Latvia

Latvia is a Baltic country. It is a member state of the European Union as well as the Schengen Agreement. It borders Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and Belarus. There are a lot of young people just hitchhiking around the country, to their hometowns, festivals, etc., especially during summer, so you'll probably meet someone on the road as well. People are used to hitchhikers and it is fairly easy to get a lift, whether along important routes such as the E67 (Via Baltica) or in the middle of nowhere.

Legality
It is allowed to hitchhike in Latvia (at least there are no laws which forbid that), but of course in places where you do not danger road safety. It is a common practice here to use signs of the cities or countries where you want to get a ride to, but thumb also works fine.

Cities

 * Riga, the capital of Latvia
 * Balvi
 * Cēsis
 * Gulbene
 * Jelgava
 * Limbaži
 * Rēzekne
 * Saulkrasti
 * Sigulda
 * Talsi
 * Valdemārpils
 * Valmiera

Language
The Latvian population is divided into Latvian speakers and Russian speakers. Most of adult Latvians will know both languages. If you know some Russian, feel free to use it here. Most of young people will speak English as well. If they don't, they will at least try to communicate in it if they see you are a foreigner who needs help. Some people might speak German as well.

To catch some phrases you can also check Eastern Europe phrasebook.

Border crossings

 * towards Russia
 * Terehova-Zasitino, for direction Moscow
 * Grebnova-Gavry, for direction Pskov, St. Petersburg
 * towards Lithuania
 * towards Estonia
 * Ainaži-Ikla
 * towards Belarus
 * towards Belarus

Useful things
Internet you can normally get at the public or university libraries for free.

isin: Northern Europe

trash:Latvia

Lettland Latvia nomad:Latvia