Discover Latvia Differently: From Orienteering to Treasure Hunting
Latvia can be explored in many different ways – from traditional sightseeing tours to more exciting and interactive experiences. Educational games and activities combine outdoor recreation with discovering new places, making the journey even more engaging. You can learn new facts, discover fascinating details and gain a deeper appreciation of our beautiful country.
Competition and technology add new dimensions to outdoor activities, offering engaging ways to discover new destinations and get active. In orienteering events, for example, the main tools are a map and a compass, while other activities rely more heavily on smartphones. Mobile apps, GPS coordinates and QR codes can guide participants along a route, provide information about different stops, reveal clues and present a variety of tasks. In photo orienteering, participants use photographs to identify specific locations in urban or natural environments, often completing an additional challenge related to each location. Themed adventure parks offer another way to enjoy a varied, active experience, with participants following a storyline, searching for hidden clues, solving puzzles and progressing step by step towards the ultimate goal of the game.
These popular activities require no special skills or expensive equipment. All you need is comfortable clothing, a fully charged smartphone and some friends or family to share the adventure with.
In this article, we offer ideas and inspiration for exciting ways to spend your free time while discovering Latvia from a new perspective. Latvia has plenty of surprises waiting to be uncovered – all you need to do is set off and start exploring!
Orienteering – An Enjoyable Way to Explore Nature
Orienteering has a long-standing tradition in Latvia and regularly attracts a wide range of outdoor enthusiasts. One of the best-known examples is the Magnēts recreational orienteering series – the largest and longest-running series of its kind in the Baltic States, with a history dating back to 1969. The events mainly take place in the forests around Riga, offering a variety of courses suited to participants of different ages and levels of experience.
In Vidzeme, the Siguldas Kompass orienteering series is another popular choice, with events taking place in various locations across Sigulda Municipality – from forests and hilly terrain to other areas that offer interesting orienteering challenges. The event locations also provide an opportunity to discover one of the most scenic parts of Latvia. Sigulda and its surroundings have historically been known as the “Switzerland of Vidzeme”, and the series also takes participants to Turaida, Skaļupe, Katlapiezis and other locations around the Gauja River Valley. The series is also suitable for beginners and families with children, making it a great opportunity to try orienteering for the first time. Spending time outdoors offers a chance to stay active, enjoy the fresh air and take a break from everyday routines.
The main tools on the course remain a map and compass, and this can be an exciting challenge in itself. At a time when most people rely on GPS navigation on their smartphones to find their way, orienteering requires participants to read a map, assess their surroundings and navigate independently through the forest to reach the next control point.
Photo Orienteering
For those looking for a greater challenge and wishing to spend more time exploring the urban environment, we recommend the routes created by the Latvijas Ekspedīcija platform. Its offering includes not only tours in various Latvian cities, but also detailed expeditions through 16 neighbourhoods of Riga, as well as themed games focusing on architectural and historical heritage. These activities are based on the classic concept of photo orienteering – teams must identify a specific location from a photograph and solve a related logic or observation challenge.
The activity also requires strategic planning, as participants decide for themselves the order in which to visit each checkpoint. This makes photo orienteering a popular choice for corporate events, with organisers also offering individually tailored routes. Making decisions together and dividing tasks within a limited time helps strengthen teamwork and gives participants an opportunity to get to know their colleagues in a new and unusual setting.
Once the game package has been purchased, the materials can be downloaded and printed, allowing participants to start the game on any suitable day and at any convenient time.
Street Orienteering Series
For outdoor enthusiasts and visitors to Riga, the urban orienteering series organised by the sports association Vadātājs offers an engaging challenge. Its stages regularly cover a wide variety of neighbourhoods in Riga and the surrounding area, inviting participants to discover places such as Imanta, Sarkandaugava, Dārzciems, Dreiliņi and Beberbeķi – areas rarely featured in traditional tourist itineraries. Each stage runs for four days, allowing participants to complete the course at any convenient time using a mobile app. Participants can also choose how they want to explore the route, as the courses are equally suitable for runners, walkers and cyclists.
The main appeal of these events lies in the opportunity to discover Riga’s lesser-known neighbourhoods, which can be particularly engaging for international visitors. Checkpoints are usually linked to local architecture, monuments or distinctive elements of the urban environment that often go unnoticed in everyday life. As the routes vary in both length and difficulty, suitable options are available for everyone from experienced teams to families with children.
