Venue, travel and other information

Venue

The conference will take place at the Latvian Academy of Sciences, at the conference hall on the 3rd floor (= 2nd floor according to the Western European tradition). The Academy is located in the city center, about 500 m from Central Railway Station (address: Akadēmijas laukums 1, Rīga, LV-1050; please see the map).

During the conference, there will be snacks and beverages served for coffee breaks as well as for dinner on May 17, but we cannot provide meals during lunch breaks, unfortunately. There is a small diner on the first floor (= ground floor) of the Academy building, which is rather inexpensive but with limited choice of food (credit cards accepted). Also, if lunch breaks are long enough, it will be possible to take a walk to Origo Shopping Mall — it is located just next to Railway Station and features quite a wide range of cafes and restaurants.

Travel

If you are traveling by plane, you can use either taxi or bus to get from the airport to your hotel. A taxi trip to the city center takes around 15 min and costs around 11–15 EUR. There are cabs usually available by the terminal building. You can also order a taxi in advance: Panda Taxi website; BalticTaxi website; Red Cab website. 

You can also get to the city centre by bus No. 22, minibus No. 222 or minibus No. 241. The bus stop is located around 200 m from the terminal, behind the parking lot P1 (please see the scheme here), and the trip to the city center takes about 30 min. Minibuses depart from the parking lot P1.

If you are arriving by bus or by train, there are usually cabs on hand both near Bus Station and Railway Station as well.

Info on public transport timetables, routs, e-ticket types and prices is available here. Public transport tickets can be purchased from the driver, a ticket costs 2 EUR. It is cheaper (1.15 EUR per trip) to purchase an e-ticket in advance. You can buy it at the airport tourist information bureau "Welcome to Riga" (arrivals area E), NARVESEN press kiosks (there are plenty of them literally everywhere, including one or two at the airport, three at Railway Station, three around Bus Station). At some stops (including the one by the airport), there are vending machines where you can purchase a ticket either for cash or with credit card. There are various kinds available — for one trip, a certain number of trips or time tickets (e.g., for 24 hours), tickets for one person or group tickets (two or three people). When entering a bus, a trolleybus or a tram, you have to apply your e-ticket to an electronic validator. Thus you register your trip and pay for it. (This doesn't apply to tickets purchased from the driver on board.)

Accommodation

Unfortunately, we cannot provide any accomodation for the participants, so you are kindly invited to use booking.com or services alike to book your hotel. If you have any questions regarding booking or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact the organizers.

Sightseeing

We hope that amidst conference presentations and discussions you will find some time just to enjoy your time in Riga. You can take a look here for some tips on sightseeing, events and other activities in the city. Here are just some places that might be interesting for you to visit:

• Museum Night on May 19th — all the museums open till late, special events and exhibitions, free entrance.
• Latvian National Museum of Art is the largest depository of professional art in Latvia.
• Art Museum RIGA BOURSE is part of the Latvian National Museum of Art. It is located in the very center of the Old Town in a beautiful Venetian renaissance palazzo-style building. The museum has four permanent displays as well as organizes international art exhibitions.
• Riga Art Nouveau Museum — located in the so called Quiet Center that is famous for its Art Nouveau architecture.
• Riga Cathedral — the biggest medieval church in Latvia and one of the major venues for classical music concerts, particularly famous with its organ.
• Spikeri Quarter — a creative district that features a number of small galleries, design salons and specialty stores, a concert hall, and hosts various cultural events.
• Miera Street (Miera iela = Peace Street) — features plenty of vintage and artistic shops, cafes, galleries etc. (world's most hipster neighborhood, at least according to Skyscanner).
• The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia — more than hundred folk architecture objects on the coast of the Jugla lake.
• Kalnciema Quarter — the ensemble of 19th century wooden buildings, part of European wooden architecture heritage, local food and craft markets every Saturday; open-air concerts on Thursdays (concert season usually opens in mid May).