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.

Kīdevas muiža rakstos ir minēta 1614. g., taču pašreiz redzamā divstāvu kungu māja, ir celta 19. gs. beigās. Ēkas sienas ir klātas ar koka šķindeļiem, kas viens otru pārklāj kā zivs zvīņas. Šāds kungu mājas sienu pārklājums Igaunijas mērogā ir unikāls. Laikā no 1919. – 1951. g. tajā atradās skola. Blakus muižai atrodas neliels parks. Diemžēl turpat pusgadsimtu ilgās pamestības rezultātā ēkas atrodas ļoti kritiskā stāvoklī. Tas ir arī pietiekams apmeklējuma iemesls.

The farm is on the Right Bank of the Venta River.  It breeds goats and makes cheese.  Visitors can taste the cheese and buy products.  Orders are accepted in advance.

Rabbit farm offering rabbit meat, skin and its products. The key to success is high-quality food, veterinary care and good rabbit-keeping conditions.

This was an island after the Rīga hydroelectric power plant created a reservoir, and before that it was a peninsula on the Left Bank of the Daugava.  During World War I, there were massive battles between Latvian Riflemen and a much larger German army on Death Island.  On December 25, 1916, the Germans used poisonous gas against the Latvian troops.  In honour of this, the architect Eižens Laube designed a monument to fallen Latvian riflemen on the northern shore of Death Island.  It was unveiled in 1924.  Death Island can be reached by boat, and the trenches and graves there are of interest.  There is a pier for boats on the north-western shore of the island, and nearby is a location for leisure.  Some of the trenches and dugouts have recently been restored.  The battles were described by Aleksandrs Grīns in his masterpiece, “Snowstorm of Souls.”

To view the Daugava River from a different perspective, visit the Liepkalni bakery, which offers tours in a Viking longboat that is called “Lāčplēsis” and can carry up to 24 people.  The Daugava has always been an important transport corridor for many species and animals that arrived in Latvia because of that, as well as for people and tribes that lived along the banks of the Daugava River and the shores of the Baltic Sea.

The owner offers groups of various sizes a chance to go to the sea in a fisherman’s boat and to watch shoreline fishing, as well. The lamprey eel weirs that are on the Svētupe River differ from those on the Salaca River in terms of their structure and the fishing principles. During the season, the owner prepares tasty smoked lamprey eels.

Piemājas saimniecība "Rudā lapsa", kas atrodas Ludzas novadā, interesentiem piedāvā iespēju iepazīt laukus, apskatīt mājdzīvniekus, saklausīt dabu, ļauties mierīgai atpūtai. Tiek piedāvātas telšu un piknika/ugunskura vietas. Ciemos tiek gaidīts katrs, kas vēlas atpūsties un izrauties no ikdienas skrējiena.
Ģimenēm ar bērniem, skolnieku/bērnu grupām, iepriekš piesakoties, iespēja darboties radoši un aktīvi. 

This village is at the place where the Irbe (Dižirve, Īra) River flows into the sea, and it is on both shores of the river (sea side and land side).  The name of Irbe was recorded for the first time in a 1310 border agreement between the bishop of Kurzeme and the Rīga Dome Capitol.  The name of Lielirbe (Irvemūnde) was recorded for the first time in a document from an arbitration court in 1387.  At the end of the 19th century, the small port at Lielirbe was an active centre for the sale and transport of timber materials.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the largest number of sailing ships among villages on the western shore of Kurzeme was built there.  In 1939, the village had some 300 residents, more than 70 houses and a Baptist church which is now at the Ventspils Open Air Museum.  A narrow-gauge railroad passed through the village, which had a post and telegraph office, two grocery stores, an elementary school, a choir and a brass band.  Lielirbe was one of the largest villages to disappear after World War II.  Cultural historian Valda Marija Šuvcāne (1923-2007) was born in Lielirbe, and her daughter, Baiba Šuvcāne, is continuing her mother's work by writing important papers about life along the Livonian coastline.  By 2019, a bridge is to be reinstalled across the Irbe River.