City centre
First-timersThe nineteenth-century grid around Rigas iela: shops, restaurants, Church Hill and most beds.
Daugavpils city guide
Things To Do In Daugavpils
Latvia's second city, in the far east: an enormous tsarist fortress that people still live in, a Mark Rothko centre inside it, and four faiths on one hill.
1810
When construction of the fortress began
1903
Mark Rothko born here, as Markus Rotkovics
4
Faiths with churches on Church Hill
A border city that has belonged to several countries
Daugavpils is Latvia's second city, sits in the far south-east near both the Lithuanian and Belarusian borders, and has been Polish, Swedish, Russian, Soviet and Latvian at various points. It is majority Russian-speaking and feels distinctly different from Riga.
The fortress is the thing. Construction began in 1810 to hold back Napoleon, it was never seriously attacked, and it survives as one of the most complete early nineteenth-century fortresses in Europe — ramparts, moats, gates and a full grid of barracks and officers' housing inside. People live in it. It is a functioning residential district that happens to be a military fortification.
Inside its arsenal building is the Mark Rothko Art Centre. Rothko was born here in 1903 as Markus Rotkovics and left at ten; the centre holds a small group of original works, lent by his family, and is the only place in eastern Europe where you can see them.
Church Hill has Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox and Old Believer churches within sight of each other, which says a good deal about the city.
One or two days.
Where to stay
A grid-planned centre with the fortress a short ride north-west.
Near the fortress
Quiet and unusualNorth-west: guesthouses in and around the fortress district, beside the Rothko Centre.
Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Daugavpils
Walk the fortress. It is free, it is enormous, and it is inhabited — you walk through a working residential district laid out on a military grid, past barracks blocks that are now flats, along ramparts and over moats. The scale takes an hour or two to absorb and very few people are ever there.
The Mark Rothko Art Centre, about €10, sits inside the fortress arsenal. It holds original Rothko works on loan from his family alongside contemporary exhibitions, and it is the only place in eastern Europe showing his originals. It closes on Mondays.
Church Hill is a short walk from the centre and holds a Catholic basilica, a Lutheran church, an Orthodox cathedral and an Old Believer prayer house within a few hundred metres. All are free.
The Daugava riverbank and the embankment walk below the fortress are free and quiet.
Then look at the city itself — the centre is a coherent nineteenth-century brick grid, with art nouveau details scattered through it, largely unrestored and genuinely unvisited.
Free things
Free things to do in Daugavpils
The fortress is free and open — ramparts, gates, moats and the whole residential grid inside.
Church Hill is free, with all four buildings open to visitors at ordinary hours and modest dress expected.
The Daugava embankment below the fortress is free and gives the best view of the walls from outside.
Rigas iela, the pedestrian main street, and the nineteenth-century brick centre around it cost nothing to walk.
The city's Soviet-era mosaics and murals survive in places and are free to find, which is the kind of thing Daugavpils does better than anywhere else in Latvia.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Daugavpils
Cheaper than Riga, with a strong Russian and Belarusian influence reflecting who lives here.
A main is €6 to €12, and the market does considerably less.
Pelmeni, borscht, blini and pickled everything sit alongside Latvian rye bread and grey peas, which is the honest picture of eastern Latvia.
The central market is the best cheap eating and where the city shops.
A beer is €2.50 to €4, and local kvass — the fermented rye drink, mildly alcoholic at most — is sold from tanks in summer.
Menus are often in Latvian and Russian, with English less common than in Riga.
Nightlife
Going out in Daugavpils
Limited. This is a city of about eighty thousand with a handful of bars, mostly along and around Rigas iela.
A beer is €2.50 to €4 and cocktails €5 to €8.
There is a university and term time brings a student crowd, but nobody travels here for the evening.
The Rothko Centre runs occasional events and concerts, and the city has a theatre, which is realistically the cultural programme.
If you want a night out in Latvia, it is in Riga, three hours west. Daugavpils is for the fortress and the daylight hours.
Getting around
Getting around Daugavpils
The centre is a walkable grid and Church Hill is ten minutes from it.
Trams cost around €0.70 and are the way to reach the fortress, which is a few kilometres north-west of the centre — a tram and a short walk, or a cheap taxi.
Trains from Riga take about three hours and cost around €10, several times a day. Buses are similar.
Daugavpils sits close to both the Lithuanian and Belarusian borders. Vilnius is about three hours by bus. The Belarusian border is nearby but crossing there is not a routine tourist matter — check current entry requirements and your own foreign ministry's advice before considering it.
Within Latvia, this is the far end of the country and journeys are longer than the map suggests.
