Riga finished third in the European Best Christmas Markets 2025 to 2026 vote, ahead of Vienna, Paris, Madrid and Edinburgh. It was the first time the Latvian capital had reached the European top three and it surprised plenty of people here, because the Riga market is small. It fits on one square. A full circuit takes about 15 minutes.
Below are the confirmed dates and opening hours, what things actually cost with the figures Latvian reporters recorded on site, a second market almost no visitor hears about, what to do when the weather turns and the traditions behind the whole thing.
Riga Christmas Market 2026
| Dates | 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 |
| Where | Dome Square (Doma laukums), Riga Old Town |
| Entry | Free |
| Usual hours | 11.00 – 21.00 Monday to Thursday, 10.00 – 22.00 Friday and Saturday, 10.00 – 21.00 Sunday |
| Open on 24, 25, 26, 31 December and 1 January | On their own hours |
| Mulled wine, 2025 season | 5 – 6 EUR, plus a 2 EUR cup deposit (deposit usually is exchangeable) |
| Time to allow | 60 – 90 minutes at the market itself, or a whole evening if you also walk the lit Old Town around it |
| Second market | Baltic EXPO at Ķīpsala, 11 to 13 December 2026, indoors, entry is free |
| Nearest big airport | Riga Airport, about 10 km. Bus 22 runs airport to Abrenes iela, get off at Grēcinieku iela for the Old Town, 1.81 EUR |
Riga Christmas Market 2026 Dates and Opening Hours
The main Riga Christmas Market sits on Dome Square in the middle of the Old Town, next to the cathedral. It has run there since 2000.
Confirmed Dates for the 2026/2027 Season
The market opens on Friday 27 November 2026 and closes on Sunday 3 January 2027, according to LiveRiga, the city’s official tourism portal.
The market stays open across the whole Christmas and New Year period, including 24, 25 and 26 December and 31 December, when a lot of European markets have already packed up. If your trip falls between Christmas and New Year, Riga is one of the cities where the market will still be standing
Daily Opening Hours
As published for this season, the market is open in these hours.
| Days | Hours |
| Monday to Thursday | 11.00 – 21.00 |
| Friday and Saturday | 10.00 – 22.00 |
| Sunday | 10.00 – 21.00 |
Hours Over Christmas and New Year
| Date | Hours |
| 24 December | 10.00 – 20.00 |
| 25 December | 10.00 – 21.00 |
| 26 December | 10.00 – 22.00 |
| 31 December | 10.00 – 02.00 |
| 1 January | 12.00 – 20.00 |
Opening times shift a little between seasons, and the various listing sites do not all update at the same moment. If your plan depends on arriving at a particular hour, or on the market being open on one particular date, check the LiveRiga page again a few days before you travel.
Where the Market Is and How to Get There
Dome Square is one of the largest open spaces in the Old Town and sits roughly in its centre. From Riga Central Station the walk takes about 15 minutes. From the Freedom Monument it is under 10 minutes.
Arriving From Riga Airport
Riga Airport is about 10 kilometres from the centre. City bus route 22 runs from the airport to Abrenes iela, and the stop you want for the Old Town is Grēcinieku iela, roughly five minutes on foot from Dome Square. It is the cheapest way into the city.
Paying for Bus 22
Route 22 is the only line in Riga where you can still buy a ticket from the driver, and that ticket costs 1.81 EUR. Rīgas Satiksme, the city transport operator, also notes that the driver accepts bank cards only.
Cash is not an option anywhere in the system, so buy your ticket before you board. You can buy one at a Narvesen kiosk, at a ticket machine, or in an app. Three apps sell Rīgas Satiksme code tickets: the official Rīgas satiksme app, Mobilly and Timey. On every route except 22 a ticket bought in advance is the only way to travel.
Which Riga Christmas Market Should You Go To
Most guides mention one market. There are two worth your time, and they serve completely different purposes.
Dome Square, the One Everyone Means
Outdoors, in the Old Town, open for 38 days, aimed at visitors. Wooden stalls, a tree and a stage where choirs and folk groups perform through the season. This is the one in the photographs and the one the European ranking was about. No official stall count is published, but the whole thing sits on one square and you can see it all from the middle.
