome trip through the Baltic states, Motorhome camping in Latvia, Cietais Rieksts, Latvia by motorhome, hymer in latvia, Riga by train