Ventspils

Ventspils is a city in Kurzeme on the western coast of Latvia and one of Europe's busiest ports.

Understand
Ventspils is the Latvian flower capital and is adorned with flowers from spring till autumn. Even the City Festival on the first weekend of August is a time when florists from the Baltic States cover Promenade of Ostas iela with carpets of flowers.

Ventspils is a modern summer and sea resort city, which has all the amenities to spend a summer week at the beach and exploring the surrounding places. Its roads and sidewalks are made up of various kinds of cobblestones. Ventspils is famous for its artistic spirit and its numerous cow statues all over the city from the 2002 Cow Parade.

Due to immigration of many workers from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in the past, about 1/3 of the population of Ventspils is from those countries.



Get in
There are bus connections from Riga, Liepāja and Kuldīga. The closest railway stations with passenger service are in Tukums and Liepāja, approximately 120 km east and south of Ventspils, respectively; Ventspils has no passenger services. There is a ferry from Nynäshamn in Sweden

By bus
There are regular bus services from Riga (2½–4 hr, €7.55), Liepāja (2 times a day, 3 hr, €5.50), Kuldīga (about €3) several times a day. All buses arrive at the central Bus Station on Kuldigas iela 4. Schedules can be found on 1188.lv.

By car
The most commonly used routes are from:
 * Riga, 190 km on main highway E22 (A10)
 * Kuldīga, 60 km on highway P108
 * Liepāja, 120 km on highways P111, P108, and P110

By boat
Stena Line ferries run between Nynäshamn in Sweden and Ventspils, an 11- to 12-hour journey. These are mainly used for transport of HGV's to Sweden but passengers and small vehicles can use the service. Tickets can be purchased from an office at Ventspils Ferry Terminal.

Get around
Within the city centre, most locations can be reached on foot within 15-20 minutes at most. But cars and bicycles can travel just as easily on the roads and bicycle paths around town.

Public transportation is run by the local bus company 'Ventspils Reiss' with modern blue coloured buses and minibuses. Most bus stops have a map of the routes and schedules for the lines that stop there.

Do not trust the signs. Since most streets in Ventspils intersect at 90° angles, all signposts marking the directions to interesting or important locations are at 90° angles as well. So often a sign will be pointing in the wrong direction (if your destination lies at a different angle) or onto impassable objects such as a wall (if your destination lies behind it). So be wary and carry a map - which you can get for free at the tourist office next to the ferry terminal.

See



 * Flower artwork. At various locations throughout Ventspils there are examples of flower artwork in the streets. The flowers are arranged not only in flower-beds, but also a flower-clock and vivid flower-sculptures: The Duck Family in the Children’s Town, Lady-Birds at the Promenade of Ostas Street, Underwater World next to the Beach Waterpark, Bobsleigh Team on the main street Lielais prospects, and the newcomers The Bunny Family at the end-station Kalns of the narrow-gauge train.
 * Cow Parade: in 2002 Ventspils hosted this international art event and several of the cow sculptures still reside throughout the city.
 * Latvijas melnā (Latvian Black Cow) dwells on the Promenade of Ostas iela;
 * Pretim gaismai (Towards the Light) that usually climbs the lamp post on Pils iela next to ‘Latvenergo’ JSC;
 * Ms. Moo-Dunk the basketball cow resides near the Basketball Hall of the Olimpiskais Centrs Ventspils;
 * Dzīve ir skaista (Life is Beautiful) is situated at the Children’s Town;
 * Jūras govs (Cow of the Sea) dwells next to the Livonian Order Castle facing the River Venta;
 * Nafta (Oil) lives next to the Children’s Home Selga;
 * Londonas govs (London Cow) welcomes the residents of the camping site Piejūras kempings.
 * Ceļojošā govs (Travelling Cow) is shaped like a huge suit-case and awaits the city guests on the Promenade of Ostas iela to take some pictures;
 * Govs-Matrozis (The Sailor Cow) is a giant blue-coloured cow dressed as a seafarer and situated at the Southern Pier of Ventspils;
 * Šūpojošā govs (Cow on the Swings) is a large, but cute and girly cow sitting on the swings not far from the excursion boat Hercogs Jēkabs.
 * Šūpojošā govs (Cow on the Swings) is a large, but cute and girly cow sitting on the swings not far from the excursion boat Hercogs Jēkabs.

Do
There are a lot of things to do in Ventspils – go grab a free booklet at the castle to find some of them. The city is very-well-prepared for families with kids.

Buy

 * Ventspils Regional Market at the Market Square

Sleep
Budget accommodation is scarce in Ventspils, so it is better to continue further to Liepāja or Kuldīga. Also, Rinda, just 30 km north and a little inland, has a cheap place to stay.



Go next

 * Cape Kolka – A beautiful wild cape inside Slīteres National Park. North.
 * Irbene – Visit the world’s eighth-largest radio telescope at the Irbene Radio Astronomy Centre, located between Cape Kolka and Ventspils. Irbene was a Soviet village that is now abandoned, leaving behind dull concrete buildings.
 * Kuldīga – The capital of Duchy of Courland, Venice of Latvia, with unique and wooden architecture, red-tile roofs, bridges, cobbled streets, the widest widest waterfall ledge in Europe, and nearby the longest underground (sand) cave labyrinth in the Baltics. In the centre of Kurzeme.
 * Pāvilosta – A small fishing village with nice beach, camping and museum. South.