Gauja National Park - Latvia

The east of Latvia, with its gentle relief and numerous lakes, is home to some of the country's most popular attractions, as well as charming rural areas that are rarely visited. The Gauja National Park is perhaps the main attraction in this part of the country thanks to its beautiful scenery. The park is home to sites such as the ancient village of Cesis and Turaida Castle and attracts many visitors.

Several airlines offer cheap flights to Riga, the capital of Latvia, from different provinces in Spain, making travel to the country cheap and convenient. Once in the capital, just 50 kilometres separate us from Sigulda, one of the towns in the Gauja National Park, created in 1973 in the valley of the same name.

Gauja National Park

Almost half of the 100km-long Gauja National Park, Latvia's oldest and most popular national park, is forested and serves as a habitat for some 900 plant species as well as numerous birds and mammals. Most visitors choose to travel through the park, which is accessible by road, in their vehicles, stopping at the most interesting points to explore on foot. Adventure lovers will enjoy visiting the most hidden caves, cliffs and ravines opened up by the river since the glaciers retreated, by canoe or boat.

Turaida Castle in Latvia

Some of the must-see sites in the Gauja National Park are the Turaida Museum Reserve, which houses the Turaida Castle, built in 1214 by the brotherhood of the sword and recently restored, as well as the Turaida Church, one of the oldest wooden temples in the country, and the sculpture park.

Sigulda Castle in Latvia

Close to Turaida is Sigulda, a municipality whose central attraction is the New Sigulda Castle, a bucolic building built in 1867 and surrounded by beautiful gardens and lush forests, which today houses a restaurant. Nearby, you can visit the Lutheran church and the artists' hill, and you can enjoy the possibility of bobsleighing.

Hiking and trekking in Latvia

Further north in the Gauja National Park is the Ligatne educational and recreational centre, with trails and tracks winding alongside enclosures with moose, grizzly bears and European bison. Continuing in the same direction you reach Cesis, a former German crusader settlement with unique stone and wooden houses; and Lake Araisi, around which many legends revolve.

A place for all lovers of beautiful natural landscapes. A landscape that becomes even more beautiful in spring and autumn, when the forests create a colourful landscape.

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