Liepāja is Latvia's seaside music city and its old naval port. Give day one to the centre: Holy Trinity's organ, St Anne's altar, Pētertirgus market, the Liepāja Museum and a concert at the Great Amber. Day two, head north to Karosta for the military prison, the Orthodox naval cathedral and the Northern Forts crumbling into the surf, then end on the beach.
Latvia's third city was built twice: once as a Courland trading port with a market square and baroque churches, then from 1890 as the Tsar's naval base of Karosta at its north end. Between them run eight kilometres of Blue Flag beach and a concert hall shaped like amber.
A red-brick guardhouse from about 1900 that held sailors under the Tsar, the Latvian army, the Nazis and the Soviets; the cells and wall scratchings survive. Take a guided tour, or book the role-play show where guards treat you as a prisoner.
Concrete batteries of the Tsarist sea fortress, blown up and now breaking apart in the surf. The two-level bunkers behind them are seen with a guide from Karosta Prison; stay out of the ruins on your own.
Volker Giencke's glass-skinned hall opened in November 2015 and glows amber after dark over the canal. It is home to the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1881, and its main hall seats about 1,000.
The Lutheran cathedral holds a mechanical organ of 131 stops, four manuals and more than 7,000 pipes, for years the largest of its kind in the world. Come for a recital; the 55 m tower opens for the view in season.
A 3 km strip of park, about 50 hectares of trees planted between the town and the dunes, opens onto eight kilometres of white sand. The beach has held a Blue Flag every summer since 2001.
The neo-Gothic brick church of 1893 keeps a baroque altar carved by Nikolaus Söffrens the Younger in 1697, about 9.7 m tall. It is a high point of Kurzeme woodcarving and worth the short walk from the station.
An eclectic 1901 house on the old spa avenue holds over 100,000 items, from Stone Age finds and Viking-age pieces from Grobiņa to both world wars. Entry is free; it opens daily in summer, Wednesday to Sunday otherwise.
Traders have worked Kuršu Square since the 1560s, and the market pavilion beside it went up in 1910. Come in the morning for smoked fish, berries and rye bread, then walk the wooden lanes of Old Liepāja around it.
Boardwalks, two lake platforms and a birdwatching tower sit on an embankment at the lake's northern end, a Natura 2000 site with more than 100 recorded species. It is minutes from the centre by bike.
The largest Catholic church in Kurzeme, a neo-Romanesque building consecrated in 1911 around the walls of its 1747 predecessor. It became a cathedral when the Diocese of Liepāja was created in 1937.
Gold onion domes over the garrison, consecrated in 1903 with Nicholas II present.
A swing bridge over the Karosta Canal, opened in 1906 and rebuilt after both wars.
A 1,800 m breakwater from 1890 to 1892, beside the ruined Battery No. 3.
The rebuilt open-air stage in the park, seating 1,400 since 2022.
Wild horses on the lake meadows since 1999; pastures with a guide only.
Two weeks of soloists with the Liepāja Symphony at the Great Amber, running since 1993.
Liepāja marks the city charter it received from Duke Friedrich Kettler in 1625.
Museums open late and free across the city for one Saturday night.
Latvia's biggest holiday: bonfires, oak wreaths and the shortest night.
Boat parade, rowing and music in the Seaside Park, around July's second Saturday.
The Liepāja Symphony's open-air season at the Pūt, vējiņi! concert garden.
Latvia's largest music festival on the beach; the 2026 edition ran 31 July to 1 August.
Latvia's 1918 proclamation, with concerts and candles across town.
Coaches from Riga take about 3 to 3.5 hours and run through the day, the most frequent link.
Vivi trains from Riga take a little over three hours. Services are few and not daily, so check the timetable.
The first electric tram in the Baltics, opened in 1899, still runs one line of about 8 km through the centre.
Stena Line sails to Travemünde in Germany; the crossing takes about a day. Book ahead in summer.
The city's own dish: smoked cod, potato and cream in a clay pot.
Flounder and herring from the coast's smokehouses, sold at the market.
A Kurzeme rye tart of potato and carrot, sweet and earthy.
Dark, slightly sour rye bread, on the table with every meal.
Grey peas with fried bacon and onion.
Crescent buns filled with bacon and onion.
Cold pink beetroot soup with kefir, for summer.
Layers of rye crumbs, cream and berry jam.
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