The Rye Grain Tour in Western and Southern Latvia

• Arrival in Riga.


• Dinner and accommodation at a hotel in Riga.

• An excursion around Riga and a visit to its Old Town, which has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Visit the Dome Square, the Town Hall Square and the House of the Blackheads, the St. Peter’s Church and its tower from which you can enjoy the panorama of the whole city of Riga.


• A visit to Riga Central Market – one of the largest markets in Europe with five closed pavilions. A chance to visit the Gastronomy pavilion that offers the widest range of bread and bakers’ wares in one place in Riga, as well as 20 catering spots: all under one roof.


• Dinner and accommodation at a hotel in Riga.

• An excursion and bread baking at “Caunītes” farm

Homestead “Caunītes” welcomes visitors who wish to enjoy a Latvian atmosphere and company. The historic layout of the buildings and courtyard have been preserved. Everyone can bake their own loaf of sweet and sour bread or soft pretzels in the wood-fired oven. Bread baking is the main activity; however, visitors can also participate in other programmes – they can grind the grain using a hand mill, weave rag quilts, engage in embroidery using Latvian symbols, sing, participate in games, play wooden board games, make puzuri (traditional Latvian Christmas decorations), masks, wax candles, learn traditional Latvian dances and celebrate annual Latvian festivities.

• A visit to Bauska Castle

Bauska castle is a medieval castle built for the Livonian Order; in the 16th century it was expanded to accommodate for the needs of the court of the Duke of Courland and Semigallia. It is located on a strip of land – a picturesque place where the rivers Mūsa and Mēmele meet to create the Lielupe River.

• Visit the “Vaidelotes” farm

“Vaidelotes” promotes the Latvian lifestyle, considering it to be the future of the farm. Its owners, Arnolds and Daira, together with the family, manage 365 ha of land and grow cereals, beans, peas, herbs and teas. In addition to that, the hostess bakes coarse wheat flour pīrāgi, buns, pastries, makes porridge and welcomes guests. Latvian dishes on offer.

• Rundāle Palace and Park

The Rundāle palace ensemble is the most outstanding monument of Baroque and Rococo architecture; it was built between 1736 and 1740 as the summer residence of Ernst Johann von Biron, Duke of Courland and a favourite of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. The palace was designed by the famous Russian court architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The Rundāle palace ensemble is made up of the palace, with its inner courtyard and the semi-circular stable and cart-house buildings, surrounding a vast carriage courtyard. All the aforementioned along with the regular part of the park – the French garden – is surrounded by an artificial canal. Beyond that lies the forest – the hunting park of the palace.

• Dinner and accommodation at Mazmežotne Manor

• Tērvete Bakery

The baker Jānis Kurpnieks, with his 20 years of experience in bread-baking, has created a small bakery at his father’s home to combine traditions with the latest trends. Using his own recipes, Kurpnieks bakes more than 12 varieties of bread, including healthy snacks – berry and fruit rye bread, which serves as a good substitute for pastries, as well as flour-free bread that nowadays is in high demand. Many varieties of bread with sliced rye grains and rye sweet and sour bread are offered. His bread is wheat flour free, which nowadays is a rarity. The rye bread is made only from organic ingredients, using homemade starter obtained from the wooden kneading trough scraper. The dough is fermented in oak tubs; afterwards, each hand-shaped loaf (reaching up to half a metre) is placed on the bread shovel and placed in a wood fired oven which is heated using conifer firewood.

• Tērvete Museum of Ancient History and Tērvete Wooden Castle

This is the only museum dedicated to the Semigallian cultural and historical heritage, displaying two models of Tērvete Castle, images of objects of the Semigallian castle mounds and visualisations of the castles that once stood there, various weapons, a chainmail hauberk, household items, etc. Here, you can buy Semigallian jewellery and observe how it is made.

• Dinner at the restaurant “Zoltners”


• A visit to Tērvete brewery and beer tasting

Tērvete beer is made by craftsmen whose experience spans several decades, using carefully selected home-grown ingredients. Tērvete beer is among the most popular in Latvia. During your visit to the brewery, you will have the chance to discover how beer is made, learn some brewing secrets, watch a short film and enjoy several varieties of Tērvete beer or Tērvete kvass and some snacks. At the end of the visit you can purchase the special souvenirs, as well as beer.

• Dinner and accommodation at Skrunda Manor or Milk Manor

• The Baltic Sea bluffs in Jūrkalne

Among the most popular objects of interest on the Kurzeme shore are the up-to-20m-high bluffs that have been shaped by the waves; the bluffs consist mostly of sand and narrow strands of pebbles and boulders. Opposite the centre of Jūrkalne there is a viewing platform and stairs that lead down to the sea.

• Bread baking at Bērziņi farm

At Bērziņi home, delicious rye and wheat bread is made, using old family recipes. The over-70-year-old special oven adds a unique flavour and aroma to the bread. The bread gains its unique flavour and aroma from the special oven as well as from the bread-baking tools that have been preserved from times long past: the wooden kneading troughs, the bread shovel and the wooden kneading trough scraper. Visitors may participate in the bread-baking process.

• Lunch at Pilsberģi pub in Jūrkalne


• Discover sklandrauši (traditional vegetable tarts) baking from rye flour and Suiti traditions in Spēlmaņi pub in Alsunga

Spēlmaņi pub bakes genuine sklandrauši that have been entered in the Register of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG) and Suiti sourdough bread. A sklandrausis is made from firm rye dough, filled with sweet carrot and potato filling and topped with sour cream and sugar. It is eaten both warm and cold, with a sip of tea or milk.

• A visit to Kuldīga Old Town

Kuldīga is a small and lovely town in Kurzeme. The beginnings of the Kuldīga historic centre date back to the 13th century; even to this day, its narrow streets are still paved, and curious one-storey houses with a chimney in the middle and a red-tile roof have survived from times gone by. The old brick bridge over River Venta is a notable feature. You will also visit the Alekšupīte waterfall and the Venta Rapid – the widest waterfall in Europe.

• Dinner and accommodation in Kuldīga.

• The charming town of Sabile, the scenic Abava river valley


• A visit to the family winery Abavas vineyard and a wine tasting, or an excursion around the Sabile cidery and a cider tasting


• Latvian Agriculture Museum in Talsi

The Latvian Agriculture Museum was created to provide an insight into the Latvian countryside to both the inhabitants of Latvia and its visitors, to give an overview of the history of the agricultural sector in Latvia, and to promote both material and intangible history regarding farming and life in the Latvian countryside from the end of the 19th century to this day. The museum features a wide variety of land treatment, cultivation, harvesting, and processing equipment.

• Lunch  in Talsi


• The Great Ķemeri Bog Trail

The Great Ķemeri Bog is one of the largest (6,192 ha) raised bogs in Latvia; its landscape is characterised by bog lakes, pools, and knolls. A boardwalk walking trail has been created in the bog; there is also a sightseeing tower. Two circular routes of different lengths have been created. If you choose the longest route (3.7 km), you will have a chance to see one of the most prominent raised-bog landscapes in Latvia.

• Bakery “Lāči”

The bread made by the bakery “Lāči” is among the most popular rye bread varieties both in Latvia and abroad. “Lāči” bread is the bread most often taken abroad as a souvenir from Latvia. The natural rye bread baking process makes use of honed skills and ancient knowledge of craftsmen from ages ago. Here, visitors can go on an excursion, shape and bake bread, and enjoy a meal in the pub where dishes are made from “Lāči” products.

• Accommodation in Riga

Depature.