Baltic EXPO at Ķīpsala, 11 to 13 December 2026
Indoors, on an island across the river, open for three days. According to Baltic EXPO, it hosts more than 400 traders from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and entry is free. In our experience it draws a mostly Latvian crowd doing their Christmas shopping.
| Day | Date | Hours |
| Friday | 11 December 2026 | 12.00 – 20.00 |
| Saturday | 12 December 2026 | 09.00 – 20.00 |
| Sunday | 13 December 2026 | 09.00 – 19.00 |
Ķīpsala is about 30 minutes on foot from the Old Town over the Vanšu bridge, or a short ride by public transport. If your trip overlaps with that second weekend of December and you want the range of Baltic food and craft that 400 traders bring, it is worth crossing the river for.
Smaller Markets Around the City
In most years the city opens smaller markets in other locations during December. The Riga city events calendar lists them as soon as they are announced, so it is worth a look a week or two before you travel.
The Two Markets Side by Side
| Dome Square | Ķīpsala | |
| Setting | Outdoors, medieval Old Town | Indoors, exhibition hall |
| Open | 38 days | 3 days |
| Traders | One square’s worth, no official count published | More than 400 |
| Crowd | Mostly visitors | Mostly local, in our experience |
| Go for | The setting and the evening | The range of goods |
| Entry | Free | Free |
What the Riga Christmas Market Costs
No official price list is published for the market, and prices move every season. What follows is what Latvian reporters recorded on the square, with the year attached to each figure. Treat these as a budgeting guide rather than a menu, and expect 2026 prices to be similar or a little higher.
Food and Drink
Prices from on site surveys published by jauns.lv on 4 December 2025 and 5 December 2024.
| Item | 2024 season | 2025 season |
| Mulled wine | 5 EUR | 5 – 6 EUR |
| Mulled wine with shot of brandy or balsam | 1 – 2 EUR more than plain | not recorded |
| Hot non-alcoholic drink | 3 EUR | 4 EUR |
| Tea or coffee | not recorded | 2 – 4 EUR |
| Hot chocolate | not recorded | 4 EUR |
| Grey peas with bacon | not recorded | 6 EUR |
| Stewed cabbage | 5 EUR | 5 EUR |
| Groats sausage (putraimdesa) | not recorded | 8 EUR |
| Sausages, various | not recorded | 4 – 8 EUR |
| Soup | not recorded | from 5 EUR |
| Pork snout | not recorded | 9 EUR |
| Shashlik | 8 EUR | not recorded |
| Steak | 15 EUR | not recorded |
| Pork knuckle | not recorded | 14 EUR |
| Meat, cabbage and potato plate | not recorded | 19 EUR |
| Gingerbread | 2 – 10 EUR | 4 – 6 EUR |
| Cup deposit | not recorded | 2 EUR |
Two details worth knowing before you queue. The cup deposit was 2 EUR in the 2025 season, charged on top of the drink and refunded when you hand the cup back, so your first mulled wine costs 2 EUR more than the board says.
The two surveys do not price every identical item in both years, so read the table as two snapshots.
Crafts and Souvenirs
The single most useful thing in the 2024 survey is not a price. It is a gap between two prices.
In the 2024 season a pair of traditional knitted mittens cost 30 EUR at one stall and 45 EUR for a similar pair at a neighbouring stall in the same market. That is a 50% spread across a few metres, for what looks to a visitor like the same product.
Riga Against Tallinn
If you are choosing between Baltic capitals, or doing both, the same reporters priced both markets in December 2025.
| Items | Riga, 2025 | Tallinn, 2025 |
| Mulled wine | 5 – 6 EUR | 7 EUR |
| Mulled wine with liqueur | not recorded | 8 EUR |
| Hot non-alcoholic drink | 4 EUR | 6 EUR (non-alcoholic mulled wine) |
| Tea or coffee | 2 – 4 EUR | 4 – 5 EUR |
| Gingerbread | 4 – 6 EUR | 7 EUR |
| Meat, cabbage and potato plate | 19 EUR | 15 EUR |
| Salmon or lamb cutlets | not recorded | 18 EUR |
| Salmon or lamb cutlets | not recorded | 15 – 55 EUR |
| Cup deposit | 2 EUR | 2 EUR |
The reporters’ conclusion was that Tallinn was more expensive on almost everything. The one line where Tallinn came out lower was the large meat plate, and since the two dishes are not identical that is a portion comparison as much as a price one.
