Ainaži is the last town in Latvia, and the road that ends here sits right on the border with Estonia, with the Estonian town of Ikla just across. It is a quiet place of about thirteen hundred people, set on the shore of the Gulf of Riga, with a harbour, a few streets of low wooden houses and a long, sandy beach backed by pines. The next town of any size is Salacgrīva, about twelve kilometres south, which has the fuel, shops and cafes, so top up there. Ainaži is the end of the Vidzeme Seacoast Road, and it feels like it: calm, a little windswept, and happily forgotten.
The town has a particular history. In the nineteenth century, it was a centre of Latvian seafaring, and a maritime school opened here in 1864, the first in Latvia, training generations of sailors. A museum in the old school building tells the story of the seamen and shipbuilders who made the town prosperous. Nearby, the Salaca river and the coastal woods are part of the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve, a protected landscape of dunes, bogs and old pine forest that is rich in birds.
The riding along this coast is a gentle one. The road runs close to the sea, sometimes behind dunes, through forest, and past old fishing settlements with smokehouses and drying nets. The surface is generally good, but traffic is light and the pace is slow. Boulders and driftwood litter the beaches, a reminder of how many storms the shore takes. Moose and deer are present in the forest, and at dusk it is wise to ride cautiously.
For rest, the beach is the place. Sand and shallow water make for easy paddling, and the sunsets over the gulf are long and lovely in summer. Smoked fish is the coastal delicacy, often sold from roadside stalls, along with dark bread and local berries. Midsummer is a big celebration, and the bonfires and singing continue through the short night. The border is open under Schengen, so you can ride on into Estonia, but it makes a pleasant place to stop and look at the water.