A Boat Trip Along the Rīga Canal

On Saturday the weather was summery and warm, so we decided to see the Old Town not by squeezing through the many tourist crowds but from the waters of the Rīga Canal and the Daugava. We first carefully checked the canal wooden boat website kmk.lv with its route map and boarding point at Bastejkalns.

Initially we had hoped to get onto the legendary "Darling", built in 1907 and purchased from ABBA, but no less lovely was a light wooden boat called "Maria" (four in total operate the route). A ticket, or boarding card, cost Ls 6 per person. The boats operate on the canal every day from 9:00 to 23:00, from the beginning of May to the end of October, stopping at the boarding point every 20 minutes.

Brochure and boarding card

We completed a full loop: Bastejkalns, Stockmann, Radisson, Ģipša Fabrika, port views, Andrejosta, Kronvalda Park, Bastejkalns. Along the way we also admired the impressive concrete pylons of the Bus Station and the Central Market, on which the buildings rest and beneath which ducks make their home (the local Venice). We sailed past the sand sculptures. We examined the Tallink ferry docked in Rīga's cargo port from almost every angle.