Walk : Sigulda route map

Description	Latvia has no mountains, but it does have some wonderful scenery. The steep wooded valley of the Gauja river at Sigulda has long been known as ‘Switzerland of Vidzeme’. The river gorge is spanned by a cable car and has picturesque ruins and castles. This is an ideal walk for winter days as well as summer. The Gauja reaches the sea near Saulkrasti on the Baltic coast walk.
Duration	3-6 hours (or less if you use the cable car)
Suggested Itinerary	Using the map you can easily devise a circuit from the town; cross over the footbridge, head upstream along the ridge and either drop down to return by the road bridge and the castle ruins or double back to use the cable car.
Airport	Riga
Accommodation at start	Numerous hotels in Riga. See airport page for links.
Transport to start	Train from Riga on the Lugazi line (most trains terminate at Sigulda). Trains are less frequent than hourly and take just over an hour. Train times here Select Diesel and Lugazi tab
Route	From the station, head west on the road on the north of the railway and keep going on the track in the same direction, passing a bobsleigh track on your right. The track passes through the hamlet of Kakisi and drops down to cross the river on a suspension bridge. You can then take either a forest track or a riverside path east and north to Krimulda. If you choose the river path be ready for a very long flight of steps up to the village. There is a shop and refreshments here and the cable car terminal is nearby. From the ruined Krimulda castle, the path drops steeply down to a path junction by a lake and you can then continue in the same general direction and climb up to the ridge and along to the summit viewpoints of Rata kalns and Karla kalns. Various flights of steps lead you down to the road, which you can cross to head south on a riverside path to the road bridge. Rather than follow the road back into Sigulda you can take a path on the left up the hill and through the ruins of Sigulda castle and back into town. There are many longer and shorter variations on this theme, including crossing the valley in either direction (or both) by cable car, but only in the summer months.
Waymarking and terrain	Easy paths and tracks but not many signposts. You will need the map.
Transport from end	as start
Accommodation at end	as start
Maps	Jana Seta 1:100,000 map ‘Rigas Rajons’ (Riga Region) is all you need. This has enlargement of Sigulda area on reverse. Jana Seta 1:15,000 map ‘Sigulda’ shows more detail and has photographs, history and tourist information in English on the reverse.
Comments	Cable car and castle ruins (photos Sigulda Tourist Information office)

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