What a Visit Adds Up To
The 2024 survey put a pleasant visit for a family with two children at roughly 50 EUR, covering food, drink and a small souvenir.
For two adults having one hot drink and one hot dish each, our own arithmetic on the 2025 figures comes to somewhere around 25 – 35 EUR, plus the cup deposits you get back. That is our estimate from the table above.
What the Market Is Actually Like
The Honest Size Comparison
If you have been to Nuremberg, Vienna or Prague, adjust your expectations before you arrive. The Riga market occupies one square. There are dozens of wooden stalls rather than hundreds.
It is worth knowing what the European ranking that put Riga third actually was. Riga received 72,804 votes, more than 803,000 travellers from 179 countries took part, Craiova in Romania took first and Zurich second, and Riga finished ahead of Vienna, Paris, Madrid and Edinburgh, as reported by Latvian public broadcaster LSM. That is a public online vote, so it rewards the cities whose residents and tourism boards campaign hardest as much as it rewards the markets. It is fair evidence that people who come here enjoy it. It is not a claim that the market is bigger than Vienna’s.
What Riga has instead of size is context. The market sits inside the Historic Centre of Riga, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the surrounding streets are lit too, so the walk to and from the square is part of the evening. In a large German market the market itself is the destination. In Riga it is the anchor, and the Old Town around it is the reason to stay out.
What to Eat and Drink
Mulled wine is the default and the stalls pour it from late morning until closing. Latvia also has its own contribution, Riga Black Balsam, a bitter herbal liqueur made in the city since the 18th century, often served hot with blackcurrant juice. If you try one Latvian thing at the market, make it that rather than the mulled wine, which is much the same across Europe.
On the food side, the item most worth ordering is pīrāgi, small crescent shaped yeast pastries filled with smoked pork and onion. They are the standard Latvian holiday food, they are eaten hot, and they travel well in a coat pocket for the rest of the walk. Grey peas with bacon, 6 EUR in the 2025 season, is the other one to try, and the traditions section below explains why Latvians eat it at this time of year.
What you can buy
Things Actually Made in Latvia
Latvia has a living craft tradition, and the good stalls sell things people here still use.
• Wool mittens and socks with regional knitted patterns, warm and genuinely local, though prices between stalls vary a lot, so compare before buying
• Linen, which Latvia has grown and woven for centuries
• Honey and herbal teas from Latvian producers
• Ceramics in the dark glazed Latgalian style
• Puzuri, geometric straw and reed ornaments understood as a model of the universe, which pack flat and weigh nothing
How Much Time to Plan
A single circuit takes about 15 minutes. Plan 60 – 90 minutes for the market itself if you are eating, drinking and browsing rather than walking straight through. Plan a full evening, roughly 4 hours, if you treat the market as one stop inside a walk around the lit Old Town, which is how we would suggest doing it.
Riga in Winter Beyond the Market
How Cold It Gets and How Short the Days Are
December in Riga is cold but not extreme. Long-term averages put the daily high at about 1.2°C and the overnight low at about -2°C, with roughly 58mm of precipitation across the month, according to climate-data.org.
The number that matters more than the temperature is the damp. Riga sits on the coast, the air is wet, and 0°C here bites harder than 0°C inland. Wind off the Gulf of Riga makes the difference.
Riga also sits at almost 57 degrees north, so there is very little daylight in December. On the winter solstice, 21 December 2026, the sun rises at about 9am and sets just before 3.45pm, which is about six and three quarter hours of light. At the start of the market season in late November there is just under seven and a half hours.
Why the Darkness Works in Your Favour
It means the market is lit for most of the hours it is open. A 4pm visit in Riga looks like an 8pm visit further south.
The early dark also works in your favour outside the market. The Christmas lights across the Old Town, the decorated shop fronts and the tree on Dome Square are all on well before the end of the working day. If you are travelling with children, or you would rather not be out at 10pm, the late afternoon gives you everything and still leaves you indoors for dinner.
What to Wear
Layers and a windproof outer layer, because the wind off the water is what gets you. Add a hat and gloves and expect to want both. Standing still at a stall for 20 minutes is colder than walking for an hour, which is the mistake visitors make most often here.
