Study tours

Agriculture is one of the most important and traditional economic sectors in the Baltic. Agricultural organizations, farmers and other interested persons are welcome to join one of our special interest programs and learn more about grain and vegetable growing, dairy farming, organic farming, horse breeding, food processing, forestry and fisheries in the Baltic states.

We have a huge list of local people who do various crafts, culinary products, organic farming etc. In order to put an extra experience in your tours, we encourage to visit the workshops, farms, arrange tastings of wine, bread, lamprey and other local produce.

What are the group tours?
Overview Tour details
N/A
4 days
Latvia

Crop Farming Tour

Participants in this tour will learn about Latvia’s most modern crop farms that are typical in Zemgale.  During the first day, participants will meet with specialists from the Latvian Agriculture Ministry and agricultural NGOs.  They will also tour Rīga, which is part of the UNESCO List of World Heritage, and the Rīga Central Market, which is one of the largest closed markets of its type in Europe.  Participants will visit a health food store and have dinner to enjoy traditional Latvian foods and beers.  The next day we will go to Jelgava, where the 18th-century castle of the Duchy of Courland and Zemgale will host a meeting with faculty members from the Latvian Agricultural University, which is housed in the palace.  We will visit a biologic bakery, as well as a farm that engages in crop farming, livestock breeding and manufacturing of biogas.  An artificial wetland is used to purify runoff water.  Dinner will be served at a modern leisure complex.  On the third day, we will visit one of the largest multi-sectoral farms in Zemgale.  It specialises in plant farming, livestock breeding, horse breeding, biogas manufacturing and beer brewing.  During the afternoon, we will visit the largest and technologically most modern grain farm in the region, after which we will tour the most outstanding castle in the Baltic States – the Rundāle Castle.  Built as a summer residence for Duke Ernst Johann Bieron, the castle was designed by the distinguished Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.  Dinner will be served at a venue that has an historical windmill and an exhibition related to grain farming.  On the morning of the fourth day, we will visit a farm that grows grains for seed, and then a biological farm that produces wheat, barley, peas, beans, rapeseed, herbs and herbal teas.  Lunch will be served at a farm that will offer dishes made of home-grown grains and rough-milled flour.  Then we will return to Rīga.

N/A
7 days
Latvia

The Rye Grain Tour around Central and Eastern Latvia

This study tour is designed to show Latvia's rye traditions as their central focus. This tour has been developed in cooperation with the Latvian Bakers’ Association.

Rye is both the basis of the Latvian diet and  a powerful symbol of Latvia's culture and culinary traditions. Itinerary emphasize traditional rye bread-baking and eating, as well as insights into the history of the rye grain from Latvia's earliest archaeological record to the present day. Itinerary include visits to working farms, grain mills and culturally and historically important locations.

This study tour is designed for groups and may be adapted to the needs, interests and timeframe of each client. Tour cost includes meetings with experts, site visits and admissions, accommodations, specified meals, sightseeing, transportation within Latvia and guides-interpreters.

Active season months5-10
N/A
7 days
Estonia, Latvia

Innovative Farming, Professional Organizations and Dairy Farms

Our tour leader will meet you at the Riga airport. Depending of the flight time we' ll have an excursion of Riga Old Town and the Central Market listed in UNESCO World Heritage list. Next day we visit potatoes grower near Iecava and successful local multi-sectoral agricultural enterprise at Tervete which combines horse breeding, brewery, crop growing, dairy farm and bio energy production. Also we will visit one of the biggest medical herb growers and producers of the herbal teas. After full day of professional visits, we' ll taste Latvian traditional food and beer in a traditional tavern in Riga. Then we will visit two cattle growers at Sigulda and Cesis area, climb up the tower of Turaida Castle for a great panoramic view and walk charming streets of Cesis Old Town. Afterwards we will visit ecological sheep farm near Valka and stay overnight at the Koni Mill where wool is still processed traditional way, warm blankets and beautiful bed linen made.
Across the border in Estonia we will visit crop growers in Valga area. We will meet Estonian Farmers Union and have a short sightseeing in Tartu and then head to Tallinn. Sightseeing tour in picturesque Tallinn Old Town. Then we will visit diary farm at Saku and finish with a trip to the Lahemaa National Park.

Agriculture Active season months5-9
N/A
7 days
Latvia

The Rye Grain Tour in Western and Southern Latvia

This study tour is designed to show Latvia's rye traditions as their central focus. This tour has been developed in cooperation with the Latvian Bakers’ Association.

Rye is both the basis of the Latvian diet and  a powerful symbol of Latvia's culture and culinary traditions. Itinerary emphasize traditional rye bread-baking and eating, as well as insights into the history of the rye grain from Latvia's earliest archaeological record to the present day. Itinerary include visits to working farms, grain mills and culturally and historically important locations.

This study tour is designed for groups and may be adapted to the needs, interests and timeframe of each client. Tour cost includes meetings with experts, site visits and admissions, accommodations, specified meals, sightseeing, transportation within Latvia and guides-interpreters.

