Ventspils: Beach, Culture and Leisure

Ventspils can be experienced through a range of different highlights: the bathing season at the beach, leisure activities, an excursion by boat with several points of interest, and cultural history alongside interactive exhibitions. This lets you decide whether you would prefer to spend time by the water, get active, take a 45-minute boat trip, or explore historical and cultural topics during your stay. When planning, take account of the conditions for each activity: the bathing season, seasonally changing timetables, and a wind restriction affect different experiences.

Beach and water conditions

During the bathing season, the Blue Flag has flown at Ventspils Blue Flag Beach since 1999. At each beach access point, you will find a number, the water temperature, and a sign indicating whether swimming is permitted or prohibited. This gives you information about the temperature and swimming permission right at each access point. Check the sign before swimming, as the displayed permission may differ from one access point to another.

The spacious and well-equipped Jūrmalas Park near the sea offers opportunities to relax and go for walks outdoors, expressly including for the whole family. This gives time by the water a different focus from the beach: here, the emphasis is on being active and spending time in the park. The park also displays 35 different types of anchors from the 152 anchors at the Piejūras brīvdabas muzejs.

Leisure and activities

Piedzīvojumu parks is a year-round sports and active leisure complex with leisure and sports activities for individual visitors, groups, and families. Its attractions include a 580-metre summer toboggan run, which also operates year-round. However, its operation is subject to a wind restriction. If you are planning a visit, take this condition into account as well as the length of the run.

Ūdens piedzīvojumu parks offers several kinds of water and swimming experiences, including a wave pool, a heated pool, a children's pool, slides, a lazy river, SPA baths, and a sauna. Individual facilities may operate seasonally. The offerings include pools and slides as well as areas for relaxation; seasonal operation may be relevant when planning to use specific facilities.

Venta, promenade and boat trip

The excursion boat Hercogs Jēkabs offers a 45-minute trip, during which you can see the mouth of the Venta, the Old Town, the industrial area of the Ventspils Freeport, and the sea gates. The trip brings together several different points of interest within a set timeframe. Timetables vary seasonally, so it is a good idea to check the departure times before your visit.

Along the Venta, an exhibition of buoys on the Ostas Street Promenade features 14 buoys and channel markers. Each one has an information panel explaining its purpose. Rather than taking a boat trip, this stop offers a look at the function of each navigational marker: the panels explain the purpose of each object.

History and culture

Livonijas ordeņa pils is one of Latvia's oldest surviving medieval fortresses. After restoration and renovation work was completed in summer 2012, the chapel, chapter hall, sleeping quarters of the order's brothers, and refectory were opened to visitors. These rooms offer different perspectives on the religious, communal, and everyday life of the order. The opening described here reflects the situation after the work in 2012.

The Piejūras brīvdabas muzejs was founded in Ventspils in 1954 as an open-air museum of maritime fishing. Its exhibition portrays the everyday life of the inhabitants of the Courland coast and presents the lives of Latvian and Livonian farmers and fishermen. The focus is therefore not only on fishing, but also on the rural communities of the region whose lives are represented in the exhibition.

The exhibition at Zinātnes centrs VIZIUM is arranged across seven galleries and includes more than 80 interactive exhibits in educational exhibition halls. This layout offers clear guidance when choosing a topic to explore: the presentation is structured into seven galleries, with interactive exhibits at its heart.

The “LATVIJA” Concert Hall is a centre for music, art, and cultural education in North Courland. It offers guided tours for adult and children's groups of up to ten people. Its instruments include the pipe organ by the German organ-building company Johannes Klais Orgelbau and a piano by Latvian-born piano maker Dāvids Kļaviņš, described as the world's largest piano. A guided tour combines insights into the concert hall with a look at two particularly notable instruments.

Discover more destinations: Dzirnavas, Zūras, Vendzavas, Liepene, Miķeļtornis, Usma, Ventava, Ziras.

For the overarching travel overview: Ventspils.