Museums and galleries in Riga

39 museums and galleries in Riga, from the big collections to small independent spaces.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

SeeVecrīga
Arsenal Museum of Art
Arsenal Museum of Art is one of the largest exhibition halls in Riga. It is located in an important architectural monument – a customs warehouse or arsenal built at the beginning of the 19th century in the late Russian Classicism style. It was adapted for museum use in the second half of the 1980s.
Apr-Sep: Tue-Sun 11:00-19:00, Oct-Mar: Tue-Sun 11:00-17:00
SeeVecrīga
Art Gallery Bastejs
Contemporary art from Baltic states. Solo and group exhibitions.
Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Art Museum Riga Bourse
The Art Museum Riga Bourse stores the largest collection of foreign art in the Baltic states.
Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00Adults €6; students, seniors €3
SeeCentrs
Former KGB Building
The former KGB building is actually an attractive, ornate historic building at the corner of Brivibas and Stabu. It stood empty for years, but for the 2014 celebration of Riga becoming the European Capital of Culture it was revived with a number of artistic initiatives taking place there. It is now a branch of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, holding a general exhibition about the KGB activities, and guided tours of the cellar where interrogations took place.
Mon Tue Thu Fri 10:00-17:30, Wed 12:00-19:00, Sat Sun 10:00-16:00exhibition free, €5 for a guided tour of the KGB cellar
DrinkCentrs
Galerija Istaba
Literally, room. An art gallery with a small café with 5 tables. Popular for its cozy atmosphere.
Mon-Sat 12:00-23:00
SeeVecrīga
House of the Blackheads
Melngalvju nams
The House of Blackheads is where the merchants-to-be had their guild. Part of this building is the tourist information office, the rest is a fascinating museum. The upper levels house grand ballrooms while the basement has a wine cellar and several exhibits relating to trading in Riga.
€7, €1.50 students
SeeVecrīga
LUMAS Riga
LUMAS Art Gallery offer latest movements in the young art scene.
Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00; Sat Sun 11:00-18:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Latvian Museum of Pharmacy
In a renovated 18th-century house. The museum showcases pharmaceutical equipment, traditional medicine and herbs and what pharmacies looked like a century ago.
Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00Pupils €0.71; students, seniors €1.14; adults €2.13
SeeVecrīga
Latvian National Museum of Art
Latvian National Museum of Art is the most significant depository in the nation for works of art.
Tue-Thu 10:00-18:00; Fri 10:00-20:00; Sat Sun 10:00-17:00Adults €6; students, seniors €3
SeeVecrīga
Latvian Parliament
Saeima
A rather plain building housing the Saeima, Latvia's parliament. It has had a number of uses, including as a Soviet-era museum. Not open to visitors.
SeeVecrīga
Latvian Photographic Museum
Contains photos of Latvia since 1839, with focuses on the World Wars and 1905 Revolution.
Pupils €0.57, students €0.85, adults €2.13
SeeVecrīga
Latvian Sports Museum
Historic sports equipment and sportswear, photographs from a variety of sporting events.
10:00-17:00 (closed Sundays)Adults €0.71; school children, students, seniors €0.43; children aged 6 and under, people with disabilities free
SeeVecrīga
Latvian artists union museum
The collection covers the period from 1945 to 1991 in Latvia.
Wed Thu 10:00-17:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Literature and music museum
For about 50 years it was a large union of memorial houses devoted to a range of writers. The latest reorganisation in 2009 has resulted in more simple and recognizable establishment – Literature and Music Museum.
Under €3 per person
SeeVecrīga
Mentzendorff House
Former residence of a wealthy merchant built in 1720, now a museum dedicated to life in Riga in the 17th & 18th centuries.
Wed-Sun 11:00-17:00Adults €1.42, students €0.71, pupils: €0.57
SeeCentrs
Museum 'Jews in Latvia' and Jewish Community
Small museum dedicated to Jewish life in Latvia since the 16th century. Includes information on destruction of the synagogues by the Nazis, and the Latvians that saved Jews during the Holocaust. Exhibits are in English and Latvian.
Sun-Thu 11:00-17:00, Closed Fri SatFree, donations welcomed
SeeVecrīga
Museum of Ancient Baltic Jewellery
The Museum of Ancient Baltic Jewellery was established by two well-known Latvian jewellers.
Mon-Sat 10:00-19:00, Sun 10:00-17:00
SeeVecrīga
Museum of Decorative Arts and Design
The Museum of Decorative and Design Art is located in the former St. George’s Church building (1204), which is the oldest stone building in Riga. It features seven collections of decorative and design art work.
10:00-17:00 (closed Mondays)Adults €10, students €5
SeeVecrīga
Museum of War
22 collections of Latvian and Soviet military equipment starting from World War I until today.
May-Sept: Wed-Sun 10:00-18:00, Oct-Apr: Wed-Sun 10:00-17:00free admission
SeeVecrīga
Museum of the Barricades of 1991
