A month in Riga

Latvia's Tourism Law treats accommodation as a tourism service when its purpose is not to provide a permanent residence, and defines a tourist accommodation as premises open to public booking where overnight stays are provided. When a long stay becomes a residential lease under Latvian law was not verified for this guide, so ask the host what contract is offered.

Non-EU visitors may stay 90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area, and since 10 April 2026 the EU Entry/Exit System registers them at the external border. British visitors need a passport issued less than 10 years before arrival and valid at least 3 months after leaving the Schengen area. US citizens need no visa for stays under 90 days within six months; for more, the State Department says they must apply for temporary residence. EU citizens need no residence document for the first 3 months and may be required to register after that.

The 2026 fee is EUR 0.89 for each night a guest aged 18 or over spends in a Riga tourist accommodation, but no more than EUR 8.90 for one continuous stay. A month in one place therefore pays EUR 8.90 per adult, the same as 10 nights; children under 18 pay nothing. The host owes the fee to the city.

From 1 January 2027 the rate becomes EUR 2 a night including VAT. A cap per stay for 2027 was not confirmed in an official text, so check how the host will charge a month that runs into 2027.

A foreign guest fills in and signs a declaration form at a tourist accommodation and shows a valid travel document; a spouse and minor children are excepted. The Cabinet of Ministers sets the form, how long the host keeps it and how it reaches the law enforcement authorities. A Riga host must be registered as payer of the tourist fee on latvija.lv, with a code for the accommodation, within 10 working days of starting.

Rīgas satiksme sells a monthly subscription for one car at EUR 250, valid in the municipal paid zones for a calendar month and paid in advance by the 25th of the month before. Street parking in Old Riga, the R zone, costs EUR 5 for the first hour and EUR 8 after, every day, so a car kept there for a month needs the subscription or a private space.

Āgenskalns, an old neighbourhood on the left bank about 3 km from Dome Square, and Ķīpsala, the island across the Vanšu Bridge, fall outside the central zones: any municipal paid spaces there are zone D, at EUR 1 for the first hour and at most EUR 5 prepaid a day. The Art Nouveau centre suits a month in an apartment building; going by the regulation's boundary streets, Alberta iela falls in the B zone, at EUR 2 for the first hour on working days and Saturdays and free on Sundays, but check the zone for the address with the host.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay. It charges the first month up front and releases it to the host 24 hours after check-in, then charges each later month 10 days before it starts. How other platforms label long stays in Riga was not verified as of September 2026.

Expecting the 2026 fee cap to carry into 2027. The new rate of EUR 2 a night applies from 1 January 2027, and its cap was not confirmed.

Counting Schengen days only in Latvia. The 90 days in 180 run across the whole Schengen area.

Leaving a car in Old Riga on hourly tickets. The R zone charges EUR 8 for each hour after the first, every day from 06:00 to 24:00.

Assuming cars can drive into Old Riga freely. Whether an entry fee still applies was unverified as of September 2026.