11 REASONS TO VISIT JŪRMALA
Jūrmala is the biggest resort city on the shores of the Baltic Sea in a comfortable geographical location – just twenty kilometres from the capital of Latvia, Riga, and in several hours ride in a car from Tallinn and Vilnius. The presence of the sea, the 24 kilometres long beach and the romantic wooden architecture ensure the unique ambience of the city. The city is approximately two hundred years old and was founded around the time Europe learned about the healing properties of the sea and the first resorts appeared. In our day wild nature, modern spa hotels, cultural heritage and a contemporary city for entrepreneurship and holidays coexist in Jūrmala…
1. Comfortable beaches
Jūrmala’s swimming culture is centuries old, although it has changed over the years and bent to each era’s style and habits. Today, the 24-kilometre-long Jūrmala seashore, with its silky quartz sand and 11 well-maintained beaches, is a tempting destination for both local and foreign tourists. Sea in Jūrmala is shallow for a considerable bit and therefore it is suitable for safe family bathing. Beaches have facilities and are divided into quiet and active recreation areas, there are cafés and children’s playgrounds.
2. The Charm of Jomas Street
Jomas iela (Jomas Street) is the heart of Jūrmala. A pedestrian street with a steady stream of vacationers and foreign visitors in all seasons and weather conditions. It’s said that this is the place where Jūrmala began. Back when Jūrmala was still mostly just large expanses of sand, the wind blew it here and there, naturally forming a series of dunes and valleys. In Latvian, such a valley is called a “joma”, and a main road, now called Jomas iela, was eventually established along one of these valleys. Today, Jomas Street is the center of social, cultural and night life; vacationers are pleased with cafes and restaurants, boutiques and souvenir shops, street artists, entertainment centers and cinemas.
3. Resort traditions and modern SPA
Nature has generously awarded Jūrmala with unique medicinal resources. Jūrmala is a balneological and a climatic resort – here you can find both healing mud, as well as a mild maritime climate combined with the pine forest air rich with phytoncides. Here the subsoil hides sulfurated, bromide and sodium chloride mineral water, which has created large underground reserves of therapeutic peat, and you can find precious sapropel mud in the lakes. Today the treatment institutions of the Jūrmala resorts offer a wide range of healing, rehabilitation and SPA services, and it is the ideal place for combining leisurely relaxation with healthcare. Jūrmala’s medical institutions are renowned for the quality of services and professional specialists.
4. Expressive wooden architecture
Wooden architecture is one of the distinguishing features of Jūrmala, in particular, quaint homes with decorative towerlets and glazed verandas. Wood was chosen as a building material for spa houses already in the mid-19th century, when summer holidaymakers began escaping the city to relax in Jūrmala. The special aesthetic of wood embodied the Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau and National Romantic motifs of that era. Today some historical buildings have been restored and are available for tourists: Rainis and Aspazija Summer House, Ķemeri National Park Information Center “Meža māja”, the exhibition house of Bulduri.
5. Great place to travel with kids
Jūrmala is the greatest place to spend one’s childhood. Here there is no concept of “boredom.” The range of children’s activities in the city and in the outdoors is so vast that the feeling of boredom simply does not exist here. In the summertime the seaside beach turns into a large 24 kilometre-long sandbox for building sand sculptures, castles or just splashing around in the waves. The gulf’s shallow waters will make learning to swim easy for even the smallest beach guests.
The activities of Adventure parks “Jūrmalas Tarzāns” and “Tīklu parks” situated in Dzintari Forest Park pines let visitors test their courage regardless of age, “Līvu Akvaparks” attractions will entertain children and adults and transfer them into a tropical climate. Also, Jūrmala entrepreneurs have prepared special offers for children, ranging from interesting children’s menus to special SPA offers.
6. Harmony of nature
Jūrmala is one of the few cities in Europe where one can not only breathe fresh seaside air but also enjoy the natural aromatherapy provided by pine forests. A third of the city’s area is forested, and in most places the beach is hidden behind a belt of pine-covered dunes. Here the forest has literally entered the city, bringing with it a sense of calm and harmony as well as a very welcome feeling of balance to the inhabitants and guests alike. Wild lovers can go for a walk on one of the nature trails in Jūrmala. They criss-cross Jūrmala through ancient forests and yet more ancient swamps.
