What should I avoid in Riga?

The restaurants ringing Līvu laukums in Vecriga charge 2-3× what the same dishes cost 200 meters south. A plate of pelēkie zirņi (grey peas with smoked bacon), Riga's cold-weather staple, runs €14-16 at the square's terrace seats. Walk to Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs on Peldu iela 19, where the same dish costs €6-8 and the basement dining room smells like dark rye bread and hops. The terraces on Līvu laukums do look good in June, with the Cat House and the Great Guild Hall framing the square. To be fair, a single Užavas beer there won't hurt at €5-6. But a full dinner for two easily reaches €80-100 with service, versus €35-45 at Milda on Audeju iela. The signal is the laminated photo-menu. If every dish has a glossy picture and the text comes in six languages, keep walking.

Unmarked taxis at Riga Central Station and Riga International Airport are the most reliable way to overpay for a 15-minute ride. The metered fare from RIX to Vecriga runs €10-15 with a licensed cab. An unmarked driver will quote €30-40 and refuse the meter. Download Bolt before you land. It works from the airport arrivals curb, shows the fare upfront, and a ride to central Riga typically costs €8-12. The same applies at Stacijas laukums outside the Central Station, where drivers cluster near the entrance and call out to anyone with a suitcase. Minibus 22 runs from the airport to the city center for €2 in about 30 minutes. You'll feel every pothole on the Jelgavas iela stretch and smell the diesel, but it drops you at the Central Station, a 10-minute walk from most Old Riga hotels.

Some bars in Old Riga's nightlife strip along Kaļķu iela and Grēcinieku iela run a drink-price scam. The menu shows €5-7 cocktails. The bill arrives at €20-30 per drink. The mechanism varies. Sometimes a "VIP room" charge appears that nobody mentioned. Sometimes the bartender pours a "special" version without asking. This happens most between midnight and 3am in the smaller, dimly lit bars where the bass rattles the windows. Mind you, Riga's nightlife is good when you pick the right places. Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs pours 0.5L of Užavas for €3.50 in a stone-walled cellar that feels like a medieval refectory. Skyline Bar on the 26th floor of the Radisson Blu Latvija at Elizabetes iela 55 charges €8-12 for cocktails, but the price is printed and the panorama over the Daugava at sunset is the best €10 you'll spend. Check every bill line by line before tapping your card.

Riga's winters hit hard. January averages -5°C, and the cobblestones in Vecriga turn into an ice rink from December through February. The sidewalks along Vaļņu iela and Kaļķu iela get a thin, invisible glaze that sends people down before they register the slip. Rubber-soled boots with grip matter more than any coat you'll pack. Summer brings mosquitoes. They breed in the low ground around the Pilsētas kanāls, the canal ringing Bastejkalns park, and along the Daugava riverbanks. An evening on a Bastejkalns bench after 9pm in July without repellent means welts on your ankles by morning. The amber shops on Torņa iela and Šķūņu iela charge €30-80 for pieces you can find at the Central Market's outdoor tables for €5-15. Some "Baltic amber" in Vecriga shops is Chinese-imported copal resin. At the Central Market, Pavilion 4's ground-floor vendors tend to sell verified pieces, and you can haggle.