Movie nights

On Wednesday and Sunday evenings we invite you to the movie night in our common room. Central Hostel offers free popcorn, Coco-Cola, Fanta, Sprite or cider. Movie will be voted from the list.

Sunday Healthy Breakfast

Dear Guests,
For excellent week-start (or after heavy party weekend) on Sundays Central Hostel offers you our Healthy Breakfast! In addition to our usual breakfast, we offer you fruits and vegetables too.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN RIGA?

Central Hostel recommends:

 

Every dayat 12:00 Riga Free Tourfrom Saint Peter’s church - 3 hour alternative walking tour to discover the real Riga;)

 

Riga Bicycle Tourseveryday 12:00 and 15:00 from Town Hall square. Escape the Old Town and discover the real Riga. See the Moscow district, old cemeteries, parks, art nouveau, courtyards and much more. 10 LVL a person

Riga Zoo opened for visitors all year round

 

The Riga Zoo is open all year round, offering visitors to see remarkable animal collections - tigers, bears and giraffes, kangaroos and coatis, as well as the exhibits in the Tropical House. You can spend an entire day in the zoo, located in a picturesque area near Lake Ķīšezers.

Riga Zoo is a perfect place, especially in the summer, for picnics and unhurried observation of animals. In the dark winter months, the zoo is open on certain days so visitors could acquaint themselves with animals and birds in the wintertime - the magnificent snowy owls, the playful arctic foxes as well as other nocturnal animals. The spring is a time of songs and mating games, the young can be seen in the summer and how they are being schooled in the autumn, whereas in the winter, unless it is one of the special "Zoo Winter Nights", visitors can see indoor exhibits of the zoo.

If you wish to visit the Riga Zoo, the easiest way to get there is to board tram No. 11 and step off at the "Mežaparks" stop. As you enter the zoo, you are treated to the view of colourful flamingo flocks and the seals' aquarium. From here, you can choose one of the paths and go on to meet the other inhabitants of the zoo. One of the sections of the zoo features traditional domestic animals of Latvia - this is the only place in the zoo where you may and are even welcome to stroke the animals. An extensive area has been provided for the waterfowl, whereas birds of prey have a separate section of their own. The more exotic animals live near the periphery of the zoo - hippopotamuses leisurely repose on a terrace, giraffes live in a giraffe house of cosmic dimensions, and kangaroos can be seen nearby.

The visitors to the zoo are especially attracted to the agile lemurs and the curious meerkats. The tigers take little notice of the visitors, whereas the bears compete with each other trying to win the spectator's attention. The Riga Zoo reminds however that visitors must not feed the animals! Various reptiles and insects, alligators and crocodiles can be viewed in the Tropical House. The Riga Zoo also has an extensive collection of amphibians.

Egles Craft Fair

 

Latvian craft fair at the open-air leisure park "Egle", the largest open-air recreational venue in Riga's Old Town, offers the best from local craftsmen. Socks, mittens and scarves that are not only practical but also beautiful, linen table cloths and napkins, jewellery for girls and ladies, wooden household items and toys, and many, many other things can be bought at the "Egle" fair.

It also hosts performances by local musicians and offers delicious Latvian cuisine and best Latvian beer brands. If the bear is to your liking, you may also buy a unique beer jug - Latvian ceramics are well-known worldwide.

 

Fair at Kalnciems District

 

Each holiday, the restored wooden Kalnciema Street District holds a fair which is a new feature for old Pārdaugava. Fairs are great fun and pride to local folk, a place to meet neighbors.

"An event like this on one of the main roads to the heart of Riga is a positive signal to all those visiting Riga," say Kārlis and Mārtiņš Dambergs, owners of the district and devotees of renovating wooden buildings and authentic lifestyle. "Kalnciema District is like an eye-catching brooch on Riga's dress, and we are pleased at the opportunity to rub it." This brooch is especially bright on holiday.

