Daugavpils is Latvia's second city, standing on the Daugava river in the south-east, closer to Belarus and Lithuania than to Riga. About a hundred thousand people live here, and the mixture is unusual: most are Russian speakers, with Latvians, Poles and Belarusians among them, and Old Believers, followers of a seventeenth-century Russian church tradition, have their own communities in the region of Latgale. The city's temperament is quieter and more provincial than the capital's.
Its landmark is the fortress, a vast nineteenth-century complex of earth ramparts, brick barracks and arched gates built by the Russian Empire to guard against Napoleon's armies, which never reached it, although it served in later wars. Today it houses artists' studios, galleries and the Mark Rothko Art Centre, named for the painter who was born in the city in 1903 and emigrated to the United States as a child. The art centre displays reproductions and hosts exhibitions, and the setting is atmospheric, with long brick corridors.
Streets in the city centre are wide, with trams, wooden houses and Soviet blocks sitting side by side. A river path runs along the Daugava and the area around it has pine woods and a few lakes to the north, with the Daugavas Loki nature park downstream offering views of the river's meanders. Riding here is calm, with straight roads and modest traffic, and routes lead west along the river toward Jekabpils, or north into Latgale's lake district. Winters are long and cold, and ice can linger on the roads into spring.
Services are good. Fuel stations are plentiful, and the city has cafes and restaurants serving Latvian grey peas with bacon, rye bread, smoked fish and Russian dishes such as pelmeni. Beer from local breweries is cheap. Parking for bikes is easy near the fortress, and if you have time, allow a slow afternoon in its galleries and an evening on the river bank. Summers are warm and long, with light until late.