When is Latvia quietest? Tourist nights by month

TL;DR

July is Latvia's busiest month, with 14.9% of 2025's tourist nights, and February the quietest, with 5.1%. July and August together carried 29.1% of the year, making Latvia the 17th most seasonal of 35 European countries we measured. September was quieter than June, at 8.5% against 10.4%.

Riga's historic centre and the Daugava, Latvia
Riga's historic centre and the Daugava, Latvia. Photo by Boris K. on Pexels.

Latvia, month by month

Share of Latvia's 2025 tourist nights, by month Hotels, holiday and short-stay accommodation and campsites. All guests. Source: Eurostat.1
0%5%10%15%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Two busiest months
  • Other months

When is Latvia busiest, and when is it quietest?

July was the busiest month in 2025, with 14.9% of the year's tourist nights. February was the quietest, with 5.1%. That makes July 2.9 times as busy as February.1

Seven months each carried less than an average month's share of 8.3%: January, February, March, April, October, November and December.

Who stays in Latvia: residents or guests from abroad?

In 2025, guests living abroad spent 61.8% of Latvia's tourist nights. Residents of Latvia spent the rest.1

Share of each month's nights spent by guests living abroad, Latvia, 2025 Hotels, holiday and short-stay accommodation and campsites. Source: Eurostat.1
0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Highest share from abroad
  • Other months

The share from abroad was highest in September, at 65.3% of that month's nights, and lowest in March, at 59.1%.1

Guests from abroad spent more than half of the nights in every month of the year.

Eurostat counts guests by the country they live in, not by nationality.2

How seasonal is Latvia compared with the rest of Europe?

July and August together carried 29.1% of Latvia's nights. Ranked by that share, Latvia is the 17th most seasonal of the 35 European countries we measured, where 1 is the country most concentrated into its two busiest months.1

For comparison, the most seasonal country on this measure was Croatia at 54.5%, and the least seasonal was Malta at 21.8%. See all 35 countries ranked.

How full are Latvia's hotels each month?

Hotel rooms were fullest in July, when 60.9% were in use, and emptiest in January, at 31.2%.3

Share of hotel rooms in use each month, Latvia, 2025 Hotels and similar accommodation. Source: Eurostat.3
0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Fullest month
  • Other months

This is Eurostat's net occupancy rate of bedrooms: bedrooms in use divided by bedrooms available. It covers hotels and similar places only, not campsites or holiday lets, so it can peak in a different month from the nights figures above.2

How long do guests stay in Latvia?

Guests stayed an average of 1.8 nights each time they checked in at tourist accommodation in Latvia in 2025: 4,977,169 nights across 2,820,854 arrivals.4 Across the 33 countries on this site with complete figures, the average ran from 1.5 nights in Iceland to 4.7 in Cyprus.4

This is our division of Eurostat's two counts. Eurostat counts an arrival each time a guest checks in at a place to stay, so a traveller who moves between places is counted more than once, and a whole trip is longer than the figure suggests.2

Did accommodation in Latvia get more expensive in 2025?

On Eurostat's harmonised index of consumer prices, prices of accommodation services in Latvia were 5.9% higher on average in 2025 than in 2024. Across the EU the rise was 4.1%.5

This measures how prices changed, not what a stay costs, so check the current price when you book. Accommodation services cover hotels, motels and inns; holiday centres, campsites and youth hostels; and other places to stay.

What are Latvia's public holidays in 2026 and 2027?

In Latvia, public holidays fall on 15 days in both 2026 and 2027.6 In 2026, 4 of those days are a Saturday or Sunday.6 The closing day of the General Latvian Song and Dance Festival is also a holiday in festival years; it is not listed because we have no official date.

