Liepaja Karosta

Karosta was built as a fortified naval base for the Russian Baltic fleet, a whole militarised town north of Liepaja that later served the Soviet navy. Today it is a strange, half-abandoned landscape of a grand cathedral, a notorious prison run as a museum, and coastal artillery forts crumbling into the sea.

What you actually see

• The Karosta prison - a former military jail offering tours and even overnight stays for the brave.
• The Northern Forts - blasted concrete gun batteries collapsing into the surf on the beach.
• St Nicholas Naval Cathedral - a great gold-domed Orthodox church at the heart of the base.
• The swing bridge and canals - the old naval harbour infrastructure.

When to go

Summer for the beach forts and long days; the prison and cathedral are year-round. The forts are dramatic in wild weather but the sea is dangerous there.

Honest expectations

Karosta is genuinely run-down in places, which is exactly its atmosphere but not to everyone's taste. The sea forts are unstable and the surf around them is dangerous, so admire them rather than climb into them. The prison tour leans into discomfort by design.

Nearby

Liepaja proper, with its own beach and music heritage, is just south; the Pape wild-horse coast lies further down toward Lithuania.