Private Tour

Ķemeri Bogshoeing and Jūrmala Morning Nature Walk from Riga

Overview

Available languages

German

Russian

English

French

6 hours

Mobile ticket

You can’t really say you’ve been to Latvia until you’ve stood in a bog. I know how that sounds, bear with me.

There are two ways to experience the Great Ķemeri Bog. Your guests do both. The boardwalk is a wooden walkway that winds past mirror pools, dwarf pines and the observation tower. It’s beautiful, accessible to almost anyone, and absolutely worth walking at sunrise with a guide who knows where to look. Then there’s what the boardwalk can’t show you. Step off it, and the bog becomes something else entirely. The surface is a floating mat of living sphagnum, sometimes several metres thick, resting on water that goes down further still. Without the right footwear, you sink to your knees. With bog shoes on, you don’t. You walk across a landscape that almost nobody ever stands on. Some Latvians call it a quaking bog, because with each step the ground beneath you actually moves. The moss flexes. The pools beside you ripple. It is, in the most literal sense available, walking on water.

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Service animals allowed

Public transportation options are available nearby

Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Not recommended for travelers with limited mobility

Not recommended for travelers prone to motion sickness

Please tell us in advance about any mobility needs and we’ll plan accordingly.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What To Expect

Kemeri National Park

Walk the wooden boardwalk through one of Latvia’s most remarkable landscapes. Your guide brings the place to life: the botany, the ecology, the carnivorous sundew plants, the birds, the sulphur springs and the Tsarist spa history. We climb the observation tower for the panoramic view that the photographs can’t quite capture. Then comes the part most people remember best: we hand out bog shoes, wide lightweight frames that strap over your normal footwear, and step gently off the boardwalk for a short 15-minute loop through the open bog. The moss flexes under each step. The wild rosemary smells extraordinary. And you’re standing on ground that almost nobody, not even most Latvians, ever stands on. About 90 minutes total from car park to car park, walked at a relaxed, conversational pace.

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Not Applicable

Jomas Street

We drop you at one end of the historic streets and walk together through the wooden Art Nouveau villas and as the cafés and bakeries are opening for the day. The driver meets us at the other end. It’s a gentle linear walk, about 2 km in total, with plenty of stops, and the difference between driving past Jūrmala and actually walking it is everything.

45 minutes • Admission Not Applicable

What‘s Included

Latvian snacks & bottled water on the bus, help yourself

Air-conditioned minibus: Hotel pickup & drop-off in central Riga

Bogshoes for the off-boardwalk loop, one pair per guest, all sizes

All national park access fees and parking

Hot drinks stop on the way (coffee, tea, hot chocolate).

Mosquito repellent if you need it (be honest, you’ll need it)

Anything you buy in Jūrmala (pastries, souvenirs, coffee, the cafés open while we’re there)

Hotel breakfast (most hotels serve until 10:30, you’ll be back in time)

Gratuities (kind but never expected)

Pickup points

Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga

Aspazijas bulvaris 22, Riga Latvia

Options