VacationSelector
The Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church, Ljubljana
LjubljanaThe Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church
The House of the Blackheads at dusk, Riga
RigaThe House of the Blackheads at dusk

Photos: Ljubljana by detait, Pexels License; Riga by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Ljubljana or Riga?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Ljubljana for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Ljubljana’s own page.

Choose Riga for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Riga’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Ljubljana 22, Riga 40: Riga leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Ljubljana 55, Riga 52: Ljubljana leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Ljubljana 55, Riga 66: Riga leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Ljubljana 40, Riga 52: Riga leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Ljubljana 80, Riga 55: Ljubljana leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Ljubljana 78, Riga 60: Ljubljana leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Ljubljana 54, Riga 50: Ljubljana leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Ljubljana 74, Riga 68: Ljubljana leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Ljubljana 33, Riga 45: Riga leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Ljubljana 54, Riga 62: Riga leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Ljubljana 50, Riga 65: Riga leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Ljubljana 42, Riga 50: Riga leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Ljubljana and Riga.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Ljubljana
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips with your weighting.

Riga
55match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Ljubljana in July

28 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
121 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Riga in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
18 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
LjubljanaRiga

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Ljubljana: 1991-2020 normals, Ljubljana / Bezigrad (1.9 km from centre). Riga: 1991-2020 normals, Riga (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLjubljanaRiga
Official languageSloveneLatvian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation309 m6 m
Main airportLjubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU)20 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsRiga International Airport (RIX)9 km from centre93 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days-

By the numbers

MeasureLjubljanaRiga
City population284,293588,911
People per km²1,736-
Museums within 10 km1412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Ljubljana or Riga somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.