Costs
What Daugavpils costs
The cheapest city in Latvia. Beds are €9 to €22, a main €6 to €12, and a beer €2.50 to €4.
A day is €25 to €45.
The fortress, Church Hill and the city centre are free, and the Rothko Centre at about €10 is the only real entry.
Carry some cash. Cards work in the centre but less reliably than in Riga, and the market and smaller places prefer cash.
Latvia uses the euro, so there is no exchange involved and prices are directly comparable with the rest of the country.
Safety
Staying safe in Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a safe city and crime against visitors is low.
The fortress needs some judgement. It is a residential district rather than a museum — people live in the barracks blocks, hang washing and go about their day. Walk it as you would any neighbourhood, and photograph buildings rather than residents or their windows.
Parts of the fortification are unrestored, with crumbling brickwork, unfenced drops from the ramparts and overgrown moats. Stay on the obvious routes and keep off the walls.
Winter here is colder than Riga — this is inland eastern Latvia — with ice on pavements and short days.
The Belarusian border is close. Do not approach or attempt to cross it casually, and check current guidance before any plan involving it.
Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Daugavpils
Lakes, a pottery region and two borders.
Vilnius, Lithuania
A different country, and closer from here than Riga is to some of Latvia.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A pilgrimage in August and a quiet city the rest of the year.
15 August
Aglona pilgrimage
Aglona, an hour away
Latvia's main Catholic pilgrimage, drawing tens of thousands to the basilica for the Assumption.
Year-round
Rothko Centre exhibitions
The fortress arsenal
Rotating contemporary shows alongside the permanent Rothko originals. Closed Mondays.
Summer
City Festival
Citywide
The city's own days, with music and events across the centre.
23–24 June
Jani (midsummer)
Countrywide
Bonfires and all-night celebrations, with the city emptying to the lakes.
June to August
Lake season
Latgale
When the eastern lake district is warm enough for swimming.
When to go
May to September. Winter is colder and darker than the coast.
Jan
Cold, snowy and dark. Cheapest
Feb
The coldest month. Very quiet
Mar
Cold but brightening
Apr
Thaw. Quiet and grey
May
Excellent. Green, warm and empty
Jun
The best month. Long light and the lakes usable
Jul
Warmest. Lakes and the fortress at their best
Aug
Warm. The Aglona pilgrimage mid-month
Sep
Good value. Mild and quiet
Oct
Autumn and cooling
Nov
Dark and grey. The hardest month
Dec
Cold and dark, with snow on the fortress
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. Daugavpils is inland and continental, so it runs several degrees colder than Riga in winter and warmer in summer — the fortress under snow is genuinely striking, if you are dressed for minus ten.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros — Latvia uses them.
Latvia is in the eurozone, so these are the prices you will pay. The shoestring doing line is zero because the fortress costs nothing.
—
- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Daugavpils travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
What is the fortress like?
Enormous, almost complete, and inhabited. Construction began in 1810 to hold back Napoleon and it was never seriously attacked, so the ramparts, moats, gates and the full grid of barracks survive. People live in those barracks now — it is a working residential district rather than a monument, and it is free to walk.
Why is there a Rothko centre here?
Because Mark Rothko was born in this city in 1903 as Markus Rotkovics, and left for the United States at ten. The centre occupies the fortress arsenal and holds original works lent by his family — the only place in eastern Europe where you can see them. About €10, and closed on Mondays.
Is it worth the three-hour trip from Riga?
For one or two days, if the fortress or Rothko interest you. It is the cheapest city in Latvia, almost entirely unvisited, and completely different in character from Riga — majority Russian-speaking, inland, and shaped by five different states having governed it.
Do I need Russian?
It helps. Russian is the majority language here, Latvian is official, and English is noticeably less common than in Riga. Menus are usually in Latvian and Russian.
What is Church Hill?
A short walk from the centre where a Catholic basilica, a Lutheran church, an Orthodox cathedral and an Old Believer prayer house stand within a few hundred metres of each other. All are free to enter, and together they explain the city's history better than any museum here.
How should I behave in the fortress?
As you would in any neighbourhood, because that is what it is. Residents hang washing and go about their day among the ramparts. Photograph the buildings and the fortifications rather than people, their windows or their yards.
Is it near Belarus?
Yes, the border is close. That is not a routine crossing for visitors and you should not approach or attempt it casually — check current entry requirements and your own foreign ministry's advice before any plan involving it.
Say yes to hostels, meet the world
Compare Daugavpils guesthouses and hostels — live prices, real reviews and free cancellation on most bookings. Then meet the people already there in the app.
Get the App.