Monday, October 17, 2011

Riga Shopping: just cheap or original & exclusive as well?

Tourism-review.com today dropped into my mailbox news about tax free tourism attracting travelers to Latvia. Seems interesting: prices in Latvia sometimes seems too high for ourselves (ok, that’s a talk about salaries), in spring there appeared news that Latvia is the cheapest destination in Europe, but this summer talking to travellers and also travelling a bit, Lithuania, Poland or Romania appeared cheaper than Latvia. Shopping in Latvia is a quite huge topic to write about. And I feel it’s quite hard to write just about shopping here – these places I would like to tell about has more than just place-for-shopping value.

Riga Central Market is listed among bigger markets in Europe, but I have heard that this one really is the biggest (if we count also all that illegal market). Riga Central Market definitely is worth visiting it: Check my previous post From Zeppelins to Food – Riga Central Market.

Shoping centres you will find everywhere in Riga. In the city centre the most popular ones are Stockmann – between the central bus station and train terminal, Origo – at the train terminal, Galerija Centrs at the Old Town and the newest one of these – Galleria Riga. If you want shopping centres I personally would advice you to go to these last two – Glerija Centrs at the Old Town and Galleria Riga.

Galerija Centrs at the Old Town  is a place with stores like Bik Bok, Oasis, Guess, Hogl, Cropp Town, Cubus, Moskito, Reserved, G-star, Lindex, La Senza and others. This place also has nice photo or painting exhibitions quite often on the first floor, so you won’t miss some culture when going for shopping.

Latvian stores with high quality original products you should pay attention to in Galerija Centrs: LAUMA lingerie , MADARA ecocosmetics , STENDERS – cosmetics, parfumery.

Another shopping centre Galleria Riga  (on Dzirnavu Street 67) is more posh, luxurious and pompous with stores like Pierre Cardin, Gaudi, Elegance Paris, Bonita, Leny Tomy Factory, Roberto Verino, Triumph and others. They also have terrace on the roof (7th floor) where in summer you can go for a meal, but on winter season it becomes a skating rink – skate and enjoy the view over the roofs of Riga.

There are more than these opportunities, but I personally think that the real charm of shopping in Riga is in it’s small original shops – and believe me, Latvian shopkeepers and small business owners are extremely  creative people. More about these shopping options another time.

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