What to Buy in Latvia (and What to Skip)

Quick answer: If you want to bring home something genuinely Latvian, prioritise a Sigulda walking stick, linen and wool, rye bread and honey from a producers’ market, and ceramics from a work-integration workshop — rather than the amber and fridge magnets stacked outside every Old Town souvenir shop. The rule of thumb: buy where the thing is actually made.

The honest problem with Latvian souvenirs

Riga’s Old Town sells a lot of amber. Some of it is lovely. A great deal of it is imported, pressed, or simply not what the label suggests — and amber is a Baltic-wide product anyway, not a specifically Latvian one.

The genuinely Latvian things are quieter: linen, wool, rye bread, honey, birch and leather, and a small number of crafts that have survived because somebody kept making them. Below is what to look for, what to avoid, and the specific places we send people.

A Sigulda walking stick — the one souvenir that is only Latvian

This is our first recommendation for a reason. The walking stick is Sigulda’s oldest souvenir and has been made there for more than two centuries.

At Spieķu darbnīca in the Castle Quarter you watch the sticks being boiled and stripped of bark before they are finished. Buying one at the workshop, rather than from a stall, is the difference between an object with a provenance and a stick.

What to look for: a stick finished at the workshop itself. What to avoid: mass-produced “carved” canes with no maker attached.

Linen, wool and leather

Latvian linen and wool are the everyday crafts — the things people here actually own rather than display.

For leather, Ādas artelis is a small leatherworking cooperative in Sigulda’s Castle Quarter that keeps one of the oldest crafts going and teaches it to anyone who walks in. It is an open workshop: you can tool a keyring or bookmark yourself. A thing you made is a better souvenir than a thing you bought.

What to look for in wool and linen: uneven, hand-finished edges and a maker or workshop named at the point of sale. What to avoid: identical “Latvian pattern” mittens appearing in six shops on the same street.

Ceramics and textiles that pay someone properly

Sociālais uzņēmums Visi Var is a work-integration social enterprise founded in 2018 to create jobs for people with disabilities, their families, and others facing barriers to employment. Its shop sells handmade goods from its own ceramics and sewing workshops.

This is the cleanest “good souvenir” on the list: the object is handmade locally and the purchase is the point of the organisation existing.

Edible Latvia: rye bread, honey, and what grows in the Gauja valley

Latvia’s most reliable souvenirs are edible, and the best place to buy them is a producers’ market rather than a shop.

Mūsu Bio Tirgus on Sigulda’s market square is organised by the association Uz zaļā zara specifically to back Latvian organic farms and craft makers — meat, honey, bread, cheese and herbs sold by the people who produced them.

Siguldas tirgus, the town market square, was taken on by new owners and reworked from 2021. Growers and home producers from around the Gauja valley sell seasonal fruit, vegetables and plants.

For something to carry home, Zilver is a family drinks producer working since 2009, making fruit wines and apple juice on the Saltavots side of town. It is a working production site rather than a showroom, which is rather the point.

Practical note: honey, preserves and dried goods travel fine. Fruit wine is glass — pack accordingly, and check your airline’s liquid allowance if you are carrying hand luggage only.

Second-hand, and the best-value purchase in Riga

Otrā Elpa — “Second Breath” — was founded in 2009 as Riga’s first charity shop. It donates all of its profits, and has given more than €150,000 and two million items to over 170 Latvian organisations to date.

You will not find a traditional craft here. You will find clothes and household things at charity-shop prices, and the money goes somewhere specific and documented. If you want your spending to do something, this is the most efficient euro you will spend in Riga.

Where to browse in Riga

Berga Bazārs is a genteel maze of a shopping arcade just off the Old Town, built between 1887 and 1900 by the entrepreneur Kristaps Bergs. Boutiques, cafes, a barbershop — a pleasant hour and a good place to find something that is not a magnet.

Kalnciema Quarter in Āgenskalns is a cluster of 19th-century wooden houses rescued from decades of Soviet-era neglect by a private restoration initiative in the early 2000s. Worth the trip across the river for the architecture alone.

And for a very different souvenir, Robert’s Books has the best selection of used and new English-language books in Latvia, including books about Latvia — which is arguably the most useful thing you can carry home.

For markets specifically, see our guide to Riga’s markets.

How to tell a real craft purchase from a tourist one

Can you name the maker? A workshop, a cooperative, a family business. If nobody can tell you who made it, that is the answer.

Is it sold where it is made? Buying at the workshop cuts out the part of the chain that adds no value.

Does the same object appear in five shops? Then it is wholesale stock, whatever the label says.

Is it something Latvians actually use? Rye bread, honey, linen, wool, a walking stick. Not a painted plate.

Frequently asked questions

What should I buy in Latvia?

The most distinctively Latvian purchases are a Sigulda walking stick, made in the town for more than two centuries; linen and wool; rye bread, honey and preserves bought from a producers’ market; and handmade ceramics or textiles from a work-integration workshop such as Visi Var in Sigulda. Amber is sold widely but is a Baltic-wide product rather than a specifically Latvian one.

Is amber from Riga worth buying?

It can be, but treat Old Town amber with caution. Amber is found across the Baltic region rather than being uniquely Latvian, quality and origin vary widely, and much of what is sold to visitors is pressed or imported. If you want amber, buy from a seller who can tell you where it came from.

Where do locals buy food souvenirs in Latvia?

At producers’ markets rather than souvenir shops. Mūsu Bio Tirgus in Sigulda is run by the association Uz zaļā zara to support Latvian organic farms and craft makers, and Siguldas tirgus brings growers and home producers from the Gauja valley. Honey, bread, cheese and preserves are the reliable buys.

What is a Sigulda walking stick?

Sigulda’s oldest souvenir, made in the town for over two hundred years. At the Spieķu darbnīca workshop in the Castle Quarter you can watch sticks being boiled and stripped of bark before finishing, and buy one where it was made.

Are there ethical places to shop in Riga?

Yes. Otrā Elpa, founded in 2009 as Riga’s first charity shop, donates all profits and has given over €150,000 and two million items to more than 170 Latvian organisations. In Sigulda, Sociālais uzņēmums Visi Var is a work-integration social enterprise creating jobs for people with disabilities.

More Baltic reading: Riga markets like a local · Where to stay in Riga · Estonian souvenirs locals love. Or browse our full Riga guide and Sigulda guide.