Publications

People alongside the shores of the Baltic Sea have kitchens with gifts from the forest, meadows, rivers, lakes and the sea.  During the brief Nordic summer, there are carefully grown goodies from small gardens and farms.  People think about future generations and use environmentally friendly farming methods so that the ingredients are fresh, clean, healthy and nutritious. Throughout the year, Baltic cuisine features rye bread, grains, fresh and fermented dairy products, and various cheeses.  During the spring and summer, there are lighter dishes of fresh vegetables, herbs, berries, mushrooms and fish.  During the winter and fall, the cuisine becomes substantial with meat, vegetables, legumes, pickled, marinated and spicy dishes that are supplemented with warming and aromatic spices. It is a matter of honour to prepare food from high-quality ingredients that are bought from trustworthy local manufacturers and suppliers.  For that reason, it is best to taste oysters and shrimp in Denmark, salmon in Norway, liquorice in Finland, kama flour in Estonia, baked lampreys in Latvia, zeppelins in Lithuania, asparagus in Germany and rose petal jam in Poland.  Bon appétit! ...  more

The „Latvian Heritage” sign of culture is meant for tourism businesspeople in Latvia who preserve and popularise Latvian cultural heritage by presenting it to visitors.

The sign was established at the initiative of „Lauku ceļotājs” so as to honour and create Latvia’s cultural and household heritage as it exists today. The sign will indicate locations where owners are prepared to provide information to visitors, show things, serve Latvian dishes, teach crafts and skills, and celebrate Latvian festivals. The sign of Latvian heritage will be given to accommodations, farms, craftspeople, countryside saloons, organisers and directors of events related to Latvian traditions, museums, collections, and specialists in various skills and crafts. The sign has been presented since 2013 in partnership with the Latvian Ministry of Culture and the Latvian Association of Local Government...  more

9 cycling routes, 240 tourism objects, how to travel to and around the Baltic States.

This cycling map contains brief descriptions of 9 cycling routes withing the three Baltic States as well as descriptions of 240 tourism objects found along the
cycling routes. There are also marked local cafes and pubs in the map, where we recommend to have a meal. Several routes or their separate sections can be combined
together. The Baltic landscape is gentle rolling hills.None of the featured routes are particularly difficult and most routes are suitable for beginners.
More detailed route descriptions are available at www.tours.countryholidays.lv...  more

Latvia has a wealth of culinary traditions, because the country is at the crossroads of Europe, and so influences from other nations have come from the East and the West over the course of centuries. Latvian cuisine is distinctly seasonal, because we have four seasons, and each of them offers specific products and tasty treats.

During the springtime, Latvians eagerly await the availability of birch juice. They grow green onions on windowsills. Onion skins are used to dye Easter eggs. Sorrel is sought out in gardens or meadows. Tarts with rhubarb are baked.

The summer begins with wild and garden strawberries. Summer Solstice would not be Summer Solstice without caraway seed cheese and beer. Summer also involves new potatoes, cherries, tomatoes from the garden, ice cream, fresh honey, herbal teas and aromatic apples...  more

Go Rural is a manual of rural tourism in Latvia for tourists as well as travel professionals.

In this brochure we try to show Latvia through its best products and people who produce and grow them. We bring out rural feeling and places where you could go and relax as if visiting your grandma in the countryside. Fruits and vegetables in the gardens are available for your own picking.

Several tours are ideal for families with children. During these tours children can see and learn from where the food is coming, feed and pat some farm animals and enjoy nature...  more

The rural tourism associations in Latvia (Lauku Ceļotājs) and Estonia (Eesti Maaturism) have prepared a map related to cultural heritage which indicates 150 outstanding places where objects and traditions characteristic for various regions are maintained and offered to travellers as sources of interest. The understanding of cultural heritage is very broad, and this map invites users to visit craftspeople and their workshops, those who prepare local and traditional foods and beverages, small producers of farm products, fishermen, places where annual celebrations such as solstices are celebrated, biological and health- related farms, little saloons, museums and their collections, industrial monuments, the historical centres of cities, ethnographic villages and territories, thematic events related to history, reconstructions of historical events, sacral locations and buildings, certain castles and manor estates, places where national souvenirs can be purchased, trails and routes, and other destinations where there are special products for travellers. Here you will find a map of Latvia and Estonia with places where cultural heritage can be found, complete with descriptions of destinations and contact information for accommodations...  more

The Baltic Sea region is the most wooded territory in Europe. Unlike other parts of the continent, this region saw the emergence of forests over the course of 12,000 years after the last so-called Baltic Ice Age. Since the region covers a fairly large part of Europe, it is rather diverse. Boreal coniferous forests dominate in the northern stretches, while temperate broadleaf forests are found in the central and southern parts. The Baltic States and Belarus are located in the transition zone between these two types of forests. This is one of the reasons why great biological diversity is observed in the territory. The swamp forests that are found there are often known as ‘the Northern rainforests’.

The forest is an integral component of the Northern European landscape and cultural environment. Over the course of ages, forests and trees have served as sources of inspiration, leading to countless legends, stories, fairy tales and riddles as a very important part of the intangible folklore heritage of Northern European peoples. The forest has always been an important source of timber and non-timber...  more