Public holidays in Latvia, 2026 and 2027
Holiday20262027
New Year's Day
Jaungada diena
Thu 1 JanuaryFri 1 January
Good Friday
Lielā Piektdiena
Fri 3 AprilFri 26 March
Easter Sunday
Pirmās Lieldienas
Sun 5 AprilSun 28 March
Easter Monday
otrā Lieldienu diena
Mon 6 AprilMon 29 March
Labour Day
Darba svētki
Fri 1 MaySat 1 May
Restoration of Independence Day
Latvijas Republikas Neatkarības atjaunošanas diena
Mon 4 MayTue 4 May
Mother's Day
Mātes diena
Sun 10 MaySun 9 May
Whit Sunday
Vasarsvētki
Sun 24 MaySun 16 May
Midsummer Eve
Līgo diena
Tue 23 JuneWed 23 June
Midsummer Day
Jāņu diena
Wed 24 JuneThu 24 June
Proclamation Day
Latvijas Republikas Proklamēšanas diena
Wed 18 NovemberThu 18 November
Christmas Eve
Ziemassvētki
Thu 24 DecemberFri 24 December
Christmas Day
Ziemassvētki
Fri 25 DecemberSat 25 December
Second day of Christmas
Ziemassvētki
Sat 26 DecemberSun 26 December
New Year's Eve
Vecgada diena
Thu 31 DecemberFri 31 December

We took these from the law or the government's own list, not from a holiday website, and worked out the dates that move each year, such as Easter, from the rules in the law. The European Commission's list for 2026 differs: it leaves out Mother's Day and Whit Sunday, both Sundays, and adds 2 January and 22 June, which the law does not list. We follow the national source.7 Regional and local holidays are not included.

What is the weather like in Riga each month?

Averaged over 1991–2020, the RigaLu weather station, which we use for Riga, is warmest in July, with an average high of 23.8 °C, and coldest in February, with an average low of −4.6 °C. Its wettest month is July (80 mm of rain on average) and its driest March (34 mm).8

In February, Latvia's quietest month, the station's average high is 0.3 °C and its average low −4.6 °C, with 40 mm of rain. In July, the busiest, the average high is 23.8 °C.8

In February the station averages 9.0 days with at least 1 mm of rain and 64 hours of sunshine.8 On 15 February the sun is up for about 9 h 35 min there, against 17 h 15 min on 15 July.9

Riga, average monthly weather, 1991 to 2020
MonthAverage highAverage lowRainRainy daysSunshineDaylight on the 15th
January−0.1 °C−4.5 °C46 mm11.0 days37 h7 h 25 min
February0.3 °C−4.6 °C40 mm9.0 days64 h9 h 35 min
March4.8 °C−1.7 °C34 mm8.0 days141 h11 h 45 min
April11.9 °C2.9 °C35 mm7.0 days204 h14 h 15 min
May17.8 °C8.2 °C48 mm8.0 days287 h16 h 30 min
June21.3 °C12.4 °C65 mm10.0 days282 h17 h 50 min
July23.8 °C14.9 °C80 mm9.0 days291 h17 h 15 min
August22.7 °C14.1 °C78 mm10.0 days250 h15 h 15 min
September17.3 °C9.8 °C67 mm9.0 days167 h12 h 50 min
October10.5 °C4.9 °C76 mm12.0 days96 h10 h 25 min
November4.8 °C1.1 °C56 mm11.0 days36 h8 h 5 min
December1.4 °C−2.4 °C50 mm11.0 days24 h6 h 45 min

Thirty-year averages from one weather station, RigaLu, which we use for Riga. They describe a typical year at that station, not a forecast, and weather varies across Latvia. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain. Daylight is not measured: it is our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset.

June or September? May or October?

September was quieter than June, at 8.5% against 10.4%.

October was quieter than May, at 7.4% against 8.6%.

These compare months at similar distances from the summer peak. For typical weather in Riga, see the weather section.

What these figures cannot tell you

These figures are good at one thing: showing when a country's registered tourist accommodation fills up. Four things they cannot do.

They miss some small places. The counts cover hotels, holiday and short-stay accommodation and campsites, but countries may exclude establishments with fewer than ten bed places, so small guesthouses can be missing.2

Nights are not queues. A national monthly total cannot see how busy one old town, beach or museum is on a given day.

