Cēsis
Latvia
The prettiest small town in Latvia: a Livonian castle you explore by lantern, a medieval centre, a beer brewed since 1590 and the Gauja forest around it
Photos by Margo Evardson, Margo Evardson, Renāte Šnore and Lāsma Artmane on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Latvia
May to October (the castle gardens and the autumn colour; the medieval festival in high summer)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 80mm in Jul
Where it is
57.31°N, 25.27°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Explore the castle with a lantern
- Drink the beer where it is brewed
- Walk the old town
- Walk to the Ērgļu cliffs
- Come for the medieval festival
Cēsis travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Latvia
Good valueEuro, and cards everywhere; the Central Market takes them too. If you have cash to change, the banks and the booths on Vaļņu iela are honest and the rate is posted.
ATMs & cards
Swedbank, SEB and Citadele machines are free with most foreign cards; decline the conversion. Cash is for the odd market stall and the toilet at the bus station.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- the machines in the old town tourist streets
Use these instead
- Swedbank
- SEB
- Citadele
Cards work everywhere including the Central Market. A little cash for the market stalls and the toilets at the bus station.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Latvia
Very safeVery comfortable and quiet. The castle stairs by lantern are steep and dark, which is the point; ticks in the forest. That is all.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (3 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the castle stairs by lantern — steep and dark
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Latvia visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Latvia
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Tick-borne encephalitis for forest walks from spring to autumn
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Good in Riga, where the private clinics are quick and speak English; adequate in the towns. The state system is stretched but works with an EHIC.
Ticks from spring to autumn in the Gauja forests and the long grass; encephalitis is present and the vaccine is worth it for a walking trip. Ice on the pavements in winter. The sea has rips in a west wind.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodThe Cēsis brewery’s beer, and the restaurants that have moved in behind the old town — better than a town this size deserves. Rye bread, smoked fish, and the market on Saturday.
Getting around
Workable- BoltWorks here
- YangoWorks here
- UberNot here
- From the airport
- From the airport to the centre €12–18, or bus 22 for €2
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than the taxis at the old-town ranks, some of which have a reputation; the app fixes the price.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Riga — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Latvia
Why these are Latvia's numbers and not Cēsis's
Home broadband — Good. Comfortable for two people working, streaming in the evening, large downloads. Broadband here runs at about the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Good. Maps, calls and streaming, and enough to tether a laptop for an afternoon. Mobile runs at about the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Cēsis, so these are medians for all of Latvia. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Latvia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Latvian
- HelloSveikiSVAY-ki
- PleaseLūdzuLOO-dzu
- Thank youPaldiespal-DEE-es
- Yes / NoJā / Nēyah / neh
5 more phrases
- Excuse meAtvainojietAT-vai-no-yet
- How much is it?Cik tas maksā?tsik tas MAK-sah
- DeliciousGaršīgiGAR-shee-gi
- CheersPriekāPREE-eh-kah
- GoodbyeUz redzēšanosuz RE-dzeh-sha-nos
A Baltic language, with Lithuanian the only relative, written in Latin script with long marks on the vowels. English is universal among the young and in Riga; Russian is the first language of a third of the country and is understood everywhere, but is not always the welcome opener.
Religion
Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox, lightly held
A third each, roughly, and none of it worn on the sleeve; the churches are visited for the buildings. The one religious event that matters is midsummer, which is older than any of them.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Bring flowers in an odd number; even numbers are for funerals
- Take your shoes off at the door of a home
- Learn "paldies" — thank you — and use it
- Stay up for midsummer if you are here on the night; the whole country does
Don't
- Do not speak Russian first in Riga; the answer may be cold
- Do not call the Baltics one country
- Do not sit on the grass in the old town parks in your shoes on someone’s blanket
- Do not tip more than ten per cent; it is not expected
Where to stay in Cēsis
No Holistay rentals in Cēsis yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Cēsis on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Riga RIX
1h 30mfrom the airport· 90 km as the crow flies
1h 30 by road.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
