Latvia: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Latvia feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 96 written places.
Reserved and quiet-spoken until trust forms, then dryly funny and deeply loyal.
✓ Considered polite
- Give flowers in odd numbers - even counts are for funerals
- Take your shoes off when invited into a home
- Greet with a firm handshake and direct eye contact
- Keep your voice down in public - loudness marks you out instantly
✗ Better avoided
- Mistake reserve for rudeness - small talk with strangers simply is not a thing
- Be late - punctuality is quietly expected everywhere
- Fill every silence - pauses in conversation are comfortable here, not awkward
- Keep your coat on in theatres and nicer restaurants - the cloakroom is there to be used
Worth knowing
- Cards and contactless work almost everywhere - even many stalls at Riga's Central Market take them
- Tipping is appreciated rather than expected - 5-10% in restaurants is generous and rounding up covers taxis
- Midsummer - Jani, June 23-24 - empties cities as the whole country heads to the countryside
- An invitation to a pirts - the Latvian sauna - is an honour; follow your host's lead on rounds and cold plunges
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.