Latvia
Jurmala
Latvia's seaside resort: a pine-backed beach, wooden villas and a spa tradition, half an hour from Riga.
Jurmala is Latvia's seaside resort, a narrow ribbon of pine-backed villages strung for some 30 km between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River, half an hour west of Riga by train. A long, pale sandy beach runs its whole length, behind it stand streets of wooden Art Nouveau and resort villas, and at its western end the sulphur springs and mud of Kemeri gave it two centuries of spa history that its sanatoriums and spa hotels still carry on.
Suggested stay
1–4 days
Language
Latvian, Russian
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Jurmala
The beach one long sandy shore backed by pine dunes, shallow and gentle enough for families
Wooden villas streets of carved, verandahed summer houses from the resort's heyday, many restored and some still crumbling
Spa tradition Kemeri's sulphur springs and mud started a health resort that its spa hotels still continue
Easy escape a commuter train from Riga drops you a short walk from the sand
Best time to visit
May-Sep
17-24° days
56.973° N, 23.789° E
UTC+3 · Europe/Riga
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Weather & when to go to Jurmala
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Sep
Wellness prime all year
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Jurmala
November to March is cold, dark and grey, and the beach and Jomas iela go quiet, though the spa hotels stay open and a winter spa break is a long local habit. July and August weekends are crowded with Riga day-trippers, and the sea is only really swimmable in high summer.
Top things to do in Jurmala
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Jurmala beach - pale sand under the pines
nature wildlife 👍 PopularThe beach runs almost unbroken from Lielupe to Kemeri, with the busiest stretch at Majori and Dzintari and quieter sand further west. The water stays shallow a long way out, which makes it popular with families.
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Jomas iela - Majori's pedestrian main street
food shopping 👍 PopularThe resort's main street, a long pedestrian strip of cafes, restaurants, shops and old villas running parallel to the beach. It is where everyone ends up on a summer evening, a short walk through the dunes from the sea.
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Wooden villas - Art Nouveau and resort architecture
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedJurmala keeps one of the largest collections of wooden resort architecture in the Baltics: summer houses with carved gables, verandahs and turrets, many in Art Nouveau style. The quiet streets of Dzintari, Majori and Dubulti are the best for wandering.
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Kemeri National Park - the Great Kemeri Bog boardwalk
nature wildlife scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA boardwalk loop crosses a raised bog of pools, moss and stunted pines, with an observation tower for the view over it. The national park also takes in forest, coastal lakes and the sulphur springs that made Kemeri famous.
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Kemeri resort park - sulphur springs and the spa heritage
wellness historyThe old spa quarter at Jurmala's western end, with a landscaped park, footbridges and pavilions over the stream, and the white 1930s Kemeri Hotel nearby. It is the place to see where the resort's health tradition began.
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Spa hotels and sanatoriums - a spa break by the sea
wellness 👍 PopularJurmala's spa hotels and sanatoriums offer pools, saunas, massages, mud and mineral-water treatments in every season, and are why many visitors come outside summer.
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Dzintari Forest Park - an observation tower above the pines
nature wildlife scenicA pine forest park between the railway and the beach, with a tall observation tower looking over the treetops to the sea, plus playgrounds and a skate park that make it a family favourite.
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Dzintari Concert Hall - summer music in the pines
culture arts nightlife musicA 1930s concert hall set among the trees near the beach, with an open-air auditorium that hosts classical, jazz and pop concerts through the summer season.
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Rainis and Aspazija houses - the national poets' summer homes
history culture artsLatvia's best-loved poet couple spent their summers in Jurmala. The summer house in Majori where Rainis died and Aspazija's later home in Dubulti are kept as memorial museums.
Best areas to stay in Jurmala
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Majori
First-time visitors $$The resort's busy beach and street centre
Explore hotels in Majori →
Dzintari
Quiet villa streets $$$Grand villas, pines and the concert hall
Explore hotels in Dzintari →
Lielupe
Families and river lovers $$Pine dunes between river and sea
Explore hotels in Lielupe →
Kemeri
Spa and nature $$Old spa village by the national park
Explore hotels in Kemeri →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Jurmala
Getting to & around Jurmala
Getting there
Fly into Riga (RIX), then about 20-30 min west by taxi or car, or by train via Riga
Flight
Riga International Airport (RIX)
The airport sits between Riga and Jurmala, so a taxi or rental car reaches Majori in about 20-30 minutes. By public transport, most people head into Riga and take the train back out along the coast.
