The narrow gauge rail line between Alūksne and Gulbene  has tracks that are 750 mm wide and was once part of a rail line between Stukmaņi and Valka.  Today it is the only passenger train on a narrow gauge railroad in Latvia, offering services every day.  The Alūksne station was opened in 1903, and 33 km line with 10 stations and other stop scan be covered in approximately 90 minutes.  A festival is held each year  -- one that is very popular among fans of small trams.

The castle was commissioned by Baron Alexander von Fittinghof and built between 1859 and 1863 in the late Tudor Neo-Gothic style.  It is one of the most important monuments to this style in Latvia and has an ornate limestone façade.  The 7th Sigulda Infantry Brigade was housed in the castle from 1921 until 1940.  Today it is home to the Alūksne Museum with a permanent exhibition and an “environmental labyrinth.”  One of the most unusual exhibits is a set of fluorescent minerals that can be viewed under lights with various spectrums.

This landscape park dates back to the latter half of the 18th century, and its initiator was the owner of the Alūksne Estate, Baron Otto Hermann von Fittinghof.  The largest park has important small buildings – the Alexander Pavilion, a temple honouring the Ancient Greek god of winds, Aeolus, the Palm House, a 1799 granite obelisk, the mausoleum for the noble family, a fountain basin that is made of a single piece of granite, as well as a set of granite benches.  This is known as one of the most beautiful parks in Vidzeme.

The Cesvaine Castle is one of Latvia’s most beautiful castles. Built in the style of Eclecticism, it is said to have been presented by its owner, Adolf von Wulff, to his wife. The castle was built between 1893 and 1896. On the banks of the Sūla River alongside the castle is the Cesvaine Park, including the afforested Cesvaine castle hill.

The Cesvaine castle roof reconstruction is complete! Visitors may tour the castle accompanied by a Cesvaine Tourism Centre guide. Restoration of the castle interior will ccontinue throughout 2020. Periodic closure of the castle can be expected. Please phone in advance to arrange a visit T. +371 26172637. For more information visit www.cesvaine.lv

This is a homestead that is three km from the centre of Vecpiebalga and is in a lovely place – the Incēni hill.  There is a museum here featuring the author of the legendary fairy tale “Pussy’s Mill” by Kārlis Skalbe (1879-1945).  The poet and prose writer built the building in 1926 and spent summers there from that year until 1944.  The museum was opened in 1987.  The western slope of Vaktskalns hill right alongside the museum offers a lovely view of Lake Alauksts.  The cremated remains of Skalbe and his wife, Lizete, were reinterred at the location in 1992 from Sweden, where the poet died.  There is a unique monument to them in the form of a stone boat.

Temple Hill is steep (with artificially created steepness) and about 30 m high, and it is opposite Marijas Island.  It is an ancient Lettigalian castle hill, 80 m long and 40 m wide, with several artificial ramparts.  One of the oldest objects found in the region is an axe from the 2nd to 3rd millennium BC.   Archaeologists believe that the island was populated at that time.  There was a Lettigalian castle on the hill during the 10th and 11th century, but it was sacked by the Holy Crusade.  The surface of the castle hill was transformed comparatively recently in 1807, when a granite rotunda was built there in honour of Russian Field Marshall Sheremetev and Swedish captain Wulff.  The view of Lake Alūksne and the town is one of the most beautiful ones in all Vidzeme.  The Sun Bridge (1937) is also worth a look.  A wooden viewing platform is nearby.

“Kalna Kaibēni” is on Kaibēni Hill (226 m above sea level) and 7 km to the West of Ineši. Nominated as Latvia’s oldest memorial museum (1929), this is a place with buildings from the 18^th and 19^th century. Inside you will see exhibits which speak to the lives and contributions of the schoolteachers and authors Reinis (1839-1920) and Matīss (1848-1926) Kaudzīte. The authentic farm includes a garden which the two brothers planted themselves, and the wooden sculptures which were produced by Krišjānis Kugra present characters from the brothers’ famous novel “Age of the Surveyors”.

The owner of the Stāmeriena Estate was Baron Johann Gottlieb von Wolff, and his wife, Sofia Potyomkina, was a member of the Russian Orthodox faith, so work on the church began in 1902.  It was consecrated two years later.  The crosses on the steeple of the church are known for mountain crystals that were presented by the Wolff dynasty.  Contact the church in advance for a tour of its interior.