Tourist nights say nothing about weather or prices. The weather section uses 30-year averages from one station, not a forecast. The price section shows how accommodation prices changed, not what a stay costs.

They are one year. These are 2025 figures. Patterns shift from year to year, and Eurostat revises its data as countries update their returns.

The full year

Latvia, tourist nights by month, 2025
MonthShare of yearNightsFrom abroad
January5.2%257,61860.7%
February5.1%254,37161.2%
March5.8%290,76459.1%
April6.9%342,09862.9%
May8.6%430,00564.2%
June10.4%519,45260.6%
July (one of the two busiest months)14.9%741,94660.3%
August (one of the two busiest months)14.2%706,10562.2%
September8.5%422,33265.3%
October7.4%367,35861.1%
November6.0%298,57660.1%
December7.0%346,54463.4%

Total for 2025: 4,977,169 nights, 61.8% of them by guests living abroad. The two busiest months are marked. "From abroad" is the share of that month's nights spent by guests living outside Latvia.

Key takeaways

  • February was Latvia's quietest month in 2025, with 5.1% of the year's tourist nights.
  • July and August were the busiest, carrying 29.1% of the year between them.
  • Latvia ranks 17 of 35 European countries for seasonal concentration, where 1 is the most concentrated.
  • Guests living abroad spent 61.8% of Latvia's 2025 tourist nights; residents spent the rest.
  • Hotel rooms were fullest in July (60.9% in use) and emptiest in January (31.2%).
  • Public holidays in Latvia fall on 15 days in both 2026 and 2027.
  • September was quieter than June, at 8.5% against 10.4%.
  • What we would skip: assuming every shoulder month is equally quiet. In Latvia, June carried 10.4% of the year's nights against September's 8.5%.

Sources

The tourism and hotel figures on this page come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, which receives them from each country's national statistical authority. The weather averages come from the World Meteorological Organization's 1991–2020 climate normals, published by the US National Centers for Environmental Information. We downloaded the data directly and calculated the shares, rankings and comparisons ourselves. See how we research.

  1. Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
  2. Eurostat, Tourist accommodation reference metadata, on collection by national authorities under Regulation (EU) 692/2011, the definition of a night spent, country of residence, and the ten-bed-place threshold. Read it. Checked 17 September 2026.
  3. Source: Eurostat, Net occupancy rate of bed-places and bedrooms in hotels and similar accommodation – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_MNOR, accessed 22 September 2026. Extract: bedrooms, percentage, January–December 2025.
  4. Source: Eurostat, Arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_ARM, with the nights data (tour_occ_nim), accessed 25 September 2026. Extract: number of arrivals and nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests, January–December 2025. Average stay is our calculation: nights divided by arrivals.
  5. Source: Eurostat, HICP – annual data (average index and rate of change), doi:10.2908/PRC_HICP_AIND, accessed 22 September 2026. Extract: accommodation services (COICOP CP112), annual average rate of change, 2025.
  6. Public holidays: Likums “Par svētku, atceres un atzīmējamām dienām”, art. 1. Read it. Accessed 23 September 2026.
  7. European Commission, Public holidays 2026, Official Journal of the European Union C/2025/6771, ELI. Used only as a cross-check. Accessed 23 September 2026.
  8. Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), station RigaLu (station ID 00026422), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, and total hours of sunshine, normals computed from at least 24 years. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 22 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0.
  9. Daylight: our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset on the 15th of each month of 2026 at the weather station's location, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Solar Calculation Details”, based on Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, allowing 0.833° for refraction and the size of the sun). Read it. Checked 22 September 2026. NOAA notes that calculated times can differ from what is observed.

Modified data. The monthly shares, residence shares, rankings and comparisons are our own calculations from Eurostat's counts. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place, so they may not add exactly. Eurostat bears no responsibility for these calculations or for how the figures are presented here. Rainfall is rounded to the nearest millimetre; temperatures are shown as published.