Active season months5-10
N/A
4 days
Latvia

Vegetable Farming Tour

A tour of professional farms to offer a look at modern and technologically developed farms.  During the introductory day, participants will tour Rīga, which is part of the UNESCO List of World Heritage, and the Rīga Central Market, which is one of the largest closed markets of its type in Europe.  The next day there will be a meeting with specialists from the Latvian Agriculture Ministry and agricultural NGOs.  Next we will tour an ecological facility for farm waste, which is a pan-European initiative in the context of which heat that is manufactured is used to heat greenhouses, thus ensuring an ideal environment for farming (flowers and tomatoes).  We will visit innovative farms that collect birch juice for products such as biological birch juice wine (rose, semi-sec), biological birch juice foaming wine, birch juice lemonade, and syrup.  The next morning will begin with a visit to a farm that produces high-quality vegetables and potatoes, successfully dealing with the storage and sale of it produce, as well as with logistical aspects of the process.  Along the way, we will visit the ruins of the Koknese castle, which is on the banks of Latvia’s legendary Daugava River.  We will also visit a farm that grows hemp for various food products.  We will spend the night at an aristocratic estate that is now a complex for accommodations and spa treatments.  The next morning, we will be off to one of Latvia’s newest beer breweries for a tour and tastings.  Around noon, we will visit a farm that manufactures co-generated biomass head during the winter and heats greenhouses.  We will return to Rīga in the evening.

N/A
7 days
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
from 450 EUR / pers

Crops, Cattle, Sheep and Multi-sectoral Agriculture Enterprise

Professional agricultural tour with visits to local farms typical of the region. We will meet and greet you in Vilnius and have a city sightseeing tour. Next day we go to Kaunas, for professional meetings and sightseeing of the city. On the way to Riga, we visit picturesque Trakai Castle situated on a lake. At Panevezys we have a visit to a professional apple grower. In Riga we have an Old Town sightseeing tour as well as a visit to the impressive Central Market. In Bauska we have a professional visit to a farm specilaizing in implementing innovative farming (grains, vegetables, potatoes). From Riga on the way to Tallinn, we visit Sigulda town and medieval Turaida Castle with great panoramic views to the ancient Gauja Valley. In Tallinn we have an Old Town tour through narrow cobbled streets followed by a professional visit to a dairy farm in Saku, meeting with the Estonian Farm Union and visiting another cattle and crop farm near Tallinn.

Agriculture
N/A
4 days
Latvia

Fruit Farming Tour

This professional tour will look at fruit farms that selection, breed and grow breeds that are appropriate for Latvia’s weather conditions.  During the introductory day, participants will tour Rīga, which is part of the UNESCO List of World Heritage, and also visit a health food store.  On the second day, it is off to Kurzeme, where we will visit a farm that has developed a special technology for the processing of sea buckthorn in a way that preserves all of the vitamins and minerals that are in the berries.  We will visit Wine Hill in Sabile, where grapes have been grown since the 16th or 17th century.  Some 15 types of grapes that have been adapted to Latvia’s climate are grown here now.  Next we will visit the Kukši Estate, which offers a look at the cultural environment of baronial estates in the 18th and 19th century.  We will return to Rīga via the Jūrmala spa and have dinner at a Latvian saloon.  The next morning we will travel to Vidzeme to look at a former peat swamp where large cranberries are grown now.  The farm has its own processing technologies to manufacture candies, syrups, juices and teas.  Next we will visit Latvia’s first blueberry farm for a tour and tastings.  At the end of the day, we will visit a farm that grows cranberries and blackberries, emphasising successful and healthy food products and their marketing.  On the morning of the fourth day, we will visit the Medieval Cēsis castle, which was the residence of the masters of the Livonian Order and one of the most fortified fortresses in the territory of the Baltic States.  We will visit an agricultural technical school in Priekuļi to meet with faculty members.  At the conclusion of the day, we will go to Ungurmuiža Estate, which is one of the most outstanding examples of 18th century Baroque wood construction in Latvia.  The mansion (1732) is the only early 18th century wooden building of this type that has been preserved to this very day.

N/A
4 days
Latvia

Livestock Farming Tour

This is a professional livestock farming tour to visit farms that breed cows, sheep, goats and pigs.  During the introductory day, participants will tour the Latvian capital city of Rīga, which is on the UNESCO List of World Heritage, and meet with representatives of the Latvian Agriculture Ministry and agricultural NGOs.  The next morning it’s off to Kurzeme to visit a farm that breeds meat cattle.  The second farm on the list specialises in the breeding of purebred and mixed breed cattle for siring, fattening and meat production.  It sells piglets and offers pork, grains, potatoes and beekeeping products.  In the evening we will visit Kuldīga to see Europe’s widest waterfall on the Venta River.  The next morning we will travel to Vidzeme, where the first farm specialises in livestock breeding and intensive farming, while the second specialises in dairy farming and the production of grains and grasses.  We will visit the ruins of the Koknese castle, which stands along the banks of the legendary Daugava River.  In the evening, we will visit one of the largest goat farms in Latvia, with some 160 purebred goats (Alpine, Anglo, German White Noble), as well as hogs for breeding.  Several types of cheese will be available for tasting.  The next morning, we will visit one of Latvia’s largest sheep farms.  The biological farm has about 250 head of sheep.  The second farm grows grain and grasses and engages in dairy farming and livestock breeding.  We will visit the Medieval castle in Cēsis, which was the residents of the masters of the Livonian Order and one of the most fortified fortresses in the territory of the Baltic States.  At the conclusion of the day, we will go to Ungurmuiža Estate, which is one of the most outstanding examples of 18th century Baroque wood construction in Latvia.