Riga has come a long way since the days of food queues and the Soviet-era craving for all things Western, at any price. The city is not that far behind most Western European cities and there is a wide range of shopping opportunities on offer, from large malls through to local markets. The main shopping heart of town is in and around the Old Town, with many of the larger stores out in the suburbs, along major roads. Audeju is the main shopping street, with a number of designer shops and home to
Centrs, Audeju 15, the city’s oldest shopping mall.
Other big name shops include
Hugo Boss, Terbatas 53, and
Benetton, Brivibas 47. A number of Latvian products are of interest to overseas visitors. Antiques are the main one but they require a license from the Inspection Board for History and Culture and the Protection of Monuments, Pils 22, before any valuables can be exported. The best place to look for antiques is at specialist shops like
Antiqua, Kr Valdemara 20;
Tango, Dzirnavu 66, and
Volmar, Brivibas 39. Among the best souvenir shops are
Ezerciems, Kalku 7-9,
Mara, Kaleju 9-11 and
Souvenir, Aspazijas 30. The main market in town is the
Central Market, Negu 7 (see
Key Attractions), open Tuesday to Saturday 0700-1800, Sunday and Monday 0700-1700.
Standard shopping hours of 0900-1700 are the norm, with reduced opening hours on weekends. Shops are no longer closed for lunch, as they were in the Soviet times, and most of the supermarkets are open until 2200. Sales tax is currently 18% but 12 to15% of this can be claimed back for non-EU citizens with
Tax Free Shopping (tel: 6721 2590; website:
www.taxfree.lv).
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Related Riga Content
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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