Lāde: Greenway, Lakes and Cultural Monuments

When planning a trip to Lāde, you can choose from a range of interests: cycling and hiking trails, historic buildings, and the lakeside landscape. The Greenway section starting at Lāde railway station offers a specific route to follow; the manor house and castle connect the region with architectural and cultural history. These themes can help you decide what to focus on during your stay, without limiting yourself to just one way of exploring.

Greenway between Lāde railway station, Limbaži and Aloja

The “Zaļie dzelzceļi” network uses former railway lines as cycling and hiking trails. The Lāde–Aloja Greenway route starts at Lāde railway station, passes through Limbaži and continues to Aloja. The section between Lāde railway station and Limbaži is marked. This gives you a starting point, an intermediate stop and a destination to use when planning your route; you can orient yourself along the route by these places.

On the Lāde–Limbaži section, you can also include Mucenieku Bridge as a point of interest along the route. You can also visit the N. Bomja “Lielezers” bakery on this stretch and shop there. This means that along the described section, both a structure and a shopping stop offer different points of interest. If you would like to combine cycling or hiking with a stop along the way, these specific locations can serve as helpful anchors for your plans.

Castle and manor house: architectural history by Lake Lāde

The manor house of Lāde Estate was built in the Neoclassical style in 1870, during the tenure of the estate’s lessee Heinrihs Bērens von Rautenfeld. The medieval Nabe Castle is listed in the national register of protected cultural monuments as an archaeological monument of national significance. Its tower stands on the southwestern shore of Lake Lāde. The locations of the shores help distinguish between the two sites: the estate lies on the eastern shore, while the tower of Nabe Castle stands on the southwestern shore.

The history of Nabe also includes the outer castle, first mentioned in writing in 1318; a residential tower has survived to this day. Nabe Castle and its outer castle should be recognized as distinct historical designations. This offers travelers interested in cultural history several different ways to explore the area: the medieval castle’s protected status, the surviving towers and the documented architectural history of the manor house. The years 1318 and 1870 refer to different historical contexts.

Lake Auziņi and botanical interests

Jaunlāde Manor, the former Lāde Primary School, is located on the eastern shore of Lake Auziņi and was built in 1933. Its former use as a school and its year of construction provide a different historical perspective from medieval Nabe Castle or the manor house of Lāde Estate. The distinction between Lake Lāde and Lake Auziņi is useful here: the buildings described are associated with different shores and bodies of water.

At “Avotiņi” on the eastern shore of Lake Auziņi, there is a working open-air exhibition of medicinal plants by Jānis Ulmis, featuring more than 300 plants. A description from 2017 also mentions the possibility of learning about the making of medicinal teas and other plant-based preparations there. Check before visiting whether this hands-on activity is currently available. In 2017, licensed fishing and boat rental were listed among the facilities at the “Skariņu” recreation base. Check before your trip whether these services are available during your stay. This allows you to consider botanical interests and the mentioned recreational activities separately when planning.

Discover more destinations: Lādezers, Kaijciems, Bīriņi, Vārzas, Mustkalni, Limbaži, Ķirbiži, Nabe

For the broader travel overview: Limbaži Municipality.