Saulkrasti and nearby suggest many different activities from museums, hiking trails, seaside rest and much more. On 28 July during the excursion day you can choose from different activities. Please note that excursions are not included in the overall price of the summer session. You have to organise and purchase them on your own.
Special NSU offer – Valmiera trip!
Valmiera has a lot to offer, including museums, activities for children, craft breweries and wineries, nature trails and parks, and an outdoor labyrinth. NSU organises a bus Saulkrasti – Valmiera – Saulkrasti for a fee, please book here.
Enjoy a performance Clap & Slap organised by former NSU Chair Inta Balode at 17.00 (tickets to be purchased separately). The performance is part of the Aerowaves festival.
Easy local options close to Saulkrasti
Beach, Seaside Park and Blue Flag Bathing Spot “Centre”
Good for swimming, relaxing, informal group activities, volleyball, walking, or sunset time.
Transport from Minhauzena Unda: local bus, bike, taxi, or walk depending on time and weather.
Saulkrasti Beach and coastal walks
A simple option for those who want nature without organising transport.
Transport: walk/bike/local bus.
White Dune / Baltā kāpa
Good for views, photos, a relaxed walk, and a classic Saulkrasti nature experience.
Transport: local bus, bike, taxi, or group transfer. It is not the closest point to Minhauzena Unda, so you should plan transport.
Saulkrasti culture, museums and local art
Saulkrasti Bicycle Museum
A good short cultural visit, especially for participants interested in design, local history, or cycling culture. It is the only bicycle museum in Latvia and includes an old workshop and bicycle shop.
Transport from Minhauzena Unda: local bus/taxi or bike.
Saulkrasti Frida
A colourful private art exposition inspired by Frida Kahlo, created by local artists Sandra and Jānis Delgalvis. Visits should be arranged in advance.
Transport: local bus/taxi or bike.
Saulkrasti Culture Centre / Zvejniekciems Culture House
Useful for checking local concerts, exhibitions, community events, and cultural activities during the week.
Transport: train/local bus to Zvejniekciems or taxi/group transfer.
Water and beach activities
SunSUP — SUP board rental
A good self-paid summer activity in Saulkrasti. Further info:
Transport: local bus/taxi or bike.
Saulkrasti Catamarans and yacht rental / Skulte Port
Possible self-paid water activity for small groups, weather-dependent and should be booked in advance. Visit Saulkrasti lists yacht rental from Skulte Port / Zvejniekciems.
Transport: train/local bus/taxi to Zvejniekciems or Skulte; return should be checked in advance.
Bigger day trips
Riga
Good for museums, galleries, architecture, cafés, Old Town, and evening events.
Transport: train from Saulkrasti to Riga; participants must check the last return train before staying late. Train info: https://www.vivi.lv/en/ and schedule search: https://www.1188.lv/en/transport
If you are a nature lover but still want to visit Riga city you can travel to the Latvian University Botanical Garden. During summer the prices are adults – €7,00; students, seniors (must present a valid ID) – €6,00; pupils – €5,00; family ticket (2 adults and un 1-2 children aged 7-17) – €13,00; large family discount (3 or more children) – €10,00
Selected exhibitions by Arrkom:
- Latvian National Museum of Art. “Dreams of Various Length.”
The exhibition focuses on interpretations of Surrealism in the oeuvre of eight graphic artists – Māris Ārgalis (1954–2008), Ilmārs Blumbergs (1943–2016), Valija Brence (1941–2009), Maija Dragūne (1945), Arthur Nikitin (1936–2022), Aija Ozoliņa (1932–2023), Māra Rikmane (1939), and Lolita Zikmane (1941). Currently not equally known and studied, these talented authors worked under Soviet occupation in the 1970s and 80s, when Surrealism, alongside Abstractionism, was placed on the list of art directions undesirable to Soviet ideology. - Zuzeum Art Museum. “MAMA ‘Mother Nature’”. Bringing together artists from different countries, the exhibition presents works that address ecological transformation, cultural memory, and the fragile balance between human activity and planetary life. MAMA ‘Mother Nature’ is conceived as a global artistic platform reflecting on the interconnectedness of culture, environment, and collective responsibility. The project was first introduced at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku in 2024 in the context of the COP29 climate conference and has since evolved into an international initiative presented in major cultural capitals including Manama, Rome, London, Tbilisi, Berlin, Tirana, and Geneva. Each new presentation expands the dialogue, incorporating fresh perspectives and local contexts.
- RIXC Gallery. “Techniques for Suspending the World.” The exhibition “Techniques for Suspending the World” offers a unique synthesis of art, science and technology, exploring the power of human perception to radically alter the experience of reality. The project invites visitors to experience a particular state of consciousness in which the habitual perception of the world is consciously interrupted, opening the way to a new dimension of experience. The portal in the centre of the space is a video projection that symbolises the transition from a habitual reality to a multidimensional structure of space and time. In this surreal and intriguing landscape, the viewer will encounter dreamlike environments and moving fractal structures that challenge conventional perception. The installation is complemented by a sphere of light that serves as a tangible symbol and an object of meditation, allowing the viewer to sink deeper into an inner experience of peace and silence.
