Mar 2, 2025
Insightful and fun tour - We had such a fun time with Normands, he gave us lots of great insight on our tour and was just a lovely warm character. His passion for his country was great to see. Book this tour and you will learn lots and have fun, if you ask nicely Normands may even show you some of his traditional Latvian dancing!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 11, 2024
Fantastic day with a great guide! - My husband and I had a fabulous day with Normunds. He was super knowledgeable about the sites we visited and the tour was engaging and well paced. We had plenty of time to see all the things we wanted to and do some shopping. He also took us to his home town, Saulkrasti, and helped us get info for a hike along the Sunset Trail we took the next day (easy day trip from Riga).
10/10 would recommend going on a tour with Normunds. We hope to see him again on our next trip to Latvia!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 23, 2024
Latvia castles and scenery in 6 hours. - Overall, Excellent tour in every aspect. There were four of us (2 couples), and we booked this tour instead of the large-group bus tour from our cruise ship.
Normunds was a great driver, and a wealth of knowledge. Yet, he would not overwhelm us with minutia details. His English was very good.
The Mercedes van was comfortable and had plenty of room. Normunds was very attentive, and emphasized that this was a private tour, so we could go and visit as we pleased. At the same time he would offer suggestions for specific sites to see and things to do. He seemed to quickly pick up on our interests and pace, and adjust his suggestions accordingly.
Beautiful scenery, interesting sites/sights, and great weather contributed further to make it a most enjoyable and memorable experience.
Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 28, 2024
Wonderful day with Normunds & our family of 6! - Our visit throughout the Latvian countryside with Normunds was absolutely incredible! We were with my parents and our two young children, and he came prepared with a beautiful car equipped with car seats for the kids, and several options of itinerary routes that we could 'choose as we please' to adjust for our day based on our family's interest (and attention level!). Normunds was a wealth of knowledge on Latvia and was a wonderful guide for us in both Latvian (which my father in law speaks fluently) and English (for the rest of us!). Highly recommend any tour with Normunds or his company!! Thank you for a wonderful experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 26, 2024
Medieval Castles in Latvia - If you like real medieval castles, then this is the tour for you. We have round towers , walls , halls rooms and dungeons. Lots of medieval weapons on display, as well as other items found during excavations and restoration.
These castles are definitely worth visiting.
Review provided by Viator
Jun 14, 2024
Wonderful castles and a very nice private tour guide and driver in one 👏🏻 - A great day tour to explore four castles outside of Riga with a very kind and accommodating Jurijs as both our driver and tour guide in one. He was very informative with all our questions and didn’t rush us in spending time in each of the places. On the castles, we specifically liked more the Cēcis Castle with a guided tour and multimedia film on the history of the castle but all the other castles Sigulda and Turaida are also interesting and worth visiting along with the Araisi lake dwelling site and the ski hill. Bravo and Liels Paldies again to Jurijs. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Review provided by Viator
Jun 13, 2024
Wonderful day tour with kind Jurijs as our tour guide - A great day tour to explore four castles outside of Riga with a very kind and accommodating Jurijs as both our driver and tour guide in one. He was very informative with all our questions and didn’t rush us in spending time in each of the places. On the castles, we specifically liked more the Cēcis Castle with a guided tour and multimedia film on the history of the castle but all the other castles Sigulda and Turaida are also interesting and worth visiting along with the Araisi lake dwelling site and the ski hill. Bravo and Liels Paldies again to Jurijs. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 21, 2024
Tour was great, castles slightly disappointing - The trip was exactly as advertised, but with the added bonus of ‘do whatever you want.’ If you decide that after the first castle you would rather see something else, or once you’ve arrived somewhere you’ve decided it isn’t for you, Normunds can accommodate. He is very knowledgeable about each location and encourages you to take your time. These are all the positives, now for the negatives. Latvian tourism is a burgeoning industry that’s really trying to attract tourists to visit ‘Latvia’ and not ‘Baltic country number 2’. Unfortunately, outside of Riga, the tourist attractions are all Russia-centric which goes against everything the people fought for over countless decades. Each castle was built for the Russians as a security checkpoint for reaching St Petersburg, and they were maintained by the German aristocracy who thought they looked nice. Overall, we arrived for the castles, and we ended up preferring the sections of the tour regarding the local legends, the current economic climate in Latvia and the local cultural elements that make Latvia Latvia.
We would still recommend the tour, but mostly because of Normunds’ enthusiasm. The driving was a bit crazy for our taste, with a lot of overtaking on the motorway by driving towards oncoming traffic, but it seems normal around these parts. Bring snacks and an open mind.
Review provided by Viator
Jun 12, 2024
Pleasant day in the countryside - While this isn't an essential trip if you're visiting Riga - there are much more spectacular and better curated castles/forts elsewhere in Europe - it is pleasant to see the countryside and learn more about growing up and living in Riga from a local. Eduards, our guide, was congenial, accommodating and happy to share his experiences, which we enjoyed a great deal. We also highly recommend stopping at Araisu Archeological Park. Bring lunch and extra water - it's a long day (8hrs).
Review provided by Viator
Jun 3, 2024
Great tour, but forced with other group despite having booked a private tour - Our guide had wonderful, expansive information. He facilitated our maximizing our experience and did not rush us even once. He was polite, friendly, funny, and kind.
My one disappointment involved his booking another couple with us even though we had paid for a private tour and declined his texted request to add the other couple. He picked us up with the other couple in the van and said that if we didn't want to share, we could take a private tour the next day. Instead, I asked for money back, since our private tour was no longer private. He offered to pay all our entrance fees, rather than giving a refund. I agreed. Though he paid entrance fees at two places, he refused at the other locations.
He did a great job on the actual tour; I just was left feeling a bit lied to and cheated.
You'll have a fantastic day; you may or may not have the privacy you paid for and expect.
Review provided by Viator
