Touring in West Latvia - Tour No. 2

Liepaja - Kuldiga - Kandava - Tukums

Begin your tour in the coastal city of Liepaja, nestling between the Baltic Sea and the Liepaja and Tosmare lakes, and divided in two by the port channel. Liepaja is today an industrial, cultural and educational centre, home to the Pedagogic University, the Liepaja Theatre (the only professional theatre in the Kurzeme region ) and the popular Puppet Theatre.

Though a relatively small city, Liepaja is unique for the sheer variety of architecture it contains. It is particularly noted for its restrained, elegant Art Nouveau buildings, the finest of which can be seen on Kurmajas Prospect, Ausekly Street, Kursu Street and Dzintaru Street, part of the Old town which was home to the aristocracy. The Liepaja St Trinity Lutheran church at 7 Liela Street is famed for its organ, until 1912 the world's largest, and still the biggest in Europe. For those who tire of city streets, Liepaja beach is clean and a good spot for relaxation.

Driving north - east will take you to Kuldiga, the centre of the Kurzeme region. Built on the Venta and bisected by the little Aleksupite river, the town is considered one of Latvia's most beautiful, and is the only one in the country to have preserved the traditional wooden buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries.

From here you have a magnificent view of the exceptionally wide Rumba Falls on the Venta River.

In Kuldiga sculpture park, at 5 Pils Street, you'll find the Town Museum, built on the remains of a Livonian castle dating from 1245, where you can learn about the history of the area. Move on to the holy Trinity Catholic Church, famed for its interior, the most splendid in Kurzeme. The Lutheran Church of St Catherine is also worth seeing for its fine paintings.

Only 13 km from Kuldiga is the Ivande Watermill, built in 1842 and still going strong, and the Lielivande Estate, with its 18th - and 19th century castles, granary and stables.

The road to Kandava will take you through into Sabile and Pedvale. The Frikspedvale Estate is particularly worth a visit for its open - air art museum, before continuing on to Kandava through the magnificent Abava valley, known as the 'Kurzeme Switzerland'. Where the Abava veers direction from north to west is Kandava itself, a small, picturesque, historic town containing a wonderful Lutheran Church (1736) with a remarkable pulpit and confessional decorated with baroque woodcuts. The tower of the town's Livonian castle can still be seen, and the bridge over the Abava is one of Latvia's oldest, dating from 1873.

Anyone interested in botany will be fascinated by the nearby growth of Pentaphilloides Fruticosa - the only example in Latvia of this post-Ice Age rose. The town's museum at 11 Talsu Street is a useful place to learn about the region's history. Only five kilometres from Tukums and surrounded by the picturesque Kurzeme hills, is the spectacular Jaunmokas Palace, dating from 1901, a fascinating if eclectic blend of Art Nouveau and neo - Gothic architecture and home to a forestry exhibition and displays of Latvian art.

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