Cēsu novads

When the flag flies above the castle tower in Cēsis and cobblestones clatter underfoot in the Old Town, you feel closer to the Hanseatic League than to modern Latvia. A trip to Cēsis Municipality pairs one of the country's oldest towns with the wooded sandstone banks of the Gauja. Riga is about 90 kilometers (56 miles) away and easy to reach by train or bus.

Cēsis: Wenden and the Order Castle

Known by its German name Wenden, Cēsis was the seat of the Master of the Livonian Order in the Middle Ages. The castle ruins with their massive round towers are among the most impressive in the Baltics; visitors climb the dark stairways carrying a candle lantern. Next door stand the New Castle, a manor house that now holds the town museum, and the castle park with its pond. The Old Town, with St. John's Church, small wooden houses, and the square Rožu laukums, is compact and lively, and in summer an arts festival fills its courtyards and halls.

Līgatne, Āraiši, and the Countryside

Since the 2021 territorial reform, the district also includes Līgatne, Priekuļi, Amata, and the villages of Piebalga. In Līgatne, a former secret Soviet bunker lies beneath a rehabilitation center and can be visited on guided tours, canteen meal included. The paper-mill settlement, with its wooden houses and cellars dug into the sandstone, is an industrial monument. At Āraiši, a residential settlement from the 9th and 10th centuries has been reconstructed on a lake island. Gauja National Park shapes the landscape: red sandstone cliffs, caves, pine forests, and calm stretches of river where you can paddle a canoe or ride a raft for days.

Eating, Drinking, and the Best Time to Visit

Cēsis is inseparable from beer; the Cēsu alus brewery is one of the largest in the country, and small craft breweries round out the offerings. Restaurants in the Old Town put barley soup, roast pork with sauerkraut, fresh mushrooms, and wild berries on the menu. The best time to visit is between May and October: summer brings paddling trips and festivals, and in autumn the Gauja Valley turns gold and red. In winter you can ski on the slopes of Žagarkalns, which are modest but family-friendly.