Līgatne is a small town on the Gauja river in the heart of Latvia's biggest national park, and it has an unusual double character. On one side is its past as a company town, built around a paper mill that has been making paper here since the early nineteenth century and which gave the town its rows of tidy workers' houses and its handsome old buildings. On the other is its present as a gateway to nature, with forest trails and a nature park where wild animals live in large enclosures and can be seen from walkways. Bears, wolves, lynx and elk, all native to Latvia's forests, can be watched in surroundings that look more like the wild than a zoo.
There is also a surprise under the hills. Near the town stands a Soviet-era bunker, built in secret in the Cold War as a refuge for the Latvian Communist leadership in case of nuclear attack, and now open to visitors on guided tours. It is an eerie place, with long corridors, offices, a bakery and a command room, all preserved as they were when the Soviet Union collapsed. Tours should be booked in advance, and they are a good way to understand what life was like behind the Iron Curtain.
The Gauja valley is a landscape of sandstone cliffs, caves, pine forest and a winding river, and the best way to see it is slowly. A small cable ferry crosses the river here, pulled across by the current, and is a charming reminder of an older way of travel. The valley's cliffs, often covered in graffiti from centuries of visitors, are reached by short walks, and a stretch of the river is popular for canoeing in summer.
The riding is pleasant, with smooth roads through forest and farmland, gentle bends and light traffic. The roads along the valley offer views across the river and the cliffs, and cyclists are common in summer. Elk and deer can cross at dusk, so keep your speed sensible. Autumn is spectacular, when the forest turns red and gold and mist fills the valley in the mornings. Avoid gravel roads after heavy rain, since they can be soft.
For services, Līgatne has a shop, cafes and guesthouses, but the larger town of Sigulda, about fourteen kilometres away, is the main stop for fuel, restaurants and supermarkets. Sigulda also has a castle, a cable car across the valley and a bobsleigh track used in international competitions, and makes a good complement.
Plan to spend a few hours here. The nature park and the bunker are worth the time.