The Gauja River

The Gauja River

The Gauja River undoubtedly belongs to the most beautiful rivers in Europe. The river flows in places between ravines, and steep slopes and precipices which are overgrown with forest. Along the route picturesque sandstones are a common sight in the landscape. The northernmost part of the river forms the border with Estonia for about 24 km. Gauja has shaped the deepest river valley in Latvia with up to 90 m high banks. This part of the Gauja valley contains numerous natural and cultural landmarks and was declared the Gauja National Park in 1973. Numerous historic monuments, castles and charming towns on the way make the canoe route uncommon attractive. River’s source is in the Vidzeme hills southeast of beautiful town Cesis. The total length one of the river is 452 km. The canoeing route leads through entire Gauja National Park.

The trip is characterized as not onerous but the parts of swift stream, as well as obstructions such as rocks or trees lying down across the flow might be encountered dependently on the water level. Because of that the route is not recommended for beginners.

The canoeing trip lasts twelve days (275 km in length), we suggest starting in the neighbourhood of Viresi village by the bridge along Riga - Pskov road, where there is a big parking place and space for camping as well. The trip ends usually in the Gauja’s estuary 5 km before the Gulf of Riga. The whole distance of the route is unusual attractive. One can encounter few water steps, which might be a bit difficult to cross over only when the water level is extremely low. Gauja River stream strongly meanders towards the sea. Forests on the riverbanks reach the river, thus a lot of places favourable for camp building are available. Within the border of the Gauja National Park, so for around 98 km, the river is winding, with numerous old-riverbeds, bends and it flows in the valley with about 2,5 km width. Multicoloured sandstones are frequently encountered while canoeing. In the park area few nature reserves are also situated.

The important sights of the Gauja valley are historic towns and places such as:

• Valmiera – the biggest town along the route with about 28 thousands inhabitants. The town is an important cultural and industrial centre of Latvia. The ruins of 13th century castle and old tenements, as well as an orthodox church from the 19th century are worthy of sightseeing.

• Cesis – one of oldest towns of Latvia, where it is possible to see inside the renovated castle a church from the 13th century, the town hall, the ruins of monastery and the museum of Latvian art and history.
• Sigulda – the town is situated on both riversides of Gauja River where it is possible to find the ruins of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword castle. Due to varied shape of the ground and steep slopes it was possible to build few ski slopes in the surroundings. One of the town’s sights is also the cable railway joining the riversides. In the neighbourhood of the town it is possible to see the picturesque castle, in Turaida, as well as the Gutman Cave – the biggest internal erosion cave in the Baltic States.

Useful information:

• Latvia lies in + 2.00 GMT time zone. (1 hour later than in Poland). Please do not forget to switch your watch after crossing the border.

• The place where the trip begins is 680 km away from our office, thus the travel takes about 11 hours.
• Designated and marked camping sites (area of the Gauja National Park) as well as numerous places favourable for building camps are available along the route. Many of them are not large in space and accessible only from river side.
• The area is remote but buying food shouldn’t be a problem. Grocery shops and sometimes bars are situated in bigger villages and towns.
• Locals are very hospitable and helpful. Communication with older people is possible in Russian language, youth speak quite good English.

Attention!

We offer rental of kayaks and canoes, transport of the equipment and participants to the place where the trip begins and return trip. To obtain the detail offer and available service for Gauja River kayak route please e-mail us: kaylon@kaylon.pl