 

Folk club ALA

Smilšu Street 16 (basement)

Every week & with free entrance

Mondays, Tuesdays – free microphone

Mondays: In Ala’s backyard – Latvian movie night

Wednesdays: Traditional folk dance night. Great opportunity to learn original Baltic state folk dances of 19^th and 20^th centuries. Local folk musicians are performing live all night long.

Thursdays: Traditional folk song night and communal singing.

Fridays, Saturday: Programme is changing every week - Please ask at reception for more details.

 

Ethnographic Open-Air Museum

Brivibas street 440
Tel. 6799 45 10, Fax 6799 41 78
opened 10:00 – 17:00

Authentic houses, farmsteads, windmills, wooden churches, and fishermen`s villages that represent different regions of Latvia of 16-19th centuries. Situated in a vast pine forest by the lake Jugla, it occupies an area of about 100 hectares. On weekends you can watch traditional craftsmen at work. The museum even has its own bee-farm and you can taste honey which is served with country bread and a special drink brewed from honey. An unforgettable experience that you should not miss! Count on spending an entire day here.

 

 

Museums & Exhibits:

Latvian National Museum of History   

Address:
Riga, Pils laukums 3

Monday closed

Rest of the week opened 10:00 - 17:00

 

Main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art

Riga, 10a K. Valdemāra Street

Only 1 LVL entrance fee Mondays

Closed only on Tuesdays

Opened rest of the week 11:00 – 17:00

(ticket desk 11:00 – 16:45)

 

Museum of Porcelain

Riga Old Town, 9/11 Kalēju street

Guided tours:

Booking in advance – phone 67012944

in Latvian LVL 4.00

in English LVL 6.00

 

KIM? Contemporary Art Centre

Spikeri, 12/1 Maskavas street
Wed, Fri 14:00 – 19:00
Thu 14:00 – 20:00
Sat, Sun 12:00 – 17:00
Mondays and Tuesdays closed
www.kim.lv

 

THE ART MUSEUM RIGA BOURSE

Riga, Doma Square N^o6

Closed only on Monday

Opened rest of the week 11:00 – 18:00

(ticket desk 11:00 – 17:45)

"Glasstress Riga. Works from Berengo Studio"
22/08/2011 - 08/12/2011

National Architectural Monument, Riga Stock Exchange was built in the 1855th year, reflecting Venetian Renaissance palazzo form. The new museum's opening exhibition was envisioned as a link between Venice and the cities of Riga - artists from all over the world have created works of contemporary art in Venice (Murano) glass of two exhibition halls at the same time - Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice and the Museum of Art, "the Riga Stock Exchange".

 

 

 

"Oriental Porcelain and the Netherlands. Interaction between East and West in the 17th century"   
22/08/2011 - 04/12/2011

A unique exhibition of porcelain objects at the Riga Stock Exchange, the Museum of Foreign Art.

The exhibition, featuring about 130 exhibits, shows how the shapes and decorations of Oriental porcelain and Dutch Delftware influenced each other. In a broader sense, the exhibition illustrates an important aspect of the worldwide globalisation of trade and culture in the 17th century, in which the Netherlands played a central role and acted as the meeting place of East and West.

03/10/2011 – 09/10/2011 Week of chinese culture (entrance fee 1-2 LVL)

06/10/2011 at 17:20 lecture ‘’Room, costume and character: the Roman Empire in art’’

 

 

Arsenāls Exhibition Hall

Riga, 1 Torņa Street

Only 1 LVL entrance fee Tuesdays

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 12:00 – 18:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 17:45)
Thursdays 12:00 – 20:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 19:45)
Saturdays, Sundays 12:00 – 17:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 16:45)
Closed on Mondays

Saga: Botox

07/10/2011 – 20/11/2011

Karlis Vitols is one of the greatest provocateurs among the new generation of Latvian artists, who had a series of brilliant works of painting, graphics