The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia — Attraction in Riga

LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE. be ready that its going to be a long walk in a forest. Its amazing. I stayed in the old town and get bus/tram 31 to go there, the station is only 400m from the place, very walkable. You can use app Moovit to let it suggest better in transportation option and time. I go there from 12 midday and go back at 4pm. But if possible, I would go from the morning to have more relaxed time cause I was rushing back.

I met Georg who is working at Kurzeme fishermen village. He is the soul of this place. He tells me about the house, how it functions back then. I’m a solo female traveller so he even takes pictures for me. The pictures are very beautiful and he really tries his best to get the good angle. I dont speak Latvian, but I speak English and German. His mother side is also from German so we basically communicates in 3 languages at the same time 🤣 He teaches me how to pronounce“Visu labu” and “Paldies” correctly (i hope I write it correctly too haha). At the house that he works in, there is a big cat, and he tells me that some big house here like his and the gate entrance all got 1 cat and the museum just raise them by themselves. Very heart warming experience with all the stories and pictures with Georg. He even tells me about his life before, but I guess its personal sharing so just hint here to say if you go there, ask him for his past, its amazing...

Worth a visit even in Winter. In the winter only 3-4 houses are open, so the visit is more of a nature walk where you can admire from outside the look of traditional homes and buildings from different regions of Latvia. Buildings date from mid 1600s-1950s. The property is beautiful—forested and on the waterfront. It’s both very large but not so large that it’s too long of a walk. A few homes are open and you can go in to see the furnishing and layout. However, the old men/women they have as guardians of the visitable homes are very unfriendly and glare at you uncomfortably as you look around. So you do so quickly and leave in moments because you feel awkward and unwelcome. This could definitely be improved upon. They could also easily set up little rest stops in these homes by having some seating and selling tea and pastries and such. It would be an easy way to make money but also drastically improve the visitor experience. It’s chilly in the winter and having a warm respite from the cold would be very welcome. However, as it is, we still really enjoyed the beauty and peace of the forest and would recommend a visit. Just be sure...

Amazing museography and stunning landscapes, but honestly, you should probably visit in summer. The staff at the ticket and information desk were friendly and helpful, but here's the thing: they handed us a map with the open farmhouses and villages circled... except some of the "open" ones were actually closed, and some they said were closed were open, Usmas Church for example. We only found out by chance.

Moreover, a few open houses were hosting some youth workshops. In one, they just told us to leave—kind of rudely—when it wasn’t crowded at all, and nothing to bother their workshop. In another house with a workshop going on, someone literally slammed the door in our face as we were about to step into an exhibition room.

The main exhibition hall, which also hosts the souvenir shop, was closed. A museum with a closed souvenir shop is a first for me!

Some houses we did manage to explore were so dark we had to use our phone flashlights, which made us hesitate to even go inside.

It’s a beautiful place, but they really need to improve the visitor experience or just close it entirely...