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Trip to Riga in March

Erasmus travelling by ferry & by bus

We organized a trip to riga at the begginig of March, from Helsinki and going through Tallin.



We left Helsinki on Sunday night taking the ferry, Viking Line, at 21:00 and arriving Tallin at 0:00. We bought a cruise ticket with Viking Line member card that gives you the possibility to sleep in the ferry until 07:30, leaving the ferry before 08:00.



In theory this cruise is thought to come back straight to Helsinki in the morning but you can leave the ferry as we did without any problem. This costs 10 euros and you are using just one way of the cruise, but it is cheaper to buy this return ticket than the one way :) Believe me, we have a lot of experience with Viking Line.



Second step, go to the bus station. How? Taking the tram number 2 which leaves close to the harbour. Because of we left the boat aroud 08:00 on Monday morning we took the tram and arrived at 08:30 to the bus station.



Then we went to Eurolines offices that are located inside the station. Euroline bus company goes to Riga almost everyday. Prices for groups between 4 to 12 is 8 euros return ticket.



The problem is that you can't book them in advance so you have to take some risks and go to the office not being 100% sure if there will be still places available.



So my travel tip is to try to go to Riga during weekdays because I am sure that on weekends there won't be so many places as from Monday to Thursday. Therefore we bought the tickets for 9 people, 8 euros per traveller return ticket :), and left Tallin by bus at 10:00.



The journey takes 5 hours and a half, so we arrived Riga bus station at 15:30. The bus was ok, two floors, bathroom..... two much for 4 euros way, Don't you think? There are several stops during these five hours and of course passport control in the border.



Arriving Riga we went to the hostel. The hostel was other of the great surprises we had during the trip. It cost 8 euros per night breakfast included.



The dormitories were big and comfortable, the toilet really all right and the breakfast quite good. There is also internet available in the hostel. This hostel is located in the city center close to the Opera and St.Peters Cathedral.It is called Hostel Profitcamp.




So at that point we had spent 10+8+16=34 euros for three nights and the journey. We were in Riga on Monday's afternoon, all Tuesday and Wednesday morning becuase we took the bus at 18:00 to come back to Tallin.



Riga's prices are more than ok. For instance half litter beer is less than 50 cents of euro. There are several expensive restaurants in the city center but if you move little bit far away you can find really latvian cuisine and of course prices.



Our great discovery was a small restaurant located in the art nouveau neighbourhood. The street is called Elizabetes iela, iela means street, and this part of the city is worth to visit due to the architecture of the buildings.



So finally we came back to Tallin leaving Riga at 18:00 on Wednesday and arriving the harbour at 23:00. You can go inside the ferry around 00:10 but first you have to book a cabin to sleep inside. This kind of ticket can't be booked by internet so you have to do it by phone, going to Viking line offices or in the check in inside the terminal.



With the Viking line card one C4 cabin costs 70 euros, so 17.5 per person. We went inside the boat at 01:00 finally, because the boat was delayed, and arrived Helsinki on Thursday morning at 11:15.

Total cost of the trip: 10+8+16+17.5=51.5 euros (four nights and 2 breakfasts)
Life, shops and meals: 40-70 euros more or less (night life a included)

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