Midrange route for those looking for an easy and leisurely tour to spend half-day on. Perfect for those staying in Riga city as there is a good train connection between Carnikava town (it’s where the tour ends) and Riga.
The river is wide and calm here. As closer to the sea as slower the stream gets. When passing Carnikava town You will already notice it almost feels like a lake.
You can choose freely if You want to go down to the very estuary (sea) or not,… BUT (!) we have to say that reaching the sea is definately worth the effort. Gauja estuary is a wonderful peace of art of nature: it is one of the very few river estuaries that has no city or town built on it. So it is incredibly beautiful and looks exactly like mother nature created it.
What else? Well, 4 bridges on Your way – including the longest pederstrian bridge in Latvia, a canal of Carnikava (left side of the river, shortly before the finishing point) – You can tour that as well if You like! 🙂
Distance: 19 km / 24 km
Time: ~4-7 hours
Starting from: campsite “Leiputrija” / Ilkene village
Finishing in: Carnikava town (Local history museum)
Options: One can pass Carnikava to reach the sea and easily paddle back to Carnikava after then (no stream = easy paddling up the river) or end the tour in Carnikava right away – without reaching the sea.