Дары села в Видземе

The Rakši leisure venue offers a look at one and two-hump camels, llamas, alpacas and guanacos. Pancakes made of healthy camel milk can be tasted, you can ride llamas or camels, and there are other forms of active recreation, as well.

The watermill processes wool with equipment that is 100 years old and is used to produce handmade blankets and pillows that are stuffed with sheep wool, as well as souvenirs that can be commissioned and purchased.  The watermill offers tours and fresh-baked bread.  A wool pulling and wrapping machine that dates back to the 19th century and was manufactured at the Šūberts Rudītis & Co company in the 19th century is still used, as are a unique weaving apparatus from Germany and a grain mill.

Latvian cuisine: Marinated herring with vegetables, porridge, mashed potatoes a la Vidzeme (with fried onions), pancakes with jam made of Latvian berries and honey, homemade bread.

Special foods: Water pretzels and local soup with six types of fish.

This location produces alcoholic beverages, including vodka called “Red Cliff Water”, other vodkas, and liqueurs made of cranberries, lingonberries, blackberries, mountain-ash, sea buckthorn, as well as a special “Christmas balsam.” Tours are available with interesting stories about how the beverages are produced.

The workshop offers a look at lanterns, candelabras, hinges, fireplace tools, stair railings and gates that have been manufactured there, as well as several exhibits from the 18^th century. You can produce your own nail, and the blacksmith will also “test” young couples. He also accepts orders for products.

Large cranberries were first grown in the Laugas Swamp in Latvia in 1992. Today there are six types of cranberries that were originated in Latvia. Among them is a hybrid between large American cranberries and Latvian cowberries, and it is known as the noble cranberry. You can attend lectures, receive consultations, tour the swamp, and purchase cranberries, cranberry products, as well as purchase turf that is needed to grow your own cranberries.

Tourists can learn about the history of the estate and the brewing of beer, beginning with raw materials and ending with finished products. The visit is enriched by tastings of live beer and stories about Latvia’s traditional holiday beverage. Alongside the brewery is a store which sells live beer, homemade goodies and selected souvenirs.

The “Valmiermuižas alus virtuve” saloon popularises Latvian beers and uses beer in various dishes. A modern approach to homemade products is used to prepare foods and beer-based snacks. There is a beer garden during the summer, and the saloon merges traditional things with modern ones.

Latvian cuisine: Smoked pork, filet of pike from Lake Burtnieks, green pea mash, with loganberries, quince, pumpkin birch juice and mushroom sauce as accompaniments.

Special foods: Slice of pork marinated in unfiltered winter beer.

The owner of the farm offers attractive tours during which you will learn about chinchillas, animal enclosures, as well as quails which you can view and purchase.

This family company offers high-quality and traditional beekeeping products in the Gauja National Park. There are some 110 hives of bees, and the products include honey, pollen, bee bread, wax and propolis. The owners also produce new and unprecedented products which satisfy the demand of clients for something that is unusual, but healthy. You can take a tour and purchase honey.

This farm has the widest range of pumpkins in Latvia – as many as 80 different types. The owner will talk about how pumpkins are grown and how important they are for healthy nutrition. She offers products under the “Lucky Pumpkin” brand name – candies, nectar, mashed pumpkins, marinated pumpkins and marmalades. During the autumn there is an impressive exhibition of the various types of pumpkins.

The farm produces candies, marmalades, syrups and other goodies from quince. During the season, chicken eggs can be purchased. The farm has bred wild horses since 2002, and these can be viewed with the assistance of a guide.

The owner of the guesthouse produces homemade wine from blackberries, black currants, lingonberries, oak leaves, birch sap, strawberries, gooseberries, apples, cranberries, cowslip, and 20 other raw materials. You can taste the wines, learn about how it is produced, and purchase some to take along with you.

The spoon workshop offers useful objects such as wooden spoons, cutting boards, butter knives, pans, spatulas, etc. You can produce your own wooden spoon and look at finished spoons made of more than 17 different types of wood from Latvia. During the summer the owners offer “pancake tours” with tasty jams. You can purchase spoons and homemade wine.

Open-air functional exhibition of medicinal plants introduces you to a “green pharmacy”. There are more than 300 different plants. Every healthy lifestyle enthusiast can find the secrets of fitotherapy and learn how to use the plants in many different ways – making sauna besoms, aromatic pillows, healthy teas, bath scrubs etc.
Facilities: excursion through medicinal plant garden and collection, tasting of green cocktails.

The Abuls cider cellar and apple orchard is located on the outskirts of Smiltene, on the very upper reaches of the River Abuls. It is one of the oldest and at the same time also one of the smallest cideries in Latvia. There are around 400 apple trees growing in the orchard, ranging from varieties that are typical to the North of Vidzeme to specifically selected crab apple trees for cider making.

This workshop is in a lovely location, and you can commission and purchase interesting artworks made of various materials such as stone, glass and metal. The craftsman will demonstrate his work with glass and stone, also allowing you to take part in creative activities.