- Art Museum RIGA BOURSE. “Distances.” The concept of Jānis Avotiņš’ exhibition has developed in response to the architectural aesthetics of the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE. The museum’s Great Exhibition Hall, with its fully uncovered windows flooded with daylight and views onto the various perspectives of Old Riga, evokes the most magnificent Western European metro and railway stations built in eclectic and neoclassical styles. This has prompted the artist to continue investigating, in painting, the figure–space relationships characteristic of his work, concentrating the tensions of time, history and politics within the charged, intimate surface of the canvas. In this exhibition, Jānis Avotiņš opts to work with the core of the fundamental idea that has shaped his practice to date: the recognisable historical connotations of one- or two-person figures in his paintings. The source is a photograph taken in Latvia before the Second World War, in the 1920s. From a bird’s-eye perspective, it shows several hundred people gathered in a broad open-air square around a large empty rectangle, at the centre of which, a ceremony, possibly military in nature, is taking place, although it is more likely an awards ceremony for Girl Guides or Scouts. The ceremony protagonists are so tiny that only their outlines and choreographic constellation allow us to sense what is happening. In much closer proximity to the viewer, only backs, silhouettes and figures are visible… Photography is not part of the exhibition. Textual elaboration of philosophical metaphors is not part of the exhibition concept.
- Kim? Contemporary Art Centre. “Stare Up At Me.” Borrowing its title and dramaturgical undercurrent from Madonna’s Don’t Tell Me (2000)—a country-pop hallucination of suspended desire, emotional stasis, and erotic ambivalence, punctuated by the lines “Tell the bed not to lay / Like the open mouth of a grave / Not to stare up at me / Like a calf down on its knees”—Karlīna Mežecka’s largest solo exhibition to date unfolds in four chapters: Life, Death, Dominance, and a closing Summary. Through a series of new sculptural and installation-based works, Mežecka foregrounds bodies that appear as unstable figurations, suspended between surface and interior, between what is materially present and what remains imagined.
- Riga Contemporary Art Space. “How are You Today?” A multimedia research project dedicated to human emotions, where art serves as a subject revealing the spectrum of human experiences. Six basic emotions – fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, and surprise – have remained pivotal throughout human evolution. How do we recognize, understand, accept, live with, and balance our emotions? In a reality where emotions shape every aspect of human life – from mental and physical health to our relationship with the environment – this exhibition positions art as both mirror and instrument of self-knowledge. It invites viewers to explore the realm of emotions through multiple perspectives, including science, art, medicine, spirituality, and everyday experience. Continuing the series of discussions on emotional intelligence initiated by physician Ilze Aizsilniece (1966-2025), the exhibition will feature talks and discussions with artists, psychologists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, musicians, architects, designers, and philosophers.
Other useful links about visiting Riga:
- Museums – http://www.lnmm.lv/en/
- Various information – https://www.liveriga.com/en/
- Architecture – https://www.latvia.travel/en/art-nouveau
- Sight from above – http://www.latvia.travel/en/sight/riga-st-peters-church
Sigulda and Turaida
Good for nature, castles, Gauja National Park, and a full-day cultural trip.
Transport: direct bus from Saulkrasti to Sigulda may be available but departures are limited; check return before going. Turaida is reached from Sigulda by local bus, taxi, or group transport. Turaida info: https://www.turaida-muzejs.lv/en/
Transport search: https://www.1188.lv/en/transport
Castle of Livonian Order in Sigulda was built in 1207 as a castellum type fortress, later rebuilt into a convent type building. From 2012 it is possible to climb up the North Tower, the Main Gate Tower and enjoy the medieval aura. Price for entrance at the castle is €2,5 for adults; €2 for pupils, students and seniors or 5 € for a family (2 adults, 2 and more pupils under 15 years old).
Swimming in the air while resting on an air current may be enjoyed in the vertical wind tunnel – AERODIUM, which has become world-famous through participation in various global events. Prices for a flight start from 45 €. More information about AERODIUM find here: https://www.aerodium.lv/en/flight
You can have a peak at the Sigulda city through this link: http://tourism.sigulda.lv/
Ziedoņa muzejs / Imants Ziedonis Museum, Murjāņi
Good for Latvian literature, culture, and a quieter museum visit. The museum is open seasonally and offers information in Latvian and English. Further info: https://ziedonamuzejs.lv/lv/eng
https://tourism.sigulda.lv/
Transport from Minhauzena Unda: taxi or organised group transport recommended; public transport may be limited.