Ärlig rundtur i Riga med stadens bästa privata guide

Harijs came up when I searched for the best tours in Riga, and he absolutely lived up to that billing. His business, Honest Tours, offers exactly what the name suggests. We arranged a full day private tour by email, bespoke to our cruise schedule, covering the old town, the art deco neighbourhoods, contemporary Riga and lunch. A mix of walking and being driven around the city. What sets Harijs apart is his storytelling. He draws on his own lived experience to bring Riga to life in a way that no scripted tour could replicate. Childhood memories of the Russians coming for Latvia again, lazy summer afternoons watching hockey in the city centre. It feels personal and authentic rather than rehearsed. We walked the old town, stepped inside a church to see the extraordinary organ, wandered through the market in the old zeppelin hangars and tasted local cheese and bread. The art deco quarter was a real highlight. We also drove through the Soviet era residential blocks, which gave a fascinating dimension to the city’s more recent history. Lunch was at a local restaurant chosen by Harijs, with genuine Latvian food that was excellent. Honestly one of the highlights of the entire cruise. If you are stopping in Riga, do not hesitate.

We had great time with Harijs. He is very knowledgeable and acts and talks like he enjoys what he does. He has an answer for all the questions so this is a perfect way of getting to know Riga and we recommend 100%. Thank you Harijs!

We had a fantastic day with Harijs. He thoroughly covered aspects of Latvian history with humour emotion and personal insight as we walked through the old town and the nouveau district. He also took us to a local kiosk for lovely coffee and pastries. The round trip took us back to our hotel . We loved Riga and would book Harijs without hesitation if we are lucky enough to return.

tour was informative and a great way to see the town. Our guide made it fun as well as educationaland was happy to answer all our questions. We usually get a map and guide book but we would have missed so much. Highly recommend the tour and guide

Best guide. Best van! The guide knows all history and animals and trees! Stopped at lively overlooks. Drinks and snacks on board. Couldn't have had a better experience!

What a great day we had with Honest Tours of Riga. Our guide was so pleasant and knowledgable of the area history and architecture. Love having a local private guide since you get more than a generic tour....great to hear personal experiences from a local. Highly recommend booking this tour!

I just can’t heap enough praise on this tour or on Harijs - I’ve done a lot of walking tours in a lot of cities and this is one of the very best, as is Harijs. Witty, informative, entertaining and at times also moving, he was even better than his reviews. He customised our itinerary as we all wanted to add some tastings at Central Market and he made it incredibly simple to do that - he was very quick and easy to communicate with during and after the booking process - and throughout the tour itself responded so willingly to our questions and digressions, clearly adding more information and expanding on things as he - and we- saw where our interests lay. He was very funny and utterly engaging. Some of what he told us was also deeply moving and we ended up with a real understanding of the history of Latvia and particularly what the inter- and post-war decades have meant to its people, and even how it felt to live through some of them. He brought Riga, its life, its culture, its history vividly and often hilariously to life, and he made the rest of our time in the city immeasurably richer. His mother and some of his friends are completely right - he absolutely is the best private guide of Riga. Book him today - you know you want to, and you definitely should.

Our group of 12 spent two days with Harijs, touring Sigulda and Riga's Old Town, and had a wonderful experience. He designed the two days of touring based on our initial input, and continued to be flexible throughout the two days, as we made requests to adjust the schedule and work in one or two changes. We saw a broad range of Riga's highlights, and learned a ton about Latvian history. And we also got a great sense for modern Latvian culture, attitudes, and what life has felt like for the local population during the last couple years. Oh, and we got a taste of Latvia while visiting the market! Harijs was funny, engaging, and the many hours we spent with him seemed to pass very quickly, as his storytelling made the experience a lot of fun. He conducted the tour in flawless English, and was also comfortable switching to Russian for those in our group who speak it. And his love for Latvia came through constantly, even when undercut by his self-deprecating humor about the "lowly" achievements of his little country (e.g. in the olympics, as he introduced us to one of only ~10 bobsled tracks operating anywhere in the world). He clearly loves his country, and nowhere was that more evident than in the closing stages of our Riga Tour when he recounted the history of the Barricades, Latvians' heroic confrontation with Soviet forces sent to clamp down on Latvia's declared independence. Tour logistics were handled smoothly (coordinating a bus for us, managing the timing, breaks, etc.) throughout, and the whole experience worked well for kids and adults in our group. We would absolutely recommend Harijs to anyone looking for a great guide and a great tour, and we'd happily use Honest Tours again in the future!

I was in a group of eight friends, Anete greeted us and apologised for the change of plan in guide. Anete needn't have apologised, as she did an amazing job of showing us around Old Town and explaining the history of the sights, attractions and rich architecture. Everyone in the group was delighted with the experience and impressed with how well Anete kept us informed, engaged and interested, using personal stories from her life and even surprised us with a lovely singing voice to add colour to tour. Thank you to Anete from everyone in our group, Chris.

My extended family (3 generations) spent two fantastic days in the company of (without any doubt) the best private guide in Riga. And to say that Harijs is the best is really to say nothing. He is very knowledgable, very passionate about Latvia and its history, very attentive, has a very nice sense of humor, and has an absolutely great personality. It is possible to list another half a dozen "very" with other Harij's' qualities but it still. will not be enough to describe how good he is. From the very beginning before we even arrived in Latvia when I was arranging the tours Harijs was very helpful with suggestions on how to fit as much as possible into the two days of sightseeings. He combined the historic tour of Riga with the Taste of Riga tour and hired a minibus for the second day to show our group of 12 people Sigulda, the Turaida castle, and a lot of other places in the Latvian Switzerland as the Sigulda area is sometimes called. Although some in our group used to live in Riga and thought that we knew the city well, a lot of facts that we learned from Harijs were new for us. Harijs's English was perfect. And last but not least he was very flexible and accommodating to our requests during the tours although this extended the length of the tours and the time that he spent with us. To those reading this review I can give only one advice: if you want to have the best private guide in Riga go with Harijs. You will not regret!