Christmas in Riga 2025 vs 2019: honest comparison

Six years apart, same square

We visited Riga’s Christmas market for the first time in December 2019. We came back in December 2025. The market occupies the same Doma laukums (Cathedral Square) it always has, and the tree — Riga claims to have invented the decorated Christmas tree in 1510, a claim the Tallinn tourist board contests with equal conviction — was lit in roughly the same spot under the Cathedral clock tower.

What follows is a genuinely comparative account: what changed, what stayed the same, what got better, and where we were disappointed. Christmas in Riga in 2025 is not the same city-break as it was in 2019. The question is whether those changes make it better or worse for the kind of trip you are planning.

The market itself: Cathedral Square

In 2019, Cathedral Square hosted a medium-sized market with perhaps 60 stalls — mulled wine (ķēse, the Latvian version, made with wine, honey, and spices), smoked meats, handmade amber jewelry, Christmas ornaments, pottery, knitwear. The quality of crafts varied. The food was straightforward and good. Prices were low — a mug of mulled wine cost €2.50 and you kept the ceramic cup.

In 2025, the market has expanded in both size and ambition. There are more stalls, a clearer distinction between craft stalls and food stalls, and more obvious quality control on what can be sold. The mulled wine mug deposit system is still in place (€2 deposit, refunded when you return the cup — excellent, actually). The Latvian smoked meat and cheese section is larger and better curated than we remembered.

What changed on the negative side: prices. The mulled wine is now €4.50, and you feel the tourist premium more than in 2019. Christmas tree ornaments that cost €8-12 in 2019 are now €15-22 for comparable items. This is partly general inflation, partly the market’s growing international profile.

What is new in 2025

The Bastejkalns ice skating rink (in the city canal park, five minutes from Cathedral Square) has been reorganised. In 2019 it was a fairly basic rink; in 2025 it has better lighting, a warming hut with a proper hot chocolate stand, and skate rental (€8-10/hour). We skated for an hour on a Sunday afternoon and it was excellent.

The Christmas programme now includes light installations along the old city wall and along Basteja bulvāris. The walk between the Freedom Monument and Cathedral Square has been turned into a light corridor that photographs well and, more importantly, actually looks good in person rather than just on Instagram.

Latvian Radio 2 live broadcasts have been moved from an outdoor stage (problematic in rain and cold) to a heated tent at the edge of the market. A minor but sensible logistical change.

What stayed the same (mostly)

The Cathedral itself is still accessible during the market period, and morning organ recitals (Concerto Piccolo) run through December. This is one of the best value experiences in winter Riga — 20 minutes of live organ music in the largest medieval church in the Baltics.

Concerto Piccolo organ recital and Riga Cathedral visit

The House of the Blackheads, decorated with festive lighting for December, remains photogenic and worth the entry fee. The canal boat tours stop in November and don’t resume until spring, so that option is off the table.

House of the Blackheads entrance ticket (skip the queue)

Pelmeni XL on Kalku iela remains the most reliable honest lunch option near the market — Soviet-nostalgic interior, dumplings for €5-7, no pretension, usually full of locals.

What got worse

The Old Town at Christmas is noticeably more crowded in 2025 than in 2019. This is partly the consequence of Riga’s growing presence on the European city-break market, and partly the market season extending (in 2025, it ran from November 28 to January 6). On weekends in December, Cathedral Square can feel genuinely packed, with limited space to move between stalls comfortably.

The Christmas light tour operators have multiplied. In 2019, you could stroll the illuminated old town without encountering guided groups every ten minutes. In 2025, there are organised walking tours every evening at 7pm and 8pm — more organised tourism, less spontaneous atmosphere.

Some of the more characterful small craft stalls we remembered from 2019 seem to have been replaced by commercially-produced items. The ratio of handmade Latvian goods to generic European Christmas market imports felt less favourable in 2025.

Best days to visit

If you can choose: weekday evenings (Tuesday to Thursday) are noticeably quieter than weekends. The market looks best in the dark (obvious, but worth saying), so arriving around 4pm in December and staying through 7–8pm is ideal. Saturday afternoons between December 15 and December 23 are the most crowded periods.

The Latvian Christmas holiday (Ziemassvētki, December 24-26) means some restaurants and most shops close or reduce hours. Plan meals around this — the Old Town tourist restaurants around Cathedral Square stay open, but at higher prices. Check which neighbourhood restaurants operate on December 24–25 before you go.

Getting to Riga for Christmas: flights and prices

Riga remains one of Western Europe’s more affordable Christmas market cities. Mid-week return flights from London, Amsterdam, or Berlin in December 2025 were available for €80-130 — considerably cheaper than Vienna, Strasbourg, or Prague. See the best time to visit Riga for a month-by-month breakdown.

Accommodation in December runs €55-120/night for a good central apartment or 3-star hotel (higher than January-February, lower than July). Book early: the window between December 5-20 fills up faster than it used to.

The honest verdict on 2025 vs 2019

Riga’s Christmas market in 2025 is bigger, better organised, and more polished than in 2019. It is also more expensive and more crowded. The light installations are genuinely better. The craft quality is higher overall but the handmade-local feel has diluted slightly.

For first-time visitors: go, it is excellent. Riga in December competes seriously with Prague and Tallinn and offers it at lower prices.

For repeat visitors from 2019 or earlier: expect more crowds and some nostalgia for the scrappier, less polished version. Arrive on a weekday, skip the busiest weekend afternoons, and you will find enough of the old atmosphere intact.

The Riga Christmas markets guide covers logistics (transport, accommodation, what to eat, budget day-by-day). The Riga in winter guide covers January and February if you want to extend the trip into the quieter deep-winter period.