Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates. Visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +371 67 207 825. Open from 9.30am-8pm Monday-Friday, 10am-8pm Saturday and 10m-6pm Sunday.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Taxi: The fare to the city centre is LVL7-LVL10.

Bus: Express bus 22A runs to the Cathedral at Brivibas Boulevard, near Hotel Reval Latvija, in 20 minutes. For the Old Town, take bus 22 and alight at the 13 Janvara Iela stop on the edge of Old Riga. Tickets: LVL0.40.

Food Box
( 31 Dzirnavu Iela. Tel. 29 113 393 )
This casual cafeteria run by a Turkish entrepreneur serves delicious kebabs and falafel for surprisingly low prices and it even bakes its own pitta bread.

Nostalgija
( 22 Kalku Iela. Tel. 67 222 338 )
Elegant retro Soviet restaurantwith crystal chandeliers, gilded ceilings and massive communist propaganda murals. Slavic and decadent Western cuisine are both available.

Hospitalis
( 14 Stabu Iela. Tel. 67 313 530 )
This bizarre, up-market restaurant owned by local doctors is designed to look like the inside of a hospital. Bedpans, medicine cabinets, surgery lamps and waitresses in nurses’ outfits create a surreal setting for an evening of top-notch international cuisine.

Vincents
( 19 Elizabetes Iela. Tel. 67 332 634 )
When royalty and rock stars visit Riga, they invariably choose Vincents for an evening of fine dining. Chef Martins Ritins subscribes to the increasingly popular Slow Food movement and his gourmet meals are often created using local eco-friendly produce.

Free Hawks Club
( 33 Baznicas Iela. Tel. 29 489 898 )
Large men with tattoos and leather pants frequent this cellar pub, which boasts inexpensive food and beer and a loaded Second World War machine-gun above the bar.

16. Korpuss
( 214M Brivibas Gatve. Tel. 67 077 728 )
Housed in the 16th building of what was once an electronics factory, this club and restaurant hosts concerts by local acts at the weekend.

Mad House
( 11 Kalku Iela. Tel. 67 220 554 )
Even its high prices for cocktails haven’t prevented revellers from admiring Mad House’s stylish interior of niches designed to look like 1970s apartments.

A Canadian-Latvian entrepreneur opened Cool Cats Souvenir Shop as an antidote to the amber and ceramics stalls that inundate Riga. Buy official Latvian national basketball, football and hockey team shirts and other fan gear here (12 Jana Iela. Tel. 29 355 655).

If you have time to spare at the airport visit the Riga Aviation Museum, only a five-minute walk from the main terminal. View ageing Soviet MiG fighter planes and the enormous Mi-6 passenger helicopter (aviamuseum.org).

A 14th-century crusader castle is the centrepiece of Pils Laukums, a charming Old Riga square. The massive yellow fortification also houses the Latvian president’s offices as well as the Latvian Museum of History and the Museum of Foreign Art.

Gear heads will have the opportunity to see two days of outrageous stunts at Arena Riga. The Latvian Grand Prix of the Freestyle Motocross World Championship begins on 25 October (13 Skanstes Iela. www.arenariga.com).

Salaspils – Autumn is perhaps an appropriate time to reflect on the terrible events that have shaped Latvia. Take a 30-minute train or bus ride to Salaspils where a museum now stands on the site of a Nazi concentration camp.

The Swedish Gate was built in 1698 to celebrate the incorporation of Riga into the Swedish Empire. The city’s executioner lived in the room above it.

Compiled by Martins Zaprauskis/www.inyourpocket.com