Akadēmiskais centrsTravel information
Address: Raina blv. 19, Riga, Latvia
HERE is a Google map showing some important places:
- University of Latvia - The main conference place
- Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (The second conference place. Some talks will be given here)
- The Great and Small Guild Halls
- Riga Airport
- Galerija Centrs: A shopping center
- Stockmann: A shopping center
- Latvijas Nacionala Opera: Opera building
GENERAL
Latvia is in Schengen Area. Please visit this page to check Third countries whose citizens may enter and stay in the Schengen area without visas. (Note that there is more than one list!) The consular information page of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic of Latvia is this.Latvia is NOT in Eurozone. The lats (LVL or Ls) is the currency of Latvia. You can check the exchange ratio from Google.
Latvia country code is 371. After checking compatibility with your phone, you can buy a prepaid card and immediately start to use it. There are three companies: LMT, bite, and TELE2.
Emergency number in Latvia is 112.
Riga city center also covers the old town (Old Riga), called "Vecrīga" in Latvian - click here for its Google translate pronunciation.
Exchange offices: Some exchange offices (including the ones in the airport) and the banks can take some commissions from your money exchange transactions. You can find the exchange offices offering reasonable ratios with "no commission" in the city center and old town. A simple decision method is to compare the ratio given by Google with the arithmetic mean of the selling and buying ratios.
ATMs: There is no ATM problem in the airport, the city center, Old Riga, the shopping centers, etc.
Taxi: We recommend three local taxi companies:
- Baltic TAXI (8500 or 80008500, info@baltictaxi.lv) with bright green cars [Free Wi-Fi - card & cash payment]
- Red Cab (8383 or 80001313, rtp@care.lv) with red cars [Free Wi-Fi - card & cash payment]
- Lady Taxi (27800900) with professional women drivers [Only cash payment]
Public transportation: You can find all details here. One ride is 0.70 Ls if you pay to driver. It is cheaper (0.50Ls or less) if you use an e-ticket: click here for types and prices. You can buy them from "ticket vending machines", which are located in some stops including the airport. If you are using an e-ticket, please do not forget to read your ticket to one of the reading machines when getting on to the vehicle. Otherwise, you must pay a fine in a control.
Eating: The lunch will be provided to the conference participants from Monday (08) to Friday (12). Due to some technical difficulties, the lunch could not be provided to the workshops participants on Sunday (07). There are a lot eating places around the university, old town, and city center. We can specifically recommend LIDO as a self-service restaurant offering local foods and drinks with reasonable price. If you have time, we can also recommend their recreation center.
Some useful websites:
The website for "Riga Tourist Information Center" is www.LiveRiga.com.
Worth knowing about Riga
1188 Local search | Yellow pages
Riga inyourpacket is a free city guide. You can get it as a booklet: There are five different options (iPhone | iPaper | PDF | In print | Issuu) on the webpage.
Nationwide Latvian Song and Dance Festival:
This festival takes place in Riga once every five years and the upcoming one will be in 2013. It will be held from June 30th to July 7th 2013. You can check the details here.
ARRIVING TO RIGA
BY PLANE
Riga International Airport (RIX) is located 13 kilometers southwest of city center. There are direct flights from 65 directions to RIX. You can see the list of airlines from here.There are two arrival halls in RIX: Schengen (Sector E) and non-Schengen (Sector C). There are more facilities in Sector E. For going to Sector E from Sector C, you should turn right after the exit and walk 20 meters, and then you can see the entrance of Sector E on your right.
Welcome to Riga: There is a tourism information bureau Welcome to Riga in Sector E. We recommend you to visit there to take a free map of Riga and a free copy of Riga inyourpacket. You can also purchase Riga public transport tickets (e-ticket), Airport Express vouchers, mobile telephone prepaid cards, phone cards, etc. by using your credit card.
There is a pharmacy (APTIEKA) on the second floor, which is located above Sector E. (Working hours: 5:00 – 23:00)
From Airport (Lidosta) to the city center (Old Riga - Vecrīga)
Bus No. 22: It costs 0.70Ls (if you buy a ticket from the driver; 0.50Ls if you buy a ticket ahead of time). You can purchase bus ticket from Welcome to Riga office located in Sector E by using your credit card. There is also a "ticket vending machine" in the bus stop. You can check the time table here and the route from here. "11.novembra krastmala" and "Stockmann centrs" are the closest stops to the old town.Airport Express: A more comfortable but a little expensive way is "Airport Express" minibuses. The price for a ride is LVL 3 or EUR 5. If tickets are purchased from the bus driver, only cash is accepted (LVL and EUR only). You can also purchase your ticket from Welcome to Riga office located in Sector E by using your credit card. Journey from Riga Airport to city center takes approximately 20 minutes, but during peak hours it may take longer.
Its stops are as follows:
Riga Airport
Hotel ABC (Zolitudes str.)
Islande Hotel (Kipsalas str.)
Maritim Park Hotel Riga (Slokas str.)
Hotel Riga (Old Town)
Opera Hotel & SPA (Central Station)
Tallink Hotel Riga (Elizabetes str.)
Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija (Elizabetes and Brivibas street crossing)
Albert Hotel (Dzirnavu str.)
Hotel Domina Inn Riga
Monika Centrum Hotels (Elizabetes and Pulkveza Brieza street crossing)
Cetral bus station (Pragas str.)
Taxi: A queue of eager taxis will be waiting for you outside the arrivals hall. A typical ride to Old Riga or the city center should cost no more than 10Ls.
BY BUS
The website is here. The bus station is very close to the old town. After you leaving the bus station, you can see the old town on your left.Two international bus companies are Ecolines and LUXExpress. You can check the route map of Ecolines from here and LUX Express from here.
BY TRAIN
The train station is also very close to the old town. There are many different exits and so it is better to ask the direction to the old town.There are train connections from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Minsk. You can check the website from here and time table from here.