Nightlife

There is a popular T-shirt in Latvia: 'Riga - 365 Friday nights a year'. If you are from western Europe then it is unlikely you have experienced anything as exciting as Riga nightlife. Please find a list of Riga's recommended bars and clubs that make Riga's nightlife so unique and mindblowing!  Please also note some of the not so tourist friendly clubs in Riga.

If you want to find the best bars and clubs in Riga then have a look on our Top 5 Riga map, where you will find the top 5 bars, the top 5 clubs where to party , the top 5 places to eat  and the top 5 best attractions and things to see in Riga!!!!

What makes Riga nightlife so brilliant? Riga Old Town has one of the biggest concentrations of Cocktail Bars, Pubs, Restaurants, Cafes, Live Music Venues and Clubs you will find anywhere.

Whatever your taste, be it bohemian, techno, alternative, grunge or even the down right bizarre, Riga Nightlife will provide the kind of night out you desire.  Latvians go out every night of the week and, regardless of how much work they have the next day, they do it spontaneously.

But it wasn't always like this. You might have heard of another Riga - one with a notorious reputation. After joining the EU in 2004, the word was out that Riga nightlife was some of the best in Europe. Cheap airlines made ‘Travel Riga’ the new watchwords. Soon Riga nightlife was on every clubber, stag party and hedonist's party agenda. At the same time, compared to its Baltic neighbours, Riga nightlife was recognised as more wild than Tallinn Nightlife and as having more variation than Vilnius Nightlife.

However, the cocktail of easy money, impossibly beautiful Latvian women, foreign stags and an unscrupulous strip club scene, ripping off tourists, had to end.  It did with the 2008 crash. Many of the swanky bars were no longer financed by the nouveau riche; foreigners were scared off by Riga nightlife horror stories, high prices or the increasingly unfriendly vibe.  Some could simply no longer afford to visit the Latvian capital. Many Riga strip clubs went to the wall. Riga Bars, Clubs and Restaurantsbegan to drop like flies.

But, twelve months later, nightlife in Riga reinvented itself. Hip bohemian and quirky alternative bars such as Pharmacy, Leningrad, Mojo and Orange bar began to offer a friendly atmosphere, cheap alcohol, good service and a 24-7 Riga nightlife party scene. In the past 12 months new bars have begun to open literally every week - most of them not closing their doors each day until the last customer goes home. Riga nightlife now offers a truly eclectic choice of cocktail bars, Irish pubs, live music venues, dedicated sports bars, casinos, gambling halls, pool and billiards clubs, trendy dance clubs, gay clubs, shot bars, all-night cafes and gentlemen's clubs. These venues cater to Latvian- , Russian- , expat- and foreign tourist party goers.

World famous DJs have made Riga nightlife a regular fixture on their clubbing schedules. Tiesto played Essential in August 2010 and Ferry Corsten spun the tunes at Arena Riga in September 2010 (Click here to see our exclusive Riga Out There interview with Ferry Corsten). Other world-renowned DJs including David Guetta, Fat Boy Slim, Moby and Paul van Dyk have helped make Latvian nightlife the 'Ibiza of northern Europe'.

Meanwhile, many of the world's best music artists continue to flock to Latvia. The likes of Massive Attack, Morrissey and even the Wedding Present have toured in Riga. In the past 2 years Muse, the Scissor Sisters, Moby, the Happy Mondays, the Manic Street Preachers and Travis have been amongst the star names performing at Latvian music festivals.

If you are interested in experiencing the very best of Riga nightlife and want to avoid the shady strip clubs and rip-off joints then it is certainly in your best interests to get all the latest inside information from a Riga Out There nightlife guide in a Bar & Club Briefing. With the help of our Riga Best Nightlife Guide, we will tell you which RigaClubs and Riga Bars are hot and where are not!

We know, because we live and party here in Riga - enjoying 365 Friday nights a year. 

Interested in partying in Riga? Perhaps you are also wanting some more information on Belgrade Nightlife, Tallinn Nightlife, Vilnius Nightlife, Krakow Nightlife, Warsaw Nightlife, Prague Nightlife, Budapest Nightlife, Kiev Nightlife and Bratislava Nightlife.