Train
Majori station
Frequent electric trains on the Riga-Tukums line run from Riga Central Station along the whole resort, about 30 min to Majori
Coach
Buses and minibuses from Riga run along the main road through the resort
Drive
About 30 min from Riga on the main highway west; vehicles pay an entry charge at the resort boundary
Getting around
Train
The Riga-Tukums line stops at every resort village from Lielupe to Kemeri, the easiest way along the coast
TBC
Walking
Majori, Dzintari and Dubulti run into each other, and the beach itself is the best footpath between them
Free
Bicycle
Flat streets, a long cycle path and firm sand at the water's edge make cycling the natural way to explore
TBC
Local bus
Local buses and minibuses run along the main road and reach parts of the resort away from the stations
TBC
Day trips from Jurmala
Riga
Full dayOld Town and Art Nouveau
Latvia's capital, with a Hanseatic Old Town of church spires and guild halls, the Central Market in its old Zeppelin hangars and whole streets of Art Nouveau facades in the Quiet Centre.
Getting there
train | car
About 30 min by train from Majori
Great Kemeri Bog
Half dayRaised bog boardwalk
The boardwalk loop and observation tower in Kemeri National Park, best early or late in the day when the light lies low over the bog pools.
Getting there
car
About 25 min by car from Majori
Rundale Palace
Full dayBaroque palace
A Baroque palace by Rastrelli, the architect of St Petersburg's Winter Palace, with restored state rooms and formal French gardens, set in open farmland near the Lithuanian border.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1.5 hr south by car or tour
A little history of Jurmala
Jurmala, Latvian for seaside, began as a string of fishing villages on the sand spit between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. In the early 19th century Riga families started taking summer houses and sea baths here, while at the western end the sulphur springs and mud of Kemeri grew into a spa resort.
The railway from Riga to Tukums opened the coast to day-trippers and summer residents, and the villages filled with wooden villas. Between the wars the resort villages became a single town, and the Kemeri Hotel and Dzintari Concert Hall date from that time. In the Soviet era Jurmala became one of the Union's best-known resorts, lined with sanatoriums, before Latvia restored its independence in 1991.
Riga families begin summering and sea bathing along the coast
Kemeri is established as a spa resort around its sulphur springs
The Riga-Tukums railway opens along the coast
Latvia declares independence
The resort villages from Lielupe to Vaivari are joined as the town of Rigas Jurmala
The Kemeri Hotel and the Dzintari Concert Hall are completed
Rigas Jurmala, Sloka and Kemeri merge into the single town of Jurmala
Latvia restores its independence
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+371
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Jurmala
▸ When is the best time to visit Jurmala?
May to September has the best weather. July and August are the beach season, with the warmest sea and the busiest weekends; June brings the longest days and Midsummer. November to March is cold and dark and the beach is empty, but the spa hotels stay open all year.
▸ Can I visit Jurmala as a day trip from Riga?
Easily. Trains from Riga Central Station take about half an hour to Majori, and many visitors spend a day on the beach and Jomas iela. Stay a night or two for a spa break, the villa streets or a morning at the Kemeri bog.
▸ Which station should I get off at?
Majori for Jomas iela and the main beach, Dzintari for the forest park and concert hall, Dubulti for the quieter villa streets and Kemeri for the spa park. The beach is a few minutes' walk from most stations.
▸ Is the sea warm enough to swim in?
In high summer, yes. The Gulf of Riga is shallow and sheltered, so it warms more than the open Baltic, and the beach shelves gently. Outside July and August the water is cold for most swimmers.
▸ Can I drive into Jurmala?
Yes, but vehicles pay an entry charge at the resort boundary, and parking near Majori is tight on summer weekends. The train is usually the easier option.
▸ Is Jurmala expensive?
It is one of the pricier places to stay in Latvia, especially beachside in Majori and Dzintari in July and August. Outside summer, and in the villages further west, rates are noticeably lower.