Tukums: Old Town, Art and Roses

If you’re looking for a hotel in Tukums, you can plan your stay around four themes: the old town and its architectural history, Latvian art, crafts, and rose culture. This lets you explore the city according to your interests rather than focusing on just one landmark. As you plan, consider whether you’re most interested in historic streetscapes, a look inside workshops, or the rose motif.

Old Town and City History

Brīvības Square is considered a starting point for a walk around Tukums. Today, it features benches, flower beds, and a fountain. The streets of Harmonijas, Dārza, Zirgu, Jaunā, Talsu, and Lielā are part of Tukums’ old town; many old residential and outbuildings built using log construction can be seen there, with few alterations. Log construction means that horizontal logs form the walls of a building. The old town is characterized not only by individual landmarks, but also by the construction style of its houses. As you walk along these streets, you can see residential and outbuildings as distinct parts of the historic streetscape.

Art and Crafts

The Castle Tower is a fragment of Tukums’ oldest building, the castle of the Livonian Order. The Tukums Art Museum presents Latvian art, with works from its own collections and private collections. It is Latvia’s first provincial art museum; its historical designation is associated with the years 1935/1936.

The workshops also offer different ways to explore local crafts. At the straw workshop, visitors can learn basic straw or hay crafting skills, make a figure of their own, and take their creation home. The weaving workshop of the Tukums Museum has been active since 1974. There, visitors can learn about the regional ethnic clothing of the Tukums area and try their hand at weaving. The focus differs between the two: at the straw workshop, the emphasis is on making your own piece, while at the weaving workshop, it is on learning about regional clothing and trying the technique.

Park, Rose Route and Festival

The city park was established in 1869 near Lielā Street, following a proposal by the Governor of Courland. The Rose Route offers another way to experience the city: it was created to make it easier to find your way around Tukums as the city of roses. The Rose Festival grew from a small florists’ festival into Tukums’ biennial city festival. The specific festival dates change, so check the dates for your chosen travel period before your trip. The route and festival offer two different ways to engage with the theme: the route helps you find your way around the city, while the festival takes place on specific dates.

Slokenbeka Manor nearby

Nearby, Slokenbeka Manor is located in Milzkalne on the banks of the Slocene, five kilometres from Tukums. Its complex houses the Latvian Road Museum. This adds a regional point of interest with a different focus to the themes within the city. You can consider the manor a separate destination in the area around Tukums, while the old town, art museum, and workshops offer thematic points of interest within the city.

Discover more destinations: Lapmežciems, Slampe, Tume, Lancenieki, Lamiņi, Zentene, Pētertāle, Rideļi

Return to the regional travel overview: Tukuma Novads.