The Summer Palace in Rundale was designed by the Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli and built between 1736 and 1740 as a summer residence for the Duke of Courland, Ernst Johann Biron. As the duke was the favourite of the Russian empress Anna Ivanovna who ruled Russia from 1730 to 1740, many believed that it was the Duke of Courland who had actual power in the Russian empire as long as Anna Ivanovna ruled the country. This changed abruptly when the empress died from a stomach disease at the early age of 47 in 1740.

Shooting a movie is usually very expensive and takes several months or even years to finish. However, west of Riga, there is a film studio ready to help any group make a movie in one day & it does not cost a fortune! Costumes and effects are ready, so is the script, even though some improvisation is possible.

The European Union Council for Education, Youth and Culture has decided that in 2014 Riga will be the official European Capital of Culture. It will share this honour with the Swedish city of Umea.

As the World Capital of Art Nouveau, in 2009 Riga finally got its own Art Nouveau Museum. The museum is located on the fabulous Albert street in the apartment that used to belong to the most productive Art Nouveau architect in the world, Konstantins Peksens.

Since 2008 it is possible to see Riga from a totally new perspective & legendary pop group ABBA is linked to a series of new wooden boats that started cruising on the canal of Riga. Riga is the world-capital of Art Nouveau, some of the wooden boats cruising on the beautiful canal of Riga are also Art Nouveau boats, like the boat “Darling” built in Sweden and previously owned by one of the ABBA family members.

Every company flows on business waters just like a ship on a windy night: it is much more about the crew that makes the boat to overcome the stormy waters than the vessel itself. Build (train / put to test / call it as you wish) your crew with a set of our challenging tailor-made activities while on board of a huge fishing ship from the Soviet period!

Where the Baltics end, Russia begins. And it begins in Pskov. Being for centuries Russia’s outpost to the west, Pskov developed to become one of the most marvellous Russian cities with a Kremlin larger that the one in Moscow. Ever dreamed about painting your own icon? This is possible in Pskov, home to one of Russia’s leading icon painting schools.

As Germans invented the Christmas tree, the people in Riga invented the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree in the year 1510. In Riga people still discuss how much alcohol was to be blamed for this tradition that we now have around the world; to put a lot of decorations on our Christmas tree.

Discover and unwind at our Nations’ history and traditions as you bring your executive board to one of our hidden treasures that time and our respect for the past have preserved. The Baltic Countries richness dates back to the times when the Hanseatic League was at its highest: a rich bourgeoisie of merchants and landowners that invested their wealth in beautiful castles, flamboyant manors and luxurious gardens.