7. The tastes of Jūrmala
Jūrmala has a specific taste all its own, in which various gastronomic traditions have melded together with this area’s wild, unique natural bouquet. Impressions of the past, the newest culinary fashions, classic local cuisine and nods to fishermen’s daily rituals can all be found at the city’s restaurants. A gastronomic tour of Jūrmala can lead one to a wonderful meal amongst the dunes or on the banks of the river, with a grand view of nature and yachts calmly sliding by. But it’s just as easy to find oneself in a space styled after the Caucasus or featuring exotic foods from the Orient. Or, catapulted back to the Soviet era. Of course, it’s just as possible to remain in the cosmopolitan here and now, where Italian and French cooking is a self-evident occurrence.
8. Diversity of Culture and Arts
Jūrmala’s historical stages, beaches and gardens have delighted audiences with open-air concerts for over a century. Even today, guests can enjoy music at the open-air Dzintari Concert Hall and Dzintari Forest Park as gulls call in the distance and the sun provides natural lighting and stage design. Jūrmala is also a place to view art in public settings, especially at the buzzing Dubulti railway station, which has recently become a platform for contemporary art. History lovers will be interested in visiting the Jūrmala Museum, which contains more than 60 thousand items that tell about the life of the resort from the end of the 19th century to the present day, as well as old postcards of Jūrmala, works by famous artists.
Jūrmala has several galleries and exhibition halls where you can not only meet local artists, but also take part in a masterclass and create your own work of art. In addition, following global trends, art in Jūrmala is also entering the public space, for example, one of the busiest railway stations – Dubulti – has become a contemporary art space.
9. The Magic of Romantic Sunsets
A sunset is a show with no tickets, and the white sand beach, where you can collect seashells as souvenirs, is the best place to watch it from. Even though the winter sun in Jūrmala does not set far over the horizon as in the warm season, but more to the left, the beach and the water still light up with a picturesque palette of pinks and oranges. The Jūrmala beach is 24 km long and diverse. Anyone can find a quiet spot, save for the sound of waves lapping on the shore.
10. Active lifestyle and sport
Sun, sea, wind, white sand, kilometres of beaches, pine-scented air… Jūrmala’s environment is made for a great variety of outdoor activities and sports. Some choose long, peaceful walks, jogging or Nordic walking along the beach, through the forests and over the dunes, while others prefer a game of beach volleyball or football. Lovers of the wind and more extreme sports take to water skiing and wakeboarding. In turn, there are several bathing places with facilities on the banks of the river, boat, kayak, sup board, wakeboard rentals are available, along with rides on the river on a small river craft, an old sailing ship and yachts. On the green fields of Jūrmala Golf Club & Hotel visitors can play golf, but tennis and squash can be played at the most contemporary tennis centre in the Baltic states “Lielupe”. In the winter Jūrmala’s beach turns into a snowy, 20-kilometer cross-country ski track; full of skiers are also the pine forest-covered dunes and sometimes even the frozen bends of the Lielupe River.
11. Resort for Every Season
Jūrmala is a unique destination in all seasons. In summer, Jūrmala lives a classic seaside resort life. In spring and autumn, those who want to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing holiday in nature, improve their health, and recharge their batteries come to the city. The beach at this time is ideal for cyclists, Nordic walkers, and hikers. As winter sets in, the resort is filled with pre-Christmas bustle, and Dzintari Forest Park is transformed into a snow fairy-tale with thousands of lights, the town’s Christmas tree lights up on Jomas Street, and local cafés and restaurants spoil holidaymakers with delicious food and hot drinks.
Water pleasures in the cold season can be enjoyed in Līvu Akvaparks water park or one of the many SPA complexes, where you can warm up in mineral water baths after a wintry walk or reminisce about summer, splashing in a pool of warm sea water.
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