Cēsis

Cēsis

Text by Valdis Čeičs, photos by Solveiga Kaļva, www.solveigakalvaphotography.com

The third oldest town in Latvia, and it has kept its medieval spirit until today. It attracts tourists with lovely streets and the medieval castle ruins which you can explore in a candle light. In order to see a great view of the whole town, you can climb up to the tower in the new manor house right next to the medieval castle. The best time to visit the medieval castle is from May to October when the medieval kitchen garden is green, and you can meet local craftsmen, buy metal or leather art souvenirs or create one by yourself in the workshop with a master’s assistance .

Highlights (culture):

Highlights (nature):

In nice weather, it is great to walk around the parks near the castle. There are two parks, Castle Park and May Park. The Sieverts family owned this place for five generations, and they created designs for their own parks. In the May Park you can look for a couple of black swans, Catharine and Earl. In 2014 the locals could submit their ideas on how to call this couple. The Castle Park is exceptionally picturesque thanks to the castle ruins. You can enjoy a romantic boat ride on the pond and, if you are lucky, listen to a concert happening on the outdoor stage.

The main street in Cesis old town is Riga street which leads to the Rose Square. This ancient market square is the most active social square and it is located in front of the St. Johns Church. The Church is open for visitors, and you can climb up to an observation platform. During the summer, every Friday and Saturday evening from 8PM to 11PM the church is illuminated in various colors, and the light show is complemented with musical performances. Further, Riga street leads to the Līvu square, the first market square in Cēsis.

VISIT CESIS ON YOUR OWN OR JOIN OUR TOUR – CESIS: MEDIEVAL HERITAGE AND NATURAL TREASURES!

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What travelers say about us

Barry Toward

2022-09-18

We have just spent 9 days travelling through the Baltic countries with Valdis as our guide. Although the itinerary and accommodation had been pre-arranged Valdis supported our trip brilliantly, bringing to life the individual countries with city walking tours, nature trails and visits to other sites. He is great fun, extremely knowledgable and became an integral part of our small group. His contribution to our holiday played a key part in making it a great and enjoyable experience (and he recommends good places to eat!)

Sam Paliwal

2022-09-02

If you are looking to go to the Baltic's on an active vacation, make sure to check out Baltic Nature Travel as your travel advisor. We recently finished a 10-day self-driving tour of the Baltic's and wanted to have an active trip whilst not missing out on all the cultural highlights of the region. Valdis, the owner of Baltic Nature Travel was very responsive and organized a trip that included kayaking, long distance bicycle riding, hiking in different forests, cooking activities, cultural highlights, hot-air balloon riding, etc-- all in a matter of 10 days and customized the trip to our liking. We were very satisfied with his responsiveness to our needs and his ability to stay ahead and plan various activities appropriately. Just to give you one example of Valdis's ability to think ahead: in one of the hotels, they have very limited parking. On his own initiative, Valdis made a to call to the hotel and reserved a parking spot for us for the one night that we were going to stay at that hotel. It helped out a lot, as we had to leave very early in the morning. There are other numerous examples where he was available to answer questions and help us as necessary, both before and during the trip. He is an excellent guide, calm and collected and his team of guides around the region were quite knowledgeable and fluent. The accommodation for the trip were quite good and and they can be easily adjusted based on your budget. I highly recommend his touring company for your Baltic travel experience and would like to add that as a person he's very likable and easy-going.

Lajos Nagy

2022-07-23

A perfect series of daily hiking tours and town walkarounds. I especially was amused by the jungle-like forests and friendly conversations along the way. Everything was perfectly planned and organized, I definitely recommend, worth thousand-times more than simply visiting cities in a rush.

Tom Demandt

2022-05-30

We had an excellent day hike with our guide Valdis. He was very friendly, very service minded and knowledgeable. The hike through Gauja National Park was really beautiful. Heartily recommend for anyone looking for an active day trip outside Riga.

Sergey Zhuravlev

2022-02-28

I enjoyed the hiking tour in the Beberbeķi-Skulte regions of Riga. The route was mainly through the forest, so this is a great opportunity to get away from the city bustle and daily routine and to spend a few hours in nature. The tour guide Valdis is very friendly and he has a lot to tell about the area. I am looking forward to the next tour and recommend joining it.

Sa Si

2022-02-15

I had a wonderful hiking tour trough Kemeri National Park with Baltic Nature Travel. Valdis is a very well informed and nice guide! I would totally recommend a tour with him!

aarpr

2022-01-24

Really nice activities and tours by Valdis. Highly recommended. Definetely I will repeat soon.

Eimear Friel

2022-01-18

Thoroughly enjoyed my hike with Valdis and Solveiga. It was exactly what I hoped for. Perfect for someone looking to explore more of Latvia but nto sure where to go!

Fiona Koe

2022-01-18

Awesome hike, beautiful scenery. Valdis was very friendly and knowledgeable. Will recommend

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