Shoes matter more than the coat. Old Town streets are cobbled, and cobbles under wet snow or a thin freeze are how most visitors hurt themselves in Riga. Bring something with a real sole and some grip. Smooth soled boots that are fine on a dry city pavement will not be fine on Meistaru iela in late December.
Getting Around
The Old Town is walkable end to end in about 20 minutes, and most of what a first-time visitor wants is inside it. For anything further out, trams and buses are frequent and cheap. Buy a time ticket or a day ticket if you will travel more than twice and remember that outside route 22 you cannot buy from the driver.
Where to Go When the Weather Turns
December in Riga brings rain and sleet as often as snow, so it is worth knowing where to go indoors. These four are all within walking distance of Dome Square.
St Peter’s Church Tower
The church tower has a viewing platform at 57 metres. From it you can see the Old Town roofs, the river and, in December, the city lights. In LiveRiga listing it shows that the opening hours are from 10.00 – 18.00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and 10.00 – 22.00 on Friday and Saturday. Winter hours can differ from the ones published, so check before you set out.
Riga Central Market
The market sits in five former zeppelin hangars behind the railway station, about 15 minutes on foot from Dome Square. This is where people in Riga buy their food. Part of it is closed for renovation at the moment, so check which pavilions are open before you walk over.
Which Pavilions Are Open
At the time of writing, Riga Central Market lists the following.
- Gastronomy and fish pavilion, open 7.30 – 18.00 Monday to Saturday and 7.30 – 17.00 on Sunday
- Outdoor and covered grounds, open 7.00 – 18.00 daily
- Root pavilion and dairy pavilion, closed for repairs
- Meat pavilion, closed for technical reasons
On the first Monday of each month the pavilions, though not the outdoor areas, close at 15.00. Check the site before you walk over, because renovation schedules move.
The Latvian National Museum of Art
The main building is at Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1, on the edge of the Esplanāde park and a few minutes’ walk from the Freedom Monument. The museum shows Latvian and Baltic art, and the restored building is worth seeing in its own right. Hours and tickets are on the museum site.
The Art Nouveau District
UNESCO lists the Historic Centre of Riga as a World Heritage site, and its inscription names three reasons:
- the medieval and later street layout of the centre
- the 19th century wooden architecture
- the Art Nouveau architecture, which UNESCO calls unparalleled anywhere in the world
The Art Nouveau streets are north of the Old Town, around Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela. It is an outdoor activity, but the streets are wide and the walk is short, so it works on a grey day when the Old Town is crowded.
Other Winter Dates Worth Knowing
- Staro Rīga, the city light festival, runs from 15 to 18 November 2026 according to staroriga.lv. Light installations across the city centre, and it is free.
- 18 November is Latvia’s Independence Day, with events in the centre and a fireworks display. It is a national holiday, so expect some closures.
- New Year’s Eve centres on the Old Town, with the Dome Square market open until 2am.
Latvian Christmas Traditions Explained
This is the part most guides skip, and it is what makes a Riga Christmas different from a German one. Latvian Christmas is called Ziemassvētki, which translates as winter festival rather than anything to do with Christ. The name is the clue.
Ķekatas, the Masked Processions
Groups in homemade masks go from house to house singing and dancing. They are called ķekatas or budēļi, depending on which part of Latvia you are in.
The masks are made from repurposed household goods, with clothing turned inside out, and the wearers dress as cranes, horses and other creatures both real and mythical. According to latvia.eu, published by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, these masked visitors bring blessings and wishes of fertility and abundance to the homes they call at.
In modern Latvia the processions survive mostly in the countryside and at folk events not on city streets, so seeing them in central Riga is lucky. Folk groups do perform on the Dome Square stage during the market, which is where a visitor is most likely to meet them.
The Yule Log
The custom easier to catch is bluķa vilkšana, the log dragging. A log is hauled around a property or from house to house and then burned. The point, as latvia.eu puts it, is to carry the past year’s hardships and misfortunes into the log and destroy them with it. It is done with singing, dancing and a good deal of noise.
If you see a group hauling a log through the Old Town in late December, that is what you are looking at, not a delivery gone wrong.