Covers the dramatic events that occurred in the tumultuous final year of the USSR, when Soviet authorities sent troops into Riga to overthrow the elected Latvian government.
Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation
Actually two museums plus a number of special exhibits, though you pay one price. English, German and Russian descriptions of each permanent collections are provided in a booklet inside each exhibit hall. Both of the main museums are quite interesting, and they provide a good idea of what Riga was like in the past.
May-Sep: daily 11:00-17:00, Oct-May: Wed-Sun 11:00-17:00€5 plus more for photo permission
SeeVecrīga
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
This noticeable and austere black building is clearly out-of-place. In the Soviet days, this housed a museum to the Red Riflemen, a group of Latvians who volunteered for the service to Russia during the Russian revolution of 1917. Now it houses a museum of Latvia's time under the Nazi and Soviet occupations. Very long, but very moving – essential for anyone interested in the history of the USSR or Nazi Germany. Outside the building away from the town square stands the Soviet-era Monument to the Riflemen.
€8
SeeVecrīga
National History Museum of Latvia
The History Museum is interesting, however there is little English (every room has its exhibits summarized on a single plaque). However, the museum does give a very good idea of Latvian history, and will give you a good understanding of the area.
10:00-17:00 (closed Mondays)Adults EUR 3.00; pupils €0.75; students, seniors €1.50
SeeCentrs
National Museum of Art
Latvian National Museum of Art is the most significant depository in the nation for works of art. Houses many works by Latvian artists.
Tue-Thu 10:00-18:00, Fri 10:00-20:00, Sat Sun 10:00-17:00Adults €6; students, seniors €3
SeeVecrīga
Porcelain Museum
Covers the history of porcelain in Riga through the 19th and 20th centuries.
11:00-18:00 (closed Mondays)Adults €5.00, children €3.50, free for preschoolers
SeePārdaugava
Riga Aviation Museum
Bored at the airport? Check out the Riga Aviation museum, which contains several rare aircraft.
Closed · opens 9 am tomorrow€5
SeeVecrīga
Riga Castle
Rīgas Pils
One of the medieval castles in Latvia, on the bank of the river, which is now the seat of the Latvian president. The museum in the castle can be visited by the public.
SeeOuter East Bank
Riga Ethnographic Open Air Museum
Latvijas Etnogrāfiskais Brīvdabas Muzejs
The museum is in Jugla, near a lake of the same name. There are many traditional Latvian countryside houses collected in a forest/park and exhibitions inside them about the traditional things. The employees are often dressed in the traditional Latvian costumes, creating a nice atmosphere.
SeeVecrīga
Riga Fashion museum
Only fashion museum in the Baltics, created in one of the most popular tourist attractions in Old Riga opposite to the House of the Blackheads.
Daily 11:00-19:00Adults €7; pupils, students and seniors €5; children under 5 years free
SeeVecrīga
Riga Film Museum
This museum holds various exhibitions that display different aspects of cinema art, actors and film history.
Tue Wed 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00-20:00, Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00Adults €3.50; students, pupils, seniors €1.80
SeeCentrs
Riga Ghetto Museum
The museum, which encompasses a relocated historic wooden house and cobblestones from the Jewish ghetto created by Nazi Germany in occupied Riga during the Second World War, documents both the history of the ghetto and the tragic fates of Riga's Jewish population who perished in the Holocaust. It also attempts to recall Jewish community life from before the war.
Sun-Thu 10:00-18:00, except Jewish religious holidaysVoluntary donations - €5 suggested
SeeVecrīga
Sun Museum
One of Riga's weirdest museums, it covers the history of sun mythology and its role in Latvian culture.
Daily 09:00-18:00Adults €4.00, students/seniors €3.50
SeeVecrīga
The Three Brothers
The oldest dwelling houses in Riga. One of them has a small architecture museum inside, along with changing exhibits about Latvia.
Tue-Thu 09:00-17:00, Fri 09:00-16:00
SeePārdaugava
Theatre Museum
Eduard Smilgis Museum of Theatre
Located in the eccentrically designed and furnished pre-war house of a former director of Riga Daile Theatre and one of the key figures in Latvian theatre of the 20th century.
Wed-Sun 11:00-18:00€0.70-3.00
SeeVecrīga
Art Gallery Putti
Riga art gallery since 2000.
Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00; Sat Sun 11:00-18:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Art gallery "Jēkabs"
Jēkabs art gallery offers exhibitions and fine art auctions.
Mon-Fri 11:00-20:00, Sat 11:00-15:00Free
SeeVecrīga
Gallery Makslas Banka
Individual and group fine art gallery.
Mon-Sat 11:00-18:00
SeePārdaugava
Latvian Railway History Museum
Exhibits several collections of Soviet rolling stock.
Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00
SeeOuter East Bank
Riga Motor Museum
Contains former vehicles of Stalin, Kruschev, and Brezhnev.
daily 10:00-18:00€10

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Riga (CC BY-SA 4.0).