Digital Walking Routes
Digital walking and hiking routes in Latvia are available through specialised platforms and mobile apps, as well as tourism information websites. Travellers can preview their chosen route in advance, assess its length and difficulty, and use maps, audio guides and other resources directly on their smartphones. For example, Latvian Routes offers hiking routes of varying lengths and difficulty levels, while Dabastakas.lv provides information on trails across different regions of Latvia, along with GPX files for navigation.
For exploring Latvia’s natural areas, the Dabas Tūrisms mobile app is a useful resource, bringing together more than 500 nature tourism destinations across Latvia. For planning longer hikes, travellers can also use the digital tools available for the Forest Trail (Mežtaka) and Baltic Coastal Hiking Route (Jūrtaka) – the NaviCup app provides access to both hiking routes, thematic maps, points of interest, audio guides and e-guides. For exploring Gauja National Park, Enter Gauja offers downloadable GPX files for a variety of hiking and cycling routes in Sigulda, Līgatne, Cēsis and other areas of the national park.
On some routes, digital content is linked to specific stops using QR codes. By scanning a code with a smartphone, visitors can open a map, listen to an audio recording, read additional information or access interactive tasks. This approach is also used in Jelgava. Along the “In the Duke’s Footsteps in Jelgava” route, QR codes provide access to short stories about the city’s tourist attractions, while the “The Known in the Unknown” route uses QR codes to give visitors access to route materials and various tasks.
Geocaching and Treasure Hunting
Geocaching has become a global phenomenon bringing together millions of adventurous participants. It is an international treasure-hunting activity in which players hide and search for containers in locations ranging from bustling cities to remote mountain areas. The concept is based on geolocation data, which participants use to find a container hidden by another player, usually containing a logbook and small items for exchange. Once the cache is found, the player records their visit, may exchange a small item for another, and returns the container to exactly the same location. To get started, all you need to do is create a profile and download the app.
In Latvia, this exciting hobby has been popular since the early 2000s. There is a surprisingly large number of geocaches across the country, covering everything from popular tourist attractions to remote forests and abandoned historical sites. Latvia also features a special 16-cache route, primarily covering Natura 2000 protected areas of European significance, including Slītere, Ķemeri and Gauja National Parks. Each location is accompanied by an educational story about a rare species or habitat. Geocaching is an excellent addition to any hiking trip, as caches are often hidden in unique natural or historical locations that may not be featured in traditional travel guides.
Spriedze un komandas darbs
Tiem, kas vēlas pilnībā iegremdēties vēsturiski kinematogrāfiskā atmosfērā, jādodas uz Siguldas novadu, kur izveidota kvestu pilsētiņa EscapeTown. EscapeTown darbojas divās vietās – kvestu pilsētiņā “Auči” pie Raganas un EscapeHouse kvestu mājā Siguldā. “Auči” plašajā brīvdabas teritorijā norisinās Otrā pasaules kara tematikā veidotā misija “Amun-Ra un seno civilizāciju Svētais Grāls”. Kara plosītās Francijas pilsētas Le Arion dekorācijas, spēlē iesaistītie sargi un dažādi uzdevumi rada vidi, kurā dalībniekiem vairākas stundas jādarbojas spriedzes apstākļos.
Piedzīvojums pārbauda atjautību, izveicību, loģisko un analītisko domāšanu, kā arī spēju sadarboties un pieņemt kopīgus lēmumus spriedzes apstākļos. Dalībnieki meklē pavedienus, risina mīklas un veic uzdevumus, bet kvesta intensitāti iespējams izvēlēties trīs līmeņos – maigu, izaicinošu vai skarbu.
Vienā komandā var piedalīties no diviem līdz divpadsmit cilvēkiem. Atkarībā no izvēlētā pasākuma formāta spēle ilgst līdz divām stundām un 40 minūtēm vai līdz piecām stundām un 40 minūtēm.
Savukārt EscapeHouse kvestu mājā Siguldā pieejama iekštelpu misija “Fīrera Zudušie Dārgumi”. Tā veidota kā divdaļīgs, 120 minūšu ilgs izaicinājums vienai komandai, kurā jāizmanto dārgumu grāmata, telpās paslēptās norādes un citi kvesta elementi, lai nonāktu līdz galīgajam risinājumam.
