Riga Transportation

AirBaltic flights Amsterdam - Riga; Helsinki - Riga
Too expensive for what it is, plus persistent problems with baggage.
My baggage was delayed for about one day this year, flight from Amsterdam, the same way as it was with AirBaltic last year, flight from Helsinki. My conclusion is that AirBaltic cares less about passengers baggage then about commercial baggage. Another problem: the food and drinks are for sale only, and are overpriced. Be ready to pay EUR 2.50 for one small bottle of plain water. Another way to get money : every AirBaltic passenger pays a fee of EUR 20 or 30 per one way of travel for every checked-in piece of baggage with weight limit only 20 kg.
I have compared the cost of a round trip flight in October, from Helsinki to Riga, with AirBaltic and FINNAIR, economy class. AirBaltic: ticket is EUR 117, plus EUR 40 or 60 for a checked-in baggage, this is EUR 157 or 177 without a glass of water or snack. FINNAIR: ticket is EUR 146, including one piece of baggage and a snack. No wonder AirBaltic now has big problems up to expecting bankruptcy.
On the other hand, AirBaltic check-in staff in Riga is competent and courteous, and FAs performance is efficient, maybe lacking smiles a little. Another good thing is AirBaltic taxi and buses, green cars and minivans.

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I traveled to Riga using Air baltic as it was a direct flight from London; sadly London Gatwick Airport.

The following outline a few issues I experienced:

- I had to pay a fee to have my luggage put into the hold.

- I had to pay an additional £5.00 as i wished to pay for my luggage to be in the hold by credit card.

- Boarding gate staff at Gatwick incredibly rude to passengers.

- Cabin crew, Kristers, gave a great experience on the flight!!!!

- On departure, the check in and baggage queues huge and no staff around to aid travelers.

- Auto check in terminals not working.

- Asked to see a supervisor, arrived spoke to staff then left the desk! Did not speak to me!

- Check in staffed with very few people even though the queues were long.

- i was interviewed by Radio Riga; lots of news cameras around too

- I finally was rerouted to London after two more conversations with Air Baltic staff.

- Complaint about supervisor ignored, but apparently he confirmed there had been queues!

- I questioned the times between arriving in my transit airport Frankfurt and the departure time from the other terminal. I was told check-in would issue two boarding passes.

- Check-in only issued one boarding pass.

- Flight took off and landed late, and after travelling between terminals i was to late to check-in.

- Lufthansa staff friendly and professional, and ended up on an even later flight.

Arrived home in the Uk at 17.09, not 12.35 as planned!!!

All in all a poor show - make up your own minds if you wish to fly Air Baltic.

Avis office at Riga, Latvia, airport has offered me a polite and prompt service, free upgrade and even clerks' smiles - a rare thing (I mean smiles) for reserved Latvians.
My advice to visitors is to rent a car and avoid taxi in Riga, taxi is the biggest disappointment for tourists.

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The public transportation in Riga is excellent: there are 64 bus routes, 10 tram routes and 20 trolleybus routes in Riga. The fare is very reasonable: you pay between 30 and 40 santims (which in 2007 was 45 - 60 Euro cent) for a single ticket. The tickets can be obtained at the driver's or oftentimes there is still a conductor in the buses and trams. I did read that they plan to change the system and install punching machines so that you must buy the tickets beforehand and validate the ticket in the car.

Trains going to Jurmala leave from the Central Train Station at Stacijas laukums - and there are about two trains per hour. The journey is about 20 minutes long on old russian electric trains with wooden benches - all for less than 1 lahti return.

The main trainstation telephone number is 583-2134 but for timetables and prices it's best to check the following website: http://www.ldz.lv/en/index.html
It has information about national nd inernational trains and... it's in English, too.

One alternative that not too many tourists/ travellers choose to get to Latvia is the ferry. There is a ferry connection from Riga to Lübeck/ Germany with Latlines and there are othe connections, some from Liepaja. I took the ferry and took a car along, it was not that expensive. It takes a while though, like about 36 hours. But the bus takes 32 and it is much more comfortable. There were mainly truckers on the ferry who drank a lot and had very interesting stories to tell. I think it was a pleasant alternative to driving all the way home to west Germany, I drove the other way and of course I needed stops so it took a long way as well. The picture shows the ferry in the riga harbour, which is the at the Daugava

If you are planning to go around in the bus, check here for the schedule.
Price is the same as for tram, so no big difference, but bus might take you to the places, where tram or trolleybus don't have lines.

Well, it is imposible to compare Latvian railway with French TGV, but we seeking to make it better and better. During last years few directions was canceled but major cities are still awailable with railway. It is possible to take a train for few stations within Riga as well. Though, the train is more expensive than busses.