Day Trips from Riga: Jurmala

The beach? In winter? Are you mad?!

Probably, a little bit…But I was curious. I had never experienced frozen sand or blankets of snow hiding in sand dunes, so I hopped on the train to Majori, forty minutes outside of Riga to the beach resort of Jurmala.

A ten minute walk beyond the town descends down to a wide, sandy beach In summer it’s packed with holidaymakers from Russia, Germany and Scandinavia.

On an overcast Sunday in early February, though, just a few hardy locals and the odd tourist negotiated the icy patches of sand and howling winds to witness the stark winter beauty.

Day trips from Riga Jurmala
Day trips from Riga Jurmala
Day trips from Riga Jurmala
Day trips from Riga Jurmala

At the beach, I turned right and walked along for as far as I could bear the biting winds, then looped back around to Majori along a wide road, flanked by pine trees and colourful wooden hotels.

Jurmala, Latvia
Jurmala, Latvia

In need of a warm-up, I popped into the nearest cafe for coffee and traditional Latvian cottage cheesecake, Biezpienmaize.

Jurmala, Latvia
Jurmala, Latvia

Refreshed and rived, I made my way back to the station and chased the winter storms back to Riga.

Make it happen

Trains to Majori, a 10-minute walk from Jurmala beach leave Riga Central Station every hour.

Tickets cost €1.40 each way

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Day trips from Riga Jurmala

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