LATVIA
Sigulda district and Gauja National park
Sigulda and its surroundings is the most popular tourist area where you can enjoy a rare combination of medieval castles, picturesque hilly landscapes (with a river running amidst sandy caves), a sculpture park and flowers that are already extinct in most countries of Europe. Sigulda is attractive in all seasons. It is the centre of downhill skiing in the winter. In summer, it is a popular place for boating. You must visit the Gauja National Park where several walking and cycling trails are made. Among the "must" sights would be the Sigulda Castle Ruins, the medieval Turaida Castle, panoramic Painters' Hill, the Gutmana Cave. Both banks of the Gauja primeval valley are connected by a cable car in Sigulda. Here you can enjoy a ride on the cable car 40 meters above the valley. Well-known European bobsled route is situated in Sigulda. The Gauja National Park is particularly beautiful in the golden autumn.
Gauja
NP was founded in 1973, and it was the first national park in the territory
of Latvia at that time. It focuses mainly on nature protection but it
is also used for educational and leisure tourism. Its territory of 91745
ha is divided into five functional areas. The most important of them are
nature reserves and restricted nature areas. Nature reserves take up a
small but particularly valuable part of the Gauja NP, and access to these
territories is restricted.
Gauja NP includes the Primeval valley of the Gauja River and together
with its tributaries it forms a particularly original landscape. On the
banks of the Gauja, Amata, Brasla, many smaller rivers and brooks there
are the biggest Devonian outcrops in Latvia – sandstone cliffs,
rocks and caves.
COUNTRYSIDE HOLIDAYS
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