Riga has embraced its Soviet-era past while enjoying something of a renaissance.
There is no clear-cut winner from the election in the tiny Baltic nation that is a member of the EU and NATO but whose population is 25 per cent ethnic Russians.
Feel the former Eastern Bloc shrug off its dour image in the Latvian capital city,where a demure facade gives way to a place of surprising life and energy.
Flat terrain,ancient castles and picturesque lakes and forests:Few cycling routes offer as much as the Baltics.
Ute Junker looks back on the hottest destinations of 2014 and explains why they are the sizzling places to be.
With a song in his heart,Adrian Bridge revisits Latvia,Lithuania and Estonia 20 years after independence.
Cathrin Schaer dodges the tourist traps and ends upon the wrong side of the tracks.