What Latvians Eat at Christmas
The Nine Dishes Custom
Latvian folk belief holds that you should eat nine times on Christmas Eve and again on New Year’s Eve so that there is enough of everything in the year ahead. The Latvian public broadcaster records the belief in that form.
The individual dishes carry their own meanings, and latvia.eu sets them out. Peas and beans prevent tears in the coming year, stewed sauerkraut gives energy and strength, blood sausage stands for the sun and the yearly cycle, and pīrāgi, being moon shaped, promise a life full of surprises.
Grey Peas With Bacon
Pelēkie zirņi ar speķi, grey peas with fried bacon and onion, is the dish Latvians name first when asked what they eat at Christmas. Grey peas are a large, earthy variety grown here not the small green kind. The folk saying attached to them is: “Eat peas at Christmas and you will be rich.”
They were 6 EUR on the market in the 2025 season, and they turn up in Latvian restaurants across the Old Town throughout December. They are the most Latvian thing on any menu here.
Pīrāgi and the Rest
Alongside the peas, a Latvian Christmas table usually carries pīrāgi, roast pork, sauerkraut stewed slowly with meat, and kūķi or zīdenis, a dish of grey peas, beans, barley and smoked pork cooked together. For dessert, layered rye bread parfait with cream and jam.
Did Riga Really Have the World’s First Christmas Tree
Riga makes this claim loudly, there is a marker in the ground to prove the city means it, and the honest answer is that nobody knows.
What Riga Claims
The Riga version dates the first decorated Christmas tree to 1510 and credits the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a guild of unmarried German merchants who ran a house on Town Hall Square. The story says they decorated a tree and later burned it.
What Tallinn Claims
Tallinn, about 300 kilometres north, claims 1441, which is 69 years earlier, and credits the same brotherhood, since the Blackheads operated in both Hanseatic ports. Tallinn also argues that its version was a real spruce.
What Historians Actually Say
Here the Riga claim gets weaker. As LSM reports, what the Riga merchants most likely put up in 1510 was a tree shaped wooden candelabrum decorated with dried flowers, fruit, vegetables and straw toys, which is not the same object as a decorated fir.
Historians in both countries are split. Some back one version or the other with historical data, others point out that there is not enough surrounding evidence for either, and a number regard both claims as folklore reinforced by modern tourism marketing.
Where to See the Marker
The city has marked the claim with a commemorative plaque and a sculpture in Town Hall Square (Rātslaukums), in front of the rebuilt House of the Blackheads, a few minutes from Dome Square. Go and look at it, and enjoy the argument.
Useful Resources for Visiting Riga in Winter
- LiveRiga, official Riga Christmas Market page for dates and opening hours
- Riga city events calendar for smaller markets and December events
- Baltic EXPO Christmas market for the Ķīpsala market
- Rīgas Satiksme for public transport tickets and timetables
- Riga Central Market for current pavilion opening hours
- latvia.eu winter solstice traditions, published by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia
- Staro Rīga for the light festival from 15 to 18 November 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Riga Christmas Market open?
In 2026 the market on Dome Square opens on Friday 27 November 2026 and runs until Sunday 3 January 2027.
How long does the Riga Christmas Market last?
In 2026 it will last 38 days. It stays open across Christmas and New Year, including 24, 25, 26 and 31 December.
Where is the Christmas market in Riga?
On Dome Square (Doma laukums), in the centre of Riga Old Town next to the cathedral.
Is the Riga Christmas Market free to enter?
Yes. Entry to both the Dome Square market and the Baltic EXPO market at Ķīpsala is free. You pay only for what you eat, drink or buy.
How many Christmas markets are there in Riga?
The main one is on Dome Square. A second, much larger indoor market runs at Ķīpsala from 11 – 13 December 2026. The city usually opens smaller markets elsewhere during December, and these are announced closer to the season on the Riga city events calendar.
Is Riga worth visiting in December?
Yes, provided you come for a lit medieval old town rather than a huge market. The market is small. The setting around it, and the fact that it stays open over Christmas and New Year, is what makes the trip worthwhile.
How cold is Riga in December?
Average highs are around 1°C and lows around -2°C. Coastal damp makes it feel colder than the figures suggest, so windproof layers are what matter.
Did Riga have the world’s first Christmas tree?
It is unproven. Riga claims 1510 and Tallinn claims 1441, and historians have not settled it.
