The fish hangar
Smoked and salted as far as you can see.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dezidor — CC BY 3.0 · Artem Svetlov from Moscow, Russia — CC BY 2.0 · Aldis Dzenovskis — CC BY-SA 3.0
Europe's largest market inside German zeppelin hangars: Riga Central Market was built in 1930 using the frames of five giant Zeppelin hangars the German army left after the First World War, moved to the riverbank and roofed into the continent's biggest market — twenty-seven thousand square metres, a UNESCO site along with the old town. Each hangar has its trade: meat, dairy, fish, vegetables, bakery — and around the buildings open stalls sell berries, mushrooms, flowers and clothes. Here the real Latvia is bought: black rye bread, caraway cheese, smoked fish, honey, amber, and the famous black herbal Riga Black Balsam. Prices run far below the centre and the canteens serve Latvian food at local prices. The Moscow suburb lies behind it and the Stalinist Academy tower above — and it is ten minutes on foot from the old town across the canal.
Smoked and salted as far as you can see.
A bitter herbal liquor from 1752 — the city's souvenir.
Latvian food at local prices.
Nēģu iela 7, Riga
The Spīķeri QuarterA group of nineteenth-century goods warehouses beside Riga Central Market, rehab2 minutes walk4.3
Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust MuseumA museum outdoors and inside a wooden warehouse near the Spīķeri quarter, devote5 minutes walk4.5
St Peter's ChurchOld Riga's tallest spire and its best view: the Gothic brick church of St Peter 7 minutes walk4.7
Latvian National OperaA white classical temple on the canal bank: Riga's opera house was built in 18637 minutes walk4.6
House of the BlackheadsLatvia's most famous facade — and only thirty years old: the House of the Blackh8 minutes walk4.7Baltic amber (check the seller's credibility), honey, black rye bread, caraway cheese and Laima chocolate — all cheaper here than in the centre's shops.