In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Our judgement, not a ranking: pick Tallinn for one or two days on foot in a walled medieval Old Town, with no tourist tax, a €2 one-hour ticket and a tram that reaches the Old Town from the airport in about 19 minutes. Pick Riga for a longer stay built on the House of the Blackheads, the Central Market, Art Nouveau and the KGB Corner House, with a €1.50 airport bus ticket bought in advance and a €5 day ticket. Both use the euro. Mind the date: Riga’s tourist tax is €1 a person a night in 2026 and €2 from 1 January 2027. Or book a tour: an Old Town walking tour in Rigaad or a medieval walking tour of Tallinn’s Old Townad puts the guide and the booking in one purchase (GetYourGuide).
⚠️ Check the Monday, and register the Riga ticket. On a Monday Riga’s art museum, Art Nouveau Museum and castle museum are shut, and Tallinn’s Kumu is too; from October to April so are Tallinn’s Kadriorg Art Museum, Seaplane Harbour and Kiek in de Kök. In Riga a transport ticket must be registered on every vehicle you board, with a penalty of €15 to €30; in Tallinn you tap a contactless card, and the penalty is up to €40.
Tallinn and Riga side by side
Prices are the operators’ own adult rates in euros. Each row links to the city’s own guide for the detail.
| Tallinn | Riga | |
|---|---|---|
| Main sights and entry prices | Kumu €16; Seaplane Harbour €22; Kiek in de Kök €16 for the whole complex; TV Tower €18 online; Alexander Nevsky Cathedral free | House of the Blackheads €10; St Peter’s tower €9; Riga Cathedral €5; Latvian National Museum of Art €7; Museum of the Occupation €8; KGB Corner House tour €15, ground floor free |
| Public transport | One hour €2, 1 day €5.50, 3 days €9, by tapping a contactless card; the penalty fare is up to €40 | 90 minutes €1.50, 24 hours €5, 3 days €8, 5 days €10; the ticket is registered on every vehicle, the penalty is €15 to €30, and transport runs 05:30 to 23:30 |
| Airport to the centre | Tram T4, about 19 minutes to Viru, on the €2 one-hour ticket | Bus 22, around 40 minutes to Grēcinieku iela, €1.50 in advance or €1.81 from the driver by card; there is no train; night bus N22 hourly |
| Tourist tax | None | €1 a person a night in 2026, €2 from 1 January 2027, for up to 10 nights |
| Beer and spirits | Põhjala Tap Room with 24 taps and a €20 brewery tour; Hell Hunt house beers from €4.50; shops sell alcohol only from 10:00 to 22:00 | Riga Black Balsam and bars: a factory tour €25 and a tasting €23, both for groups; Labietis craft taprooms; drinking in public is illegal |
| Eating out | Rataskaevu 16, mains €16.80 to €29.40 | Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs, mains €9.50 to €17.80; Milda, mains €20 to €39 |
| How many days | Our judgement: one or two; the three-day plan is the Old Town and Toompea, Telliskivi and Seaplane Harbour, then Kadriorg and Kumu or a day trip | Our judgement: two or three; the three-day plan is the Old Town and the Central Market, Art Nouveau and the museums, then Jūrmala, Sigulda or Rundāle |
| Best season | June to August highs of 19.2°C to 22.2°C; 6 h 03 min of daylight on 21 December 2026 | June to August highs of 21.3°C to 23.8°C; 6 h 44 min of daylight on 21 December |
| Christmas market | Town Hall Square, 20 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, free to enter | Dome Square, 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, free to enter |
On the prices in the table the two are close. Riga’s day ticket and airport bus cost less, Tallinn has no tourist tax, and Riga’s tax doubles on 1 January 2027. The sights are priced alike: Tallinn’s big museums are €16 to €22 and Riga’s range from €5 to €10.
Which city for whom
Each pick below is our judgement, built on the figures in the table.
First-timers: Tallinn for a day or two, Riga for two or three
Tallinn fits a short first visit. The Old Town is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is a walk, the Town Hall and square, Toompea and the town wall sit within it, and Tallinn in 1 or 2 days fits a weekend. Riga asks for a little longer: Riga in 1 or 2 days spends day one on the Old Town and the Central Market, and day two on Alberta iela’s Art Nouveau, the art museum and the KGB Corner House, which runs English tours at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 16:00.
The House of the Blackheads and St Peter’s Church on Town Hall Square, Riga. Photo: Diliff, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A group weekend: Tallinn for the brewery, Riga for the Black Balsam
Tallinn’s evening is built on craft beer: the Põhjala Tap Room in Noblessner has 24 taps, a brewery tour at €20 and a private sauna for up to eight at €80 for the first hour. Riga’s is built on Riga Black Balsam, a herbal liqueur made in the city to a formula from 1752. The tasting at Riga Black Magic is €23 a person and needs at least 10 people, the chocolate master class €60 and at least 6, and the factory tour €25 for 5 to 20 people. Skyline Bar on the 26th floor asks a €50 a person prepayment for a booked table. Two rules differ: Tallinn’s shops stop selling alcohol at 22:00, and in Riga drinking in public, including in parks and on the street, is illegal and the police can fine or arrest you. The Foreign Office names pickpockets in the bars and nightclubs of Tallinn’s Old Town, and in Riga’s Old Town, Central Market and stations (is Tallinn safe?, is Riga safe?). For the rest of the cities, see best cities for a stag do.
