Ventspils is a port town on the western coast of Latvia, at the mouth of the Venta River, and it has two faces. One is the working harbour, which handles oil, coal and timber and has done since the Hanseatic League, and the other is a handsome, tidy waterfront town with a long white beach and a big public park. The beach has held the Blue Flag for many years, and the water is shallow and cold, with fine pale sand. The town's older centre is small, with wooden houses and cobbled streets around the Livonian Order castle, built in the thirteenth century and one of the best preserved in the country.
Cows are the city's odd emblem. In 2002 a public art project placed painted cow statues across the town, and a number remain, standing on corners and in squares, a bit silly and quite charming. Children climb on them, and tourists photograph them. Ventspils has also invested in playgrounds, a seaside promenade and a modern library, and it has a polished, well-kept look that surprises people who arrive expecting a rough industrial port. Ferries run from here to Sweden, crossing the Baltic to Nynashamn near Stockholm.
The riding on this coast is mostly straight and flat, with long avenues of pine and spruce, wide fields and little traffic. Curves come in gentle form, and the real pleasure is the quiet. The coastal strip of Kurzeme is lightly settled, and the Slitere and Kolka area, to the east, is a protected landscape of forest and dunes where you might see elk or wild boar. Piltene, a small town about twenty kilometres from Ventspils, has the charm of a place that was once a bishopric and is now a quiet river village. Wind off the Baltic can be strong, and the water is cold even in August.
The route south to Riga takes around three hours by the main roads, through Kandava and Tukums. Fuel is easy in Ventspils and along the main road, though small villages are far apart. Smoked fish is a local speciality, and black bread and rye are served everywhere. Summer is bright and long, with light until almost eleven.