How do I get around Riga?

Walk Vecrīga, tram beyond it, Bolt after dark. Three modes cover the city. Riga has no metro and does not need one. Vecrīga's medieval core measures about 1.5 km from the Central Market's five converted Zeppelin hangars on Prāgas iela to the National Opera on Aspazijas bulvāris. The Art Nouveau district on Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela sits 15 minutes north on foot. Between those two zones you cover 90% of the visitor map without a ticket. The cobblestones are slick after rain and worn into grooves from 800 years of traffic. Pack flat rubber soles over anything with a heel. Rīgas Satiksme operates 8 tram lines, plus buses and trolleybuses on the same network. Tram 11 crosses the Daugava to Āgenskalns, where the wooden houses and the Saturday Kalnciema Quarter market feel a decade removed from the tourist side. Most trams stop running by 11:30 PM.

Get an e-Talons smartcard at any Narvesen kiosk or Rimi Express. The card costs about €2, and you load balance on top. Each validated tap on boarding is €1.15 for trams, buses, and trolleybuses alike. Paying the driver in cash costs €2.00, nearly double. A 24-hour unlimited pass is €5.00, which pays for itself by the fourth trip. Validate your e-Talons every time you board. Plain-clothes inspectors step on without warning, and the on-the-spot fine for a missing tap is €50. Bolt is the only ride-hail app in Latvia. Uber left the Baltics. A Bolt from Vecrīga to Mežaparks, the forested park district 7 km north, runs €4-6. From the Central Market to the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum in Berģi, 12 km east, expect about €8. Fares show upfront in the app. No negotiation.

Riga International Airport sits 10 km southwest of Vecrīga. Bus 22 departs from arrivals every 10-20 minutes, stops at the central bus station and the National Opera, and takes 30 minutes. The fare is €1.15 with e-Talons, €2.00 cash. A Bolt from the terminal to a hotel in Vecrīga runs €8-12. The taxi queue outside arrivals is the one spot in Riga where overcharging persists. Laminated signs at the stand quote fixed fares of €20-25 for the same 10 km that Bolt covers for a third of the price. Open the app at the curb, wait 4 minutes, save €12. Latvia's pine forests start at the runway's edge. You catch the resin smell before you clear the sliding doors, and the cool Daugava air follows you to the bus shelter.

Riga's central railway station sits below the bus station, 200 meters from Vecrīga. Trains to the Jūrmala beach resort, 25 km west, depart every 30 minutes for €1.40-2.50 and arrive in 35 minutes. Trains to Sigulda and Gauja National Park run roughly hourly at €2.50-3.50, arriving in 70 minutes. Either fits a half-day, with you back in Vecrīga by 3 PM. Nextbike runs the city's bike-share at €1 to unlock and €0.10 per minute. The Daugava embankment path heading north from Akmens tilts is flat, paved, and 7 km long. You catch the damp-clay river smell and the diesel haze from passing cargo barges at the railing. Mind you, Riga's drivers do not always check for cyclists at intersections. The embankment and the marked lane on Brīvības iela are your safest routes.