Latvia: Rumbula Forest and Salaspils

[Stuart Suss]

During the cruise stop in Riga, I would like to visit the memorials at Rumbula Forest and at Salaspils.  

 

I am unable to find a tour company that visits those two sites, a tour company that remains in business after Covid and a company that replies to emails seeking information.  Is anyone able to recommend a tour company?

 

I understand that the two sites are close to each other and that they may be accessible by public transportation (train or bus), with limited walking. However, I am unable to find an English language web site that would enable me to plan a visit to both sites via public transportation.  Is anyone able to be of assistance?

 

Thank you.

[SimplyMarvie]

Stuart, 

 

I'm glad you're interested in this trip... I haven't yet been to Salaspils, but Rumbala is a very moving and haunting place. You could do the trip on public transportation -- you can pick up a number of buses to get to Rumbala forest from very close to where the cruise ship shuttles drop off. Google will give you transit directions in English or the Riga Public Transit website has an English option in the upper right hand side of the page.

 

https://www.rigassatiksme.lv/en/for-riga-guests/public-transport-in-riga/

 

The trouble is that I'm not seeing a clear route between Salaspils and Rumbala on public transport. It looks like it's about 2km and theoretically walkable, but I don't have any experience with that. I'd recommend using the Bolt taxi app, and hiring someone to take you to both places. Bolt works like Uber, so it's tough to estimate the fare but I can't imagine the total would be more than 20-30 Euros. 

 

I don't know how long you intend to spend at the monuments, but the Riga Ghetto museum, which is very near the Central Market might be a good way to get some additional context. It's open every day except Shabbat and they have English speaking guides available. 

[Stuart Suss]

Hello Marvie,

 

Thank you for your helpful suggestions.

 

I am unable to access the Rigassatiksme web site.  I receive an error message: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable.

 

Fortunately someone has provided me with a workable link to the journey planner pages on that website.

 

Rumbula appears to be reasonably accessible by public transportation.  I can take Bus 18 from either  Elizabetes iela or from Centrāltirgus to the stop called Rumbula. From there, it shows a 500 meter walk to the Rumbula Memorial.   

 

Access to Salaspils is more difficult.  I would take Bus 18 to the final stop, Dārziņi.  From there it is a 2 kilometer walk to the Salaspils Memorial including walking (or running) across the four lane highway, A6.  

 

Visiting both sites would require:

Bus 18 to Darzini.

2 kilometer walk (crossing A6) to Salaspils.

Visit Salaspils

2 kilometer walk (crossing A6) returning to Darzini

Wait for the next Bus 18.  

Bus 18 to Rumbula

500 meter walk to the Rumbula Forest Memorial

Visit Rumbula Forest Memorial

500 meter walk returning to Rumbula bus stop.

Wait for the next Bus 18.

Bus 18 returning to Riga

 

Is there a better solution, using public transportation? 

 

I have emailed two tour companies, tourpoint.lv and smileline.lv.  Neither company has responded.  Are these companies that went out of business during the pandemic or do they remain in business?

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

[ljandgb]

You might ask over on Tripadvisor.  I have no idea how active their Latvia forum is, but it's worth a try.

[Stuart Suss]

Unfortunately, the Tripadvisor forum for Riga does not have a good presence of informed local experts.

[SimplyMarvie]

19 hours ago, Stuart Suss said:

Hello Marvie,

 

Thank you for your helpful suggestions.

 

I am unable to access the Rigassatiksme web site.  I receive an error message: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable.

 

Fortunately someone has provided me with a workable link to the journey planner pages on that website.

 

Rumbula appears to be reasonably accessible by public transportation.  I can take Bus 18 from either  Elizabetes iela or from Centrāltirgus to the stop called Rumbula. From there, it shows a 500 meter walk to the Rumbula Memorial.   

 

Access to Salaspils is more difficult.  I would take Bus 18 to the final stop, Dārziņi.  From there it is a 2 kilometer walk to the Salaspils Memorial including walking (or running) across the four lane highway, A6.  

 

Visiting both sites would require:

Bus 18 to Darzini.

2 kilometer walk (crossing A6) to Salaspils.

Visit Salaspils

2 kilometer walk (crossing A6) returning to Darzini

Wait for the next Bus 18.  

Bus 18 to Rumbula

500 meter walk to the Rumbula Forest Memorial

Visit Rumbula Forest Memorial

500 meter walk returning to Rumbula bus stop.

Wait for the next Bus 18.

Bus 18 returning to Riga

 

Is there a better solution, using public transportation? 

 

I have emailed two tour companies, tourpoint.lv and smileline.lv.  Neither company has responded.  Are these companies that went out of business during the pandemic or do they remain in business?

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

I can't think of a better option using public transport. You would likely need to hire a cab or a driver if you wanted another option. The Bolt app is 'the uber of Latvia' and is secure and easy to use, if you're interested in a taxi.

 

I am not familiar with either of the companies that you listed. But if you have just emailed these tour companies, give them a few days to respond. This week was Jani/Ligo/Midsummer which is literally THE biggest holiday in the Baltics (yes, far bigger than Christmas) and pretty much no one is in the office for anything until at least Monday.