A tea house in Alsunga that offers to taste delicious herbal teas and home-baked cakes, as well as enjoy cultural events and a truly unique traditional Latvian herbal tea ceremony.

The rock is in the square outside the Skrunda Cultural Centre.  It was installed in 2005 in honour of the victory of Col Oskars Kalpaks and his battalion over the Bolsheviks.  During the Latvian liberation battles, on January 22, 1919, the Bolsheviks occupied Skrunda.  Kalpaks’ battalion headed toward the town on January 29 from the Rudbārži Estate.  After a three-hour battle, the victory was won, with the battalion taking over a strategic line near the banks of the Venta River.   This was the first victory for Kalpaks’ men after many retreats, and that inspired the rest of the liberation battles.

On the 141st km of the Riga-Jekabpils highway you can rest and have a meal in the motel Sapnis. There is a cafe on the 1st floor as well as the hall for celebrations.

The barn was built in the second half of the 19th century. The building has a permanent exhibition, where you can see how land management and bread baking took place in the manor. We bake bread if you order in advance

This cosy restaurant offers dishes made of Lithuanian ingredients.  Enjoy a collection of ancient culinary tools and baking equipment.  If you wish to bake your own traditional spit cake, you can take a class to learn how to do that.

Before its flooding, the canyon of the Daugava River between Pļaviņas and Koknese was one of the most outstanding and beautiful parts of the Baltic terrain, and Oliņkalns hill was one of the largest castle hills in Latvia.  The Andrejs cliff as up to 20 metres high, and it was part of the Daugava canyon.  Before the area was flooded because of the construction of the Pļaviņas hydroelectric power plant, there were rapids near the hill that made it hard for rafters to sail down the river.  Today it is a small island in the reservoir of the plant (it can be seen from the side of the Rīga-Daugavpils highway (A6) opposite Stukmaņi).  It is separated from the shore by 300 metres of river, under which the Dūņas valley is now resting.  A small part of the ramparts of the castle hill can still be seen on the island along with the ruins of an open-air stage and a few metres of the dolomite cliff that have remained above water.  It is thought that the Alene castle was on the hill in the 13th century.  Latvian mountain climbers installed a memorial stone in 1998 opposite Oliņkalns hill.

Iespējams apskatīt Kroņvircavas muižas kompleksu, kas bija pēdējā Kurzemes un Zemgales hercoga Pētera Bīrona lauku īpašums ar pili.  To pēc hercoga pasūtījuma 1776. - 1785. gadā būvēja galma arhitekts Severīns Jensens. 

No hercoga pils līdz mūsdienām saglabājies vienīgi ziemeļaustrumu korpuss un virtuve kā atsevišķa ēka. Vispilnīgāk no muižas kompleksa ēkām saglabājušās Kavalieru māja, Pārvaldnieka māja, kurā tagad vietu radis projekts “Muižas istabas”, klēts-magazīna, stallis. Kroņvircavas muižas apbūve ir Valsts aizsardzības objekts. Pili ieskāva liels baroka stila parks ar ūdens parteru, kas kā muižas dārzs sākts ierīkot 1693. gadā.

Šobrīd “Muižas istabās” saimnieko ģimene, kas vēlas saglabāt autentiskās mājas vērtības, iedzīvināt džezu uz “Muižas istabu” improvizētās skatuves, izstādīt mākslinieku darbus un  svinēt svētkus. Aicinām apmeklēt vēsturiskā un kultūras mantojuma interesentus dzīvās mūzikas pavadījumā atklāt Vircavas bagāto vēsturi, ģimenes piedzīvojumus ar 250 gadīgo namu un sajust īpašo atmosfēru, ko novērtējuši daudzi mūsu apmeklētāji. 

Stupeļu Hill is 3 km to the South of the Vecumnieki-Ilūkste road. There are no signs, so the castle hill might be difficult to find. The Great Stupeļu Rock, which is discussed further on in this guidebook, is also hard to find when there is vegetation. Stupeļu Hill is approximately 30 m high, and it was one of the highest castle hills in the historical district of Selonia. Archaeologists say that it was first abandoned at the beginning of our era and then populated again during the late Iron Age. It is interesting that iron was extracted and processed near the castle hill. Archaeologists believe that this is the site of one of the earliest “cities” in the region. To the West of the hill is the Great Stupeļu Rock, which is 6.7 m long, 5.6 m wide and up to 2.7 m high. Above ground, it is 35 m³ large, and it may have been a cult location. During archaeological digs in the late 1970s, antiquities from the 10^th to the 13^th century were found here.