One of the highest dunes in Latvia, located between Bernāti and Jūrmalciems villages. It is 37m high and offers a magnificent view of the sea and natural pine forests. The highest dunes in Latvia stand to the South of Jūrmalciems village: the Pūsēnu hill, the Ķupu hill, the Mietragkalns or Tiesas hill, the Pāļu hill, the Garais hill, the Ātrais hill, the Lāvas hill. The Pūsēnu dune is the highest of these dunes which are all called hills by the local people. The Pūsēnu hill developed between 1785 to 1835 when shifting sand became extremely dangerous. Several homesteads were buried in sand, among them „Pūsēni”, where a forester’s family lived. The family is said to have moved to Bārta. The dune was named after the buried homestead.

Jēkabs Janševskis, a Latvian writer, wrote in his book „Nīca”: “In olden times, large pine trees were growing in the dunes on the coast of Nīca and they stood steady and firm. But i Swedish times (around 1650), the Swedes built a large kiln for charcoal and tar. Pine wood and stumps provided an excellent material for this. Once a big fire rose, and the charcoal kiln burned down as well as the whole pine forest. The remaining stumps and bare trunks in the vast burnout could not hold the storm-driven sand; it flew further and further burying not only the burned-out forest, but also the nearest fields. In wintertime, when the vast, low marshy grasslands were covered with ice, jets of sand drifted further over its surface, and soon most of the grasslands and large meadows turned into sandy heath-land and dunes.”

To reconstruct Liepāja, severely damaged during WWII, a silicate brick factory was built in the town. The main raw material was white sand and it was taken from the Bernātu forest. In the 1960-ies they started to dig off the Green Dune and the White Dune, later also the Pūsēnu hill. The excavators used to work day and night, in three shifts. The work stopped at around 1980, as there was no more sand suitable for production of brick.

A trail is set up to facilitate walking in the Pūsēnu Dune in the Bernātu Nature Park.

Kafejnīca "Kalnakrogs" atrodas Skrundas novada Rudbāržu pagastā pie Rīgas - Liepājas šosejas. Kafejnīcas ēdienkartē iekļauti latviskie ēdieni, iespējams pasūtīt banketu un izīrēt telpas semināriem. Piedāvā nakšņošanu.

The saloon is in the historical centre of Limbaži in Kārlis Baumanis Square.

Latvian cuisine: Cold soup, baked cod or plaice, potted meat and mushrooms, stuffed pancakes, stacked rye bread, strawberry soup.

Special foods: “Wedding Pork Chop”.

One of the oldest towns in Latvia, about which data can be found already beginning from 1378. As a populated area it formed at the banks of the Tebra River (the side of Riga-Prussia road), where once the fortified wooden castle Beida of the Cours Land Bandava was located. In the medieval times Aizpute was the centre of Kurzeme bishopric. After joining Kurzeme to Russia in 1795, Jews settled for living in Aizpute. Today travellers in Aizpute are most attracted by the ancient city environment that is still alive here, as well as by the historical centre of the city and the castle ruins.

The road leading to this estate is reminiscent of a narrow mountain road with a deep river valley alongside it.  The estate used to be known as the Libe Estate, and the buildings that are seen there now belonged to a nobleman, Magnuss.  The mansion has a Neo-Gothic glass tower which is known as an architectural curio among specialists.  The Sarkaņi Parish Council sits in the mansion.  The granary is the work of a local enthusiast, Andris Trečaks, who has collected a series of ancient objects.  Outside the granary is a very broad view of the “lower” Lubāna flatlands, resembling a painting with an empty frame.

Atrodas ezera krastā, netālu mežs. Vieta kā radīta, lai paceptu gaļu, pamētātu bumbu grozā, pasauļotos vai pašūpotos šūpolēs. Tiem, kam patīk nakņot teltī, ezera krastā izveidotas 3 atsevišķas vietas teltīm mierīgai atpūtai. Ugunskura vieta, tiltiņš pāri ezeram, elektrība. Makšķerēšana, ogošana, sēņošana, vēžošana. Aktivitātēm brīvā dabā - bērnu rotaļu laukums, laivas, ūdens velosipēds, siltuma mīļotājiem - pirts. Laipni gaidīti arī ziemā uz slēpošanu un slidošanu. Atgriežoties no āra, gaidīs silta mājiņa un kamīnā kursies uguns. Saimniecībā ir bites, tāpēc medu varēsiet nobaudīt pa taisno no stropa medus kārē. Pieejams "stropa" namiņš, kurš speciāli aprīkota ar bišu stropu klimatu, lai sajustu tā pozitīvo ietekmi uz ķermeni un garu!
 

Opposite the tower of the Church of the Holy Trinity, the monument was designed by Arta Dumpe and commemorates Latvia’s first president, Jānis Čakste (1859-1927).  It was consecrated on November 14, 2003, precisely 81 years after the statesman was elected to the important position.

This grand hiking tour includes some of the best and most beautiful parts of the Forest Trail in Latvia and Estonia. Hikes in the forest trails and villages are combined with trips and excursions in cities, as well as other popular tourist sights in both countries. You will get a detailed impression about the forest diversity and most popular national parks in Latvia and Estonia. You will start the tour in Riga, where you will enjoy the beautiful Old Town included in the UNESCO and Art Nouveau District. Then you will drive to Sigulda and see the most scenic ancient valley of the River Gauja, visit Turaida Museum Reserve, hike in Gauja National Park till the historic Ligatne papermill village. Further on you will visit the famous Lake Āraiši Castle, hike on the Cirulisi nature trails and see the beautiful medieval town of Cesis. On the way to Estonia you will stop at the Sietiņiezis big sandstone cliff to have picturesque views of the River Gauja. Then you will stay in Estonia’s second biggest city – Tartu, and visit the recently opened Estonian National Museum. Further on you will drive to Alutaguse National Park and hike along the picturesque Kurtna landscape reserve among the bright coniferous forests ornamented by the mirror surfaces of its many lakes. At the end of the tour you will hike in Estonia’s oldest national park – Lahemaa, which means the “land of bays” in Estonian. The Forest Trail goes along the bays and peninsulas of Lahemaa National Park, introducing the hikers to its most significant natural and cultural heritage. The forests are rich with blueberries and mushrooms in autumn and the air is very clean. This tour will end with sightseeing in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city, with the Old Town also included in UNESCO.

Work on the park began in end of 18th century, when it was a landscape park with trails for strolling and a system of pathways, benches and bridges.  The 196-ha park is one of the largest estate parks in Latvia, and in dendrological terms it is one of the richest ones, with more than 200 varieties of trees and bushes, including 127 foreign ones.  The park encircles the village of Kazdanga, including the Kazdanga Castle and the territory to its north, where you will find the burying grounds of the Manteuffel family.  These were established at the very beginning of the 20th century, but the work was interrupted by World War I.  The park features leisure areas and decorative elements.  The castle was built around 1800 by the European-level architect Johann Gregor Berlitz after a design by architect Giacomo Quarenghi.  The ensemble included a Cavalier House, a granary, a residential home, a stable, a bridge across the valley and other structures.  An agricultural school was opened in the castle in 1924.  Today it is the Kazdanga Museum, with the local Tourism Information Centre..