Riga, Latvia by Valerie Streif, Riga, Latvia

Next stop on the Baltic tour - Riga, Latvia. About four hours from Tallinn, this city is brimming with art nouveau architecture, restaurants, bars and coffee shops. It’s situated on the Baltic Sea and is the largest city in all the Baltic States.

If you’re traveling between the Baltic States, I recommend taking Lux Express buses. They are clean, on time, comfortable, equipped with power sockets and wi-fi, and bathrooms that weren’t terrifying! They are also very reasonably priced - from Tallinn to Riga I paid €20 for the four-hour journey.

I will admit, as someone who isn’t into bar crawls and nights that end at 6 in the morning, I was a bit hesitant to book this hostel. I am so glad I did though, as the atmosphere perfect to keep my solo-traveler energy going. It is a super easy place to meet people, and the girls who run the hostel are a lot of fun. I normally shy away from hostel bar crawls, but I am so glad I went on the one put on by this hostel. It is very centrally located, with a bar that never closes and it has all the amenities you need. Kitchen, social area, big lockers to lock up all your stuff and plenty of showers and toilets on each floor. I was also pleasantly surprised at how respectful all the guests were - I had no problem sleeping through the drunks getting home late at night. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).