Lejasciems is unique in that people from all over Latvia congregate there during the mid-summer to take part in a cemetery festival.

The 11 buildings of the museum feature farm equipment, horse-related equipment, several dozen internal combustion motors, as well as tools used by craftspeople and farmers during Latvia’s first period of independence. The annual harvest festival brings together as many as 2,000 visitors. A harvest festival features special porridge. Groups can take part in a bread programme, watching the production of bread from dough to loaf.

To the North of the Cesvaine Castle is a park that is crossed by the rapidly flowing Sūla River.  The Cesvaine castle hill is on the northern bank of the river, is around 15 m high and is covered by trees today.  The grave of the owner of the castle, Adolf von Wolff, is there.  It is said that he wanted to have his casket dragged to the gravesite on a sled.  He died during the summer, but that was done anyway.  The park features a wide diversity of trees and bushes, some of which the owner brought home from his extensive travels.

The location requires a drive through the Pērlis forest and sparsely populated areas.  Silmači features an open-air stage, which was built in the 1980s for just one performance that was staged by the Latvian National Theatre during the Summer Solstice celebration in 1986.  Ever since then, Rūdolfs Blaumanis’ famous play “Tailor Days at Silmači” has been performed here during the season.  Alongside the stage is a museum that features information about the single performance in 1986.  An original manuscript of the play (1902) can also be viewed.

Information about this stream dates back to the mid-18th century, but people used it much earlier than that.  People donated money to the stream after washing or drinking the water.  During the first half of the 19th century, the baron of Tirza and the local church waged a battle against pagan traditions, though not very successfully.  There is now a canopy over the stream, and people still drink its water.

Kakaiši is found 1 km to the South-West from Vecpiebalga, in the tiny village of Kakaiši. The Latvian writer Antons Austriņš (1884-1934) was born there and went to school in Vecpiebalga.  Austriņš is best known for the short story collection “Puiškans” (1931).  The museum features various rural objects, things associated with the author, and exhibits such as his collected works and other books that are worth visiting in the company of a guide.

Located at Pils Street 25A in Alūksne, this is a building that was initially a trade pavilion and was built in the early 20th century.  The Ernst Glück Bible Museum was established in 1990 as the only museum of its type in Latvia and the Baltic States.  Glück (1652-1705) was a pastor and educator who was the first to translate the Bible into Latvian.  The exhibition features various editions of the Bible from 1694 to the present day in 38 languages, along with books of sermons and other examples of Christian literature.

The museum at Egļava has an exhibition about forestry in Latvia before and after World War II.  The exhibit features forestry tools and equipment, as well as textiles from the former Balvi District along with samples of ceramics and woodworking.  The former forest ranger house has rooms to provide accommodations to guests.

The craftsman produces pottery typical of Vidzeme, but with the range of colours that is typical of Latgale. These products fit in very nicely with the lovely landscape of Racupkalns. You can take a tour, watch the master at work, and work with clay yourself. You can also watch as he opens a Lettigalian ditch kiln. You can commission and purchase the products, as well.

Ethnographic and household storage in Sarkaņi offers craft tools collection, furniture and household collection, 19th and the end of the 20th century living room furnishings, and the exhibition dedicated to Madona countrymen. (Source: Madona TIC)

The Old School of Druviena is alongside the Druviena-Liezēre road. The historical school building became home to a museum in 1964. The school is closely linked to the great Latvian writer Jānis Poruks (1871-1911), and a memorial room to him has been installed in the building. On the second floor, you can look at a classroom, sit on an old-time school bench and try to imagine yourself as a schoolchild long ago. Interesting exhibits include boxes in which children brought food from home – the same ones which were used by two of Poruks’ most popular characters, Cibiņš and Buņģis.

The Livonian Order built a fortified castle on the largest island in Lake Alūksne – Marijas Island (Pilssala Island) in 1342.  It was linked to the land by a 120 m drawbridge.  The castle had several forecastles, and it was regularly modernised and expanded until the end of the 17th century.  It was one of the largest Livonian Order Castles, with similar ones found in Vastelina and Izborsk.  Defensive barriers were put up around the castle, which survived until the Great Northern War.  Its central part was blown up by the defeated Swedish military in 1702, after which Russians completely sacked it.  All that is left are the castle ruins on the island, which is now linked to Alūksne and Temple Hill by two wooden bridges.  An open-air stage alongside the castle ruins is used for various public events.