Travelling In Latvia

Road Travel In Latvia

Cautionary notes (3)

Motorists visiting Latvia be especially careful when driving as the standard of driving is poor and statistically the death rate on Latvian roads is four times higher than in the United Kingdom. If you are involved in an accident do not move the car under ant circumstances until you are instructed to do so by the police.

Anyone found drinking and driving in Latvia can be sent to prison or fined heavily.

You are advised to park your car in a secured car park or garage wherever possible as car theft and theft fom cars is a problem in Latvia. -----

Motorists taking their own vehicle or motorbike into Latvia must take with them the original vehicle registration documentation. Without this they will not be allowed to leave Latvia with their vehicle. Roads in towns and cities are generally fairly well maintained but in rural areas they are not more inferior. Drivers must drive with their headlights on day or night.

During the winter Latvia can suffer very severe weather conditions with extremely cold temperatures (see the Riga City Guide) and heavy snow. By law, winter tyres must be fitted to vehicles from December 1st until March 31st. However Estonia can suffer from winter weather in November and April and visitors travelling at these times are advised to fit the winter tyres at these times.

Motorists travelling in Latvia during the winter are advised to check the weather forecast and road conditions before setting out. They are also advised to carry mobile phones for use in an emergency along with supplies of food and warm drinks especially if going on a long journey.

220km west of Riga is the seaside towm of Liepja and 10km further north is Karosta. Both towns are famous for their white beaches and surfing popularity but the latter is well known locally for it history of being an out post of firstly imperialist Russia and then its communists successors. After the end of WW2 it became a key Soviet Naval base - supposedly a secret harbour for Russian submarines during the cold war which retained many examples of historic and very quaint Latvian & Russian architecture.

Im 1994 three years after Latvian when the Russians were expelled the population fell from 25,000 to 6,000. Since then much of the evidence of the Russian connection has been dismantled though the ruins of the naval base remain. There is an air of derelection here similiar to a town where a war has just been fought but it remains a very pretty town. Its almost spooky and bizaarely its twinned with Chernobyl. One to note and defintely a tale of two cities.