Latvia's oldest and largest national park – Gauja National Park – invites nature and adventure lovers to take part in the annual Travellers' Days on 12 and 13 October. The programme has been designed with everyone in mind, offering hikes, e-bike and coach outings, and other activities that will reveal the park's most spectacular autumn views while inspiring new destinations and adventures. This year's motto – "Travel green!" – encourages visitors to explore the region's cultural and historical riches and its nature-friendly enterprises sustainably, using public transport to reach the meeting points.
The full programme is available in the section "Useful information – GNP Travellers' Days 2024". Places are limited at several events, so advance registration is required, and some events carry a fee.
"The splendour of Sigulda, Cēsis and Valmiera is already familiar to many, but these towns are always a pleasure to revisit and to discover something not yet seen. Right now every journey through Gauja National Park is unique – it is a chance to experience the beautiful landscapes and the bends of the Gauja in autumn colours that change by the day. All you have to do is look, delight in it and enjoy," says Anda Andrušaite, Head of the Gauja National Park Nature Centre at the Nature Conservation Agency.
The first event of the Travellers' Days will be a coach excursion, with stops at the Cēsis Red Cliffs, the "Raiskumietis" brewery, the "Mežiņi" mini zoo and the company "Vaidava Ceramics", revealing both natural and human-made treasures of the Gauja region. A three-hour e-bike tour along an 18 km route, meanwhile, will take in Zeltkalns, Rucka, the Cēsis castle manor and other historical gems. Everyone is also invited to the car park by the Red Cliffs in Cēsis municipality to take part in a range of hands-on learning activities in the Nature Conservation Agency's Mobile Nature Classroom.
Sunday is set aside for themed hikes of varying difficulty. The hike around Zvārte Rock (5 km) will follow the right bank of the River Amata, with its striking cliffs and hidden caves, and will end with a gourmet picnic – a three-course meal in the open air. At the same time, two more demanding hikes will take place around Sigulda, where the sharpest-eyed participants may find traces of the Devonian period – fossils of armoured fish some 400 million years old.
Visitors to the Travellers' Days who would rather enjoy the rich natural diversity of Gauja National Park at their own pace and in their own company are encouraged to travel in an environmentally friendly way by public transport to Sigulda, Cēsis and Valmiera, and to discover fascinating cultural, historical and natural sites near the railway and bus stations.
We recommend dressing for the outdoors and the weather, in suitable clothing and footwear, bearing in mind that the hikes may involve obstacles to negotiate.
The Travellers' Days are organised by the Nature Conservation Agency in cooperation with the Gauja National Park tourism association "ENTER GAUJA". Events may be filmed and photographed for the organisers' communication purposes.
Gauja National Park is Latvia's first national park, established on 14 September 1973 to protect the ancient Gauja valley and the unique natural assets of its surroundings, while providing for both recreation and nature conservation within the territory. Nowhere else in Latvia are there so many bluffs, ravines, streams, sandstone and dolomite cliffs and caves in one place as in the ancient Gauja valley and along the banks of its tributaries. The area holds more than 500 cultural and historical monuments, including many ancient hill forts, stone castles, churches and manor houses.
https://www.daba.gov.lv/lv/jaunums/atklaj-gaujas-nacionalo-parku-celojot-zali