Latvia brands itself as the ‘Land that Sings’, it is therefore quite appropriate that its Riga is rapidly becoming the party capital of Europe. The vibrancy, diversity and style of Riga’s nightlife culture rivals, if not superior, to its neighboring European counterparts.   Milan’s design, London’s variety, Berlin’s atmosphere, Paris’ chic – Riga has the cosmopolitan mix that any serious party-goer will revel and be blown away by. 

Riga's nighlife caters for all interests and moods. From deep funky house to dirty drum ‘n bass, smooth jazz to hardcore techno – whatever your pulse you can certainly feel the beat in Riga's clubs and bars! And the beauty of Riga, is that unlike many other European city’s, you can access all Riga's hot spots with relative ease. There is no need for planes, trains and automobiles to cruise from bar to club in Riga. More so, we can offer you access to a VIP entrance in a club. Although, after a few drinks Riga's old town can appear to all look the same – therefore it can be advantageous to gain the assistance and knowledge of a guide or a local.

Whilst on the topic of walking Riga's streets at night – do exactly that – keep to the streets!  There have been incidents, where people have been mugged in Riga's parks for their money and personal possessions. You can avoid this happening, by keeping to the lit pathways. Avoid the temptation to take a short cut through a park, this could save you some time, but also could cost you a lot of money and some cuts and bruises.

In general, Riga is a very safe and hospitable city, if you treat the people and environment around you with respect and courtesy your time here will be one of enjoyment and engagement!  Start stepping out of line and you might not be so warmly welcomed! One must appreciate and understand, that incredible transformations have occurred to Latvia in the last 15 years, this sense of flux has given the city its truly vibrant and electric atmosphere.  But please be sympathetic to the nature of dealing with change, there are always some adjustments and compromises that have to be made. Everyday Latvia and its people are gaining new experiences.

Riga marvels itself as one of, if not the, cleanest city in Europe. Lets keep it this way! Cigarette butts, your cheeseburger wrapper – find a bin. There are enough of them!!!  This cleanliness does not only apply to litter – recreational drugs are not common domain in Riga. You will be refreshed to see that in clubs and bars people do not need a superficial high to have a good time. The music, atmosphere and awesome cocktails are certainly sufficient.

Where can one go to soak up the Riga’s fantastic nightlife juices….a good place to start is the Skyline bar on the 26th floor of the Hotel Latvija. The view is breathtaking, especially watching the sun set over Parduagava. During the winter months I would recommend, frequenting the Skyline to thaw out by supping on a Balzams with hot blackcurrent. This excellent viewpoint will allow you to almost trace your footprints in the snow on where you went that day!

If you simply want to wind away a few hours supping a beer and listening to the Blues – Riga'sBites Blues Klubs is the key. It will certainly unlock your little box of rhythm from within.

Riga has a reputation of being a city that never sleeps…..or is it simply a case that one cannot sleep in Riga?! Either way I would have to agree with both statements.  The nightclubs in Riga do not seem to shut and it is very difficult to pull yourself away from hedonistic vibe unique to Riga.

For a dark and dirty underground Riga nightclub, Depo is the venue! Live bands and alternative music create the foundations for this inimitable framework of noise. Anything goes here and it is very easy to be drawn deeper and deeper in to the tunnel of pulsating lights and extra ordinary beats.

Ask any local where the best club in Riga is and I can almost guarantee their answer will be ‘Pulkvedis’. A club that words cannot do justice to describe – I simply have to say that you must ‘experience it to believe it!’

The Riga nightclub that is currently riding high on a crest of wave is Club Essential. The Riga club’s electric atmosphere and vibrant intensity hits you like a bolt of lightning.  As you swim amongst the tide of Riga party-goers, between the 5 rooms, one forgets that occasionally you need to stop to catch a breath of fresh air. You cannot prepare yourself for this encounter; one should enjoy the ride and let the wave take you to paradise.

As you stroll round Riga's old town you will be handed countless number of fliers for the many Riga striptease bars that are emerging in Riga. Representatives will endeavor to entice you in to the glowing neon lights and glamorous hot spots. But be warned entertainment of these sorts does not come cheap – you are expected to pay up to 30 LVL for a drink and a chat with one of the establishment’s personnel. It has been reported that in one of the Riga's striptease bars a bottle of whiskey can cost 5000LS.