Art and history: Riga for the occupation, Tallinn for the collections
Riga’s distinctive museums are about the 20th century. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is €8, daily 10:00 to 18:00, and free on 25 March, 4 May, 14 June, 4 July and 18 November. The KGB Corner House ground-floor exhibition is free every day, and the cell tour is €15, booked on bezrindas.lv. Tallinn’s heavier set is art and the sea: Kumu at €16, the Kadriorg Art Museum at €15 and Seaplane Harbour at €22. Both cities close their main art museum on a Monday, so put a Monday on the free sights: the Old Town, Toompea viewpoints and Kadriorg Park in Tallinn, and the Freedom Monument and the Old Town in Riga.
A tight budget: close, and decided by the dates
Riga’s day ticket is €5 against €5.50 in Tallinn, and the airport bus is €1.50 in advance against €2 for the tram. Dinner mains start lower in Riga, at €9.50 at Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs against €16.80 at Rataskaevu 16, though Milda’s start at €20. Tallinn charges no tourist tax; Riga’s €1 becomes €2 on 1 January 2027, so from that date a couple pays €4 a night. Tallinn’s Tallinn Card at €45 for 24 hours pays only on days of paid museums. Our judgement: choose on the dates and the flights.
Both cities: the coach
Lux Express sells coach tickets between Riga and Tallinn, and the international coaches arrive at the Riga International Bus Station, next to the Central Market (day trips from Riga).
Tallinn or Riga for Christmas
Tallinn’s market on Town Hall Square opens on 20 November 2026 at 18:00 and runs to 6 January 2027, daily 10:00 to 20:00, with hot drinks until 22:00 and until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The reusable cups and plates carry a €2 deposit. Riga’s market on Dome Square runs from 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027: 11:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Thursday, 10:00 to 22:00 on Friday and Saturday and 10:00 to 21:00 on Sunday, with Santa’s house, beeswax candles, gingerbread and mulled wine. On 24 December it closes at 20:00, and on 31 December it stays open to 02:00. Both cities claim the first decorated Christmas tree: Riga says 1510 on Town Hall Square, and Tallinn’s tourist board gives 1441. Our judgement: Tallinn for a trip that starts before 27 November or runs to 6 January, Riga for the first three weeks of December with the Cathedral’s Christmas Prelude on 12 December. Both have short days: 6 h 03 min of daylight in Tallinn on 21 December 2026 and 6 h 44 min in Riga. The Christmas market cities compared sets both against the other markets.
Day trips and where to stay
Riga’s day trips are on rails and roads: Jūrmala is about 30 minutes by train to Majori for about €1.50, Sigulda has Turaida Castle at €9, and Rundāle Palace is €12, or €17 with the garden. From Tallinn, Haapsalu is a direct coach of 1 hour 35 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes, the Viru Bog in Lahemaa is under 70 minutes by direct bus, and Helsinki is a ferry away. The full lists are day trips from Riga and day trips from Tallinn. Turaida, Sigulda Castle and Rundāle close at 17:00 from November to April.
For a first visit, stay in the Old Town in either city: where to stay in Tallinn also compares the city centre and Kalamaja, and where to stay in Riga compares the Old Town with the boulevards beside it. For what to book in each, see Tallinn and Riga; for Tallinn against its neighbour across the water, see Helsinki vs Tallinn; for the third Baltic capital, see Vilnius, which has a €0.90 airport train and a €2 tourist tax; for the weather month by month, see where to go each month.
Common questions
Is Tallinn or Riga better for a first city break?
Our judgement: Tallinn for one or two days on foot, because the walled Old Town is small and the airport tram takes about 19 minutes. Riga for two or three days, with the Old Town, the Central Market, Art Nouveau on Alberta iela and a day trip to Jūrmala, which is about 30 minutes by train.
Is Tallinn or Riga cheaper?
On the prices we list, Riga for transport and Tallinn for the tax. A day of transport is €5 in Riga against €5.50 in Tallinn, and the airport ticket is €1.50 in advance against €2. Tallinn charges no tourist tax; Riga's is €1 a night in 2026 and €2 from 1 January 2027. Both use the euro.
Which is better for a stag weekend, Tallinn or Riga?
Our judgement: Tallinn for a group that wants a brewery and a sauna, Riga for one that wants a Black Balsam tasting, which needs at least 10 people. Tallinn's shops sell alcohol only from 10:00 to 22:00. In Riga, drinking alcohol in public, including in parks and on the street, is illegal.
Which has the longer Christmas market season?
Tallinn: its market on Town Hall Square runs from 20 November 2026 to 6 January 2027. Riga's on Dome Square runs from 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Both are free to enter.
Which city is closed on Mondays?
Both have Monday closures. In Riga the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Art Nouveau Museum and the Riga Castle history museum are closed. In Tallinn Kumu is closed, and from October to April so are the Kadriorg Art Museum, Seaplane Harbour and Kiek in de Kök.
