Latvia buy · Money and Shopping in Latvia
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Money and Shopping in Latvia
Money and Shopping in Latvia
Amber, which is sold in most souvenir shops. If you are lucky, some can sometimes be found on the Baltic Sea shore after a storm. Be careful looking for amber on beaches in western Latvia - the sea near Liepāja is poluted with phosphorus, which looks exactly the same, but catches on fire after drying out.
Smoked (black) ceramics from Latgale.
Silver jewellery
Mittens with ornaments. Hand-made and representing traditional culture.
Black (rye) bread gives more energy than the common white (wheat) bread. If bought fresh and kept in a plastic bag, it might last well up to 10 days or more.
Riga Black Balsam (Melnais Balzams) , a traditional Latvian herbal liqueur made using many natural ingredients.
Laima Chocolate various sweets, chocolates with all kinds of fillings.
Speciality shops are open mostly from 8 AM to 6 PM on weekdays, till 4 PM on Saturdays, closed on Sundays. Groceries are open every day till 8 PM or longer. Most supermarkets are open till 11 PM every day. Convenience stores, such as Narvesen are mostly open 24/7.
ATMs are widely available throughout Latvia (including Riga International Airport), even in many small towns. Tax free stores have their signs clearly displayed.
Banks will accept traveller's cheques with some fee as a percentage of the sum.
Before leaving Latvia, it is advisable to exchange Latvian lats back to your foreign currency, unless you want to keep them as a souvenir. This isn't such a bad idea, since the Latvian Lat is one of world's most beautifully designed currencies, especially the many different types of 1 Lat coins and also the paper notes. Keeping Lats would also be a good reason to visit Latvia again. However, hurry up, since the Euro will be introduced in a couple of years.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Latvia
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WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020
Latvia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.