One of the most beautiful areas along the Venta River and its tributary, the Šķērvelis River. The river valleys and gullies along them are quite deep, and dolomite and sandstone cliffs can be spotted here and there. There are also rapids on the river. The largest cliffs in Kurzeme – the Ātraiskalns and Gobdziņi cliffs – can be seen on the banks of the Venta. The Lēni Catholic Church is near the restricted area. There are no tourist elements in the restricted territory at this time. The Venta is a popular destination for water tourists, however, from Nīgrande to Kuldīga.

Poems are dedicated to trees in the garden sourrounding the memorial house of Edvarts Virza, a Latvian poet and writer who wrote a legendary novel about the lives of Latvian farmers. The beautiful 18th century Mazmežotne castle is renovated by a grain farmer’s family. The Rundāle castle is known as Latvia’s true jewel of Baroque and Rococo architecture featuring also a rose garden with over 2200 varieties of roses. At Brukna manor you will see a vegetable garden that is arranged as a Renaissance park, a rose garden and a vineyard. Pick your own blackcurrant berries at Bāniši berry farm. A beautiful landscape garden is open for visitors at Gundegas house.  200 year old oaks adorn the Vārkavas Park.  Riekstiņi is an authentic single-family Selonian farm with a specific spirit and ambience. At Kaldabruņa you will visit an art gallery housed in a hay-shed together with a hay museum. Grape selection and cultivation was the great passion of Pauls Sukatnieks, and his memorial garden is worth visiting during the harvesting time. Dvietes Manor is proud of its 19th century landscape park and a stone bridge. Daugavpils, the 2nd largest city of Latvia, is famous for the renovated  19th century Daugavpils Fortress housing museums. Sēlija tree nursery offers a tour of their apple orchard, apple storage and production facilities. Enjoy a glass of apple juice and stories of vinemakers. Berķenele is the memorial house of Rainis, the distinguished Latvian author and social activist.The Rokiškis Regional Museum and Manor is one of the most important cultural centres of the Aukštaitija region. The Liudvika and Stanislovas Didžiulis Homestead Museum garden features traditional Lithuanian apple tree cultivars, flowers and herbs. The A. Baranauskas and A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum presents culture, literature, history, agrarian culture, and technical history in the Anykščiai region. Traditional Lithuanian flower garden can also be seen at the Bronė Buivydaitė Memorial Museum. In Anykščiai you can enjoy the Treetop Walkway and Labyrinth Park, and take a train ride on Aukštaitija’s narrow-gauge railway. In Traupis Botanical Garden you will find everything from perennial flower collections and rock garden to a flower clock and decorative pool with aquatic plants. The interior of the Taujėnai Manor house was decorated extensively with the Radziwiłł family’s portraits, sculptures, hunting trophies, and antique weapons. Take a walk around the Ukmergė Old Town and enjoy the view from the old fire tower. Survilai Homestead offers a barefoot trail walking on pine cones, swamp, peat, clay, gravel, polished glass, pine-tree needles, straw. The Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Botanical Garden exposes the Lithuanian Heritage flower garden plants according to their botanical classification. At Tadas Ivanauskas Homestead at Obelynė Park you will see a collection of 300 species and forms of plants, including some of the oldest trees on the planet – the ginkgo biloba and the dawn redwood. In Kaunas you will see the Oldest Apple Tree in Lithuania – almost 360 years old, 8 metres tall, with a girth of 285cm at a height of 1.3m. The tour ends in Kaunas, Lithuania's 2nd largest city that was the capital of the country from 1920 until 1939.

This itinerary allows you to enjoy the Latvian winter at its best. It starts in the bustling capital of Riga with its Christmas market, decorations, shopping facilities, many cultural events and museums as well as a charming Old Town.
Then the route heads out to the countryside to enjoy winter pleasures at skiing and sledging slopes. After an active day its time for relaxation and papmering at a spa hotel plus the chance to experience Latvia's healthy and unique sauna rituals. For sightseeing visit Sigulda medieval castle ruins, Turaida Castle and taste home-made wine at Krimulda manor. Local wild animals such as wolves, bears, mooose and more, can easily can be observed at the Ligatne Nature Trails and afterwards enjoy a ride in a horse-drawn sledge at a nearby farm.

Known as Alšvanga in the past, this place was mentioned for the first time in 1231 in an agreement that was signed between the deputy legate of the pope in Rome and the Courlandian tribes of the region.  The Livonian Order ruled the territory until 1561, and from 1573 until 1738 the order’s castle belonged to the von Schwerin dynasty from Pomerania.  It during the rule of this aristocratic family that a stone church was built in honour of Archangel Michael, and local residents began to convert to Catholicism.  Alsunga became the Catholic centre for all of Kurzeme, and local residents became known as the Suiti (from the Schwerin suite).

For nearly 400 years, Alsunga has been the historical centre of the Suiti territory.  This is Latvia’s most conservative region and is widely known with unusual songs, colourful folk costumes and various folk traditions and beliefs.  The Suiti have their own dialect, foods and many other things that have been long since abandoned or forgotten elsewhere in Latvia.  The religious has commingled with the folk here in one unique whole.  The Alsunga District covers 191 km2 and has some 1,500 residents.

For the first time, Balvi as populated area was mentioned in 1224. In the turn of 19th and 20th century, Balvi as manor and the parish centre formed as a larger settlement. During the Latvian freedom fights in 1919 Balvi was a place of establishment of Latgale guerrilla regiment. In 1926 Balvi obtained village rights, but by the 1928 became a town. During the World War II, while retreating, the German burnt down Balvi almost completely. People of Balvi are proud that the sun rises here about three minutes earlier than in the capital. Also the centre of the town has changed over the recent years.