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.

Related posts:

From Zeppelins to Food – Riga Central Market 

Riga Central Market on Travelers blog

3 in 1: Art gallery, Shop and Restaurant

Bohemian Street – Away From Touristic Riga

Low-Cost World and People Who Should Pay More.

Once again about airlines, awards and low cost flights. I’m actually not so frequent flier to talk much about airlines, but as a former travel agent selling tickets to flights from almostly all airlines and as a person who is meeting a lot of different people flying more often than me, I still believe I have my own voice in this topic. What has inspired me this time?  World Low Cost Airlines Congress: The 2011 Awards Shortlist Announced 

Of course, I’m more than glad to mention AirBaltic again as an awarded airline: Best Ancillary Revenue Innovation Nr. 2. About AirBaltic and their inventions I wrote before here (it was another top). 

The World Low Cost Airlines Congress has listed different awarded cathegories: Best Low Cost Airline, Best Airport, Best Website, CEO of the Year, Technology Foresight Award, Best Ancillary Revenue Innovation, Best Sales and Distribution Innovation, Airlines Pacesetter Award. We see here Air Asia, dear friend Ryanair, SkyExpress, EasyJet, WizzAir, Jetstar Airways and others.

Have you checked, for example, Facebook pages for these airlines? „I fly with them just because I have no other option”, „They do not allow this, they do not allow that!”, „I’ll never again fly with them!!” When I was working as a travel agent it was normal to receive calls form people begging: „Please, I have no money, I have to get there, give me the cheapest ticket possible, but just not Aeroflot/Air Asia etc.” Here we go – cheapest possible, but please with candle light, jazz music and wine in crystal glasses. Correct? There are people who are choosing to pay more, to get more comfort and I’m absolutely ok with that. Saying „I fly with them because I have no other option” is kind of stupid – is there a country where goes only cheap Ryanair and no other airline? I really doubt. I have heard people even crying over the phone. But choosing low-cost ariline you choose also service, no? Do you really need all extras flying 1- 2 hours? Maybe you could just wait a little more to collect money for some not ‘low-cost’ airline if you know that comfort and great service is very important for you, or if you have to spend on the way more than 5 hours and know that ‘low-cost’ could spoil your mood and your holidays?

There are soooo many people who have left their countries to work abroad because of crisis, and Ryanair in Europe usually is the airline helping these people to get where they want, helping them to meet their friends and families. Some people are checking Ryanair prices almostly everyday to get the flight just some euros cheaper, and they get it. Of course, there are different cases and different accidents, but I believe none of these low cost airlines are torturing people.

Are you expecting that your shoes bought for 10$ you will wear 5 years? Are you expecting crystal glasses on McDonalds? Would be nice. I’m more than happy if you get all what you need and all what you would like to get paying less!

Read the rules of an airline when you book your ticket! Low-cost airlines – go! Congratulations and best wishes for awarded low-cost airlines 2011!

Latvia Among Top Destinations for Adventure Travel

I just couldn't ignore this and not to post it here as it includes two countries where I feel like home - Latvia and Romania. It seems that "adventure" is the correct word to describe my feeling of home. Strange... I always thought that the correct word for home is "peace". Anyway - this list is one more strong reason to visit Latvia:


The ten countries for adventure travel -  Israel, Slovakia, Chile, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Jordan, Romania and Latvia, were chosen from a pool of 160 candidates in the third annual survey conducted by the George Washington University in the United States. Ha! 

(Found it here via @BucharestUpdate on Twitter)

The Top 5 European Cities For Summer Travel

Ok, there is one more month of summer in Latvia and Riga is one of these top 5 cities in the list! So, here are 5 cities - Riga (Latvia), Faro (Portugal), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Crete (Greece), Barcelona (Spain).  And here is one more reason to come to Riga this August: Riga celebrates it 810 years! So, are you coming?

See the list or Top 5 cities for summer travel here: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-five-european-cities-for-summer-travel-2011

Where Do You Wanna Be Now?

Do you wanna see what’s happening in Riga now?
Check web-cams:

http://www.coolwebcams.net/latvia.html

Camera nr. 2 – Old Town, Blackheads House

Camera nr. 3  - Building The National Library

Cameras nr. 4 & nr. 7 – Salu bridge

Camera nr. 5 – The Left coast
 

But actually here you will find not only Latvia and Riga. Wanna see what’s happening in Osaka, Toba,  Puerto Vallarta, Riccione, Antalya, Cape Town and even Antarctica!!! Really a lot to see!

From UK to Riga: the cheapest destination this spring

The popular travel website Yahoo!Travel has named Riga as the best-value city break for its mainly UK-based readers this spring. Riga is top of the list, ahead of Tallinn, Warsaw and Budapest. Vilnius is not named – presumably because of its still poor number of connections by air with the UK and the rest of Europe. The UK’s Post Office has just released its new City Costs Barometer report, which puts Riga way ahead of the pack on cost-saving city-break destinations. The list was compiled by making a “basket” of typical holiday costs, such as hotel accommodation, meals, drinks, public transport and sightseeing. However, as cities like Riga recover strongly from the recent economic crisis, we can expect prices here to increase quickly in the coming year.

From Bestriga.com. Check the whole article with the whole top of cheap destinations this spring here: http://www.bestriga.com/en/page/expanded/article/555

The World’s Best Ethical Destinations 2011

Every year Ethical Traveller conducts a study of developing nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, to identify the best tourism destinations among them. They base research by focusing on three general categories: Environmental Protection, Social Welfare, and Human Rights. These destinations may not always be as glamorous as Paris, or as modern as Singapore. But they’re rich in natural wonders, and alive with fascinating culture. They’re also committed to conserving their natural treasures, while building economies that sustain and empower local communities. Ethical Traveler urge travelers to step off the beaten path whenever possible. Each year, after extensive research, their team chooses the 10 best countries to visit in the developing world.

 

Ethical Traveler congratulates the countries on their 2010/2011 list of The Developing World’s 10 Best Ethical Destinations. The winners, in alphabetical order (not in order of merit), are:

• Argentina
• Barbados
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Dominica
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Palau
• Poland
• Uruguay

WHERE WILL YOU GO ON YOUR VACATION THIS YEAR?

More about Ethical Traveler: www.ethicaltraveler.org.

Pictures: Riga, The Capital of Latvia