Jurmala is on the Gulf of Riga. It has over 20kms of fabulous beach and is, quite possibly an alternative place to stay if you want to visit Riga which is only a relatively short journey away and which can be done by ferry.
We stayed at Kempings Jurmala, not much of a site and is located in the grounds of a derelict hotel, take care though I think that there is another campsite called Jurmal Kempings. The facilities comprise the sort of toilet/shower block you might get at a festival and not all of the electricity points worked and it was relatively expensive about 19 euro. However it is wonderfully located, convenient for town and very close to the marvellous beach. Other campsites are a bit further out and you may need your bike to get into town. The beach at Jurmala is good enough to cycle on and many people were.
Interestingly there is a toll to get into Jurmala, not expensive, about a euro but apparently once in town the parking is free. We don't know how or if this toll charge was actively policed - we weren't there long enough.
If you like beach holidays then the Baltic coast has mile upon mile of marvellous beaches from Poland all the way up to Estonia we came across great beaches. They are all clean, there are restaurants and bars and often there are beach volleyball games ongoing. At Jurmala the water was particularly shallow too.
Jurmala itself is an old established spa town which was very popular with the Russians. The old town has some beautiful wooden summer cottages, many are quite substantial. There are opportunities for spa treatments and mud baths.
We took a stroll out on our evening there, just magical, beautiful weather, people out enjoying themselves and it being June what seemed like never ending daytime. We opted to take dinner at the Orizzonte Restaurant which claimed to be the only restaurant on the beach in the whole of Latvia and had a splendid meal (Gilroy reckons one of the best ever) overlooking the Baltic Sea. A memorable evening.
The next day though the heavens opened and we decided, regretfully, to move on.
We stayed at Kempings Jurmala, not much of a site and is located in the grounds of a derelict hotel, take care though I think that there is another campsite called Jurmal Kempings. The facilities comprise the sort of toilet/shower block you might get at a festival and not all of the electricity points worked and it was relatively expensive about 19 euro. However it is wonderfully located, convenient for town and very close to the marvellous beach. Other campsites are a bit further out and you may need your bike to get into town. The beach at Jurmala is good enough to cycle on and many people were.
Interestingly there is a toll to get into Jurmala, not expensive, about a euro but apparently once in town the parking is free. We don't know how or if this toll charge was actively policed - we weren't there long enough.
If you like beach holidays then the Baltic coast has mile upon mile of marvellous beaches from Poland all the way up to Estonia we came across great beaches. They are all clean, there are restaurants and bars and often there are beach volleyball games ongoing. At Jurmala the water was particularly shallow too.
Jurmala itself is an old established spa town which was very popular with the Russians. The old town has some beautiful wooden summer cottages, many are quite substantial. There are opportunities for spa treatments and mud baths.
We took a stroll out on our evening there, just magical, beautiful weather, people out enjoying themselves and it being June what seemed like never ending daytime. We opted to take dinner at the Orizzonte Restaurant which claimed to be the only restaurant on the beach in the whole of Latvia and had a splendid meal (Gilroy reckons one of the best ever) overlooking the Baltic Sea. A memorable evening.
The next day though the heavens opened and we decided, regretfully, to move on.
miles of unspoilt beach
|
|
